No. 3 Men's Volleyball Tops Morningside at Home

Marshall, Mo., (March 22, 2025)- The No. 3 Missouri Valley College men's volleyball team hosted Morningside (Iowa) in a Heart of America Athletic Conference match Saturday afternoon inside the Burns Athletic Complex.  The Vikings won the opening two games, and finished out the victory by scores of 25-13, 26-24, 23-25, 25-15.

The opening game started with two early kills from Junior Opposite Luca Hasse (Paderborn, Germany) and one kill by Senior Middle Blocker Arthur Martenelli (Curitiba, Brazil) to put Missouri Valley in front, 5-3.  The Vikings then won six of seven points, featuring two kills from Junior Opposite Samuel Essilfie (Tema, Ghana), one kill from Freshman Outside Hitter Tymoteusz Zadeberny (Gliwice, Poland) and two-straight aces by Sophomore Middle Blocker Joao Tavares (Sao Paulo, Brazil) to make it an 11-5 score.  Missouri Valley won six-straight points later in the game, as Zadeberny put down two kills, and the pair of Tavares and Hasse had two blocks to extend the lead out to 21-10.  The teams traded points from there, as Tavares had two more kills, Zadeberny added one more kill to put the team at game-point, and Freshman Setter Matheus Curi (Ribierao Preto, Brazil) closed out the first game with one more kill to end with a 25-13 win.  The Vikings hit at a match-high .609 percentage in the game.

Missouri Valley got out in front early in the second game, helped by one kill from Essilfie and three Morningside errors through a 4-1 score.  The teams traded points over the next stretch, until a four-point run by the Vikings extended the advantage.  Essilfie had one kill and one ace, while Zadeberny finished off one kill to help make it a 13-7 score.  Morningside closed the gap to 13-11, then Hasse put down two-straight kills, and Zadeberny added one more kill to give the Vikings a 16-11 lead.  The next stretch featured a run for MC, taking four of five points to close the team's deficit down to 19-18.  Hasse had one kill, while Curi put down a solo block, and teamed up with Martenelli on a block to put the MVC lead at 22-19.  Hasse put Missouri Valley at game-point with a kill, at 24-23, but Morningside extended the game.  Hasse and Tavares added a block, and Tavares ended the game with one more kill to finish a 26-24 win for the Vikings.

The two teams played close throughout game three, as a Zadeberny kill tied the score at 9-9.  Morningside eventually claimed a 15-12 lead, and maintained its advantage through a long stretch of play in the game.  The Vikings eventually faced a 24-19 deficit late in the game, then used one kill and one ace from Hasse, to go with a block by Freshman Outside Hitter Guilherme Lorenzini (Florianopolis, Brazil) and Martenelli to bring the team back to a 24-23 gap.  Morningside held off the late rally attempt by MVC and extended the match with a 25-23 win.

The fourth game started with Morningside going on top, and holding a 5-3 lead.  Zadeberny had two kills, while Essilfie added one more kill to put MVC in front, 8-7.  After Morningside won the next point, the game was taken over by the Vikings.  Two-straight Hasse kills made it an 11-8 advantage, while the team added seven-straight point run.  Hasse had two kills, Freshman Middle Blocker Martin Tseyera (Salta, Argentina) and Zadeberny had one kill each, Essilfie put down two aces, and the pair of Tseyera and Hasse finished off a block to help push the lead out to 18-9.  Missouri Valley closed out the game from there as Essilfie landed one kill to reach match-point, and the final kill came from Hasse to end a 25-15 win in the game, and a 3-1 victory in the match.

Hasse led with 19 kills on a .543 percentage, while Zadeberny had a career-high 14 kills, on a .407 percentage, and added seven digs.  Essilfie had nine kills on a .500 percentage.  Curi led with 37 assists, and Senior Libero Leonardo Leao (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) led with eight digs.  Missouri Valley totaled 11 digs and eight aces in the match.

The win moves Missouri Valley to 14-2 on the season and 10-2 in the Heart.  Morningside drops to 10-13 overall and 5-10 in the conference.

Up next, the Viking men's volleyball team will travel to St. Louis, Mo., to play Health Sciences & Pharmacy (Mo.) in a Heart match, Tuesday at 7 p.m.  Missouri Valley won the previous matchup this season, in a sweep at home back on March 1.

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About Missouri Valley College

Known for its dynamic, richly diverse, and friendly educational environment, Missouri Valley College offers many opportunities to grow in mind, body, and spirit. Grounded in the liberal arts, undergraduate studies empower students to master interdisciplinary skills needed to succeed in a knowledge-based global society. MVC offers over 30 academic programs, study abroad program, extracurricular activities, and a wide variety of sports. The most popular majors include education and business, criminal justice and exercise science. Above all, Valley is committed to student success. For more information, call (660) 831-4000 or visit www.moval.edu.