No. 12 Men's Volleyball Sweeps No. 3 Park at Home

Marshall, Mo., (March 9, 2024)- The No. 12 Missouri Valley College men's volleyball team hosted No. 3 Park (Mo.) in a Heart of America Athletic Conference match Saturday afternoon inside the Burns Athletic Complex.  The Vikings swept the Pirates by scores of 25-23, 25-22, 25-17.

The first game started with the teams trading points through a 5-5 score.  Freshman Outside Hitter Andrey Bastos (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), Sophomore Right Side Samuel Essilfie (Tema, Ghana) and Freshman Outside Hitter Davi Azevedo (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) each had one kill during the stretch of play.  Senior Outside Hitter Oscar Manana (The Bronx, N.Y.) put down a solo block to send Missouri Valley in front, 6-5, while one kill from both Essilfie and Bastos, along with an ace from Senior Middle Blocker Daniel Isernhagen (Curitiba, Brazil) stretched the advantage out to 12-7.  The Vikings gradually built up the gap from there, as Azevedo added one kill, while Manana put down another solo block.  Essilfie finished off one more kill and a Park error made it a 17-11 score.  The Pirates responded, and went on a 7-1 run over the next stretch to tie the teams at 18-18.  Essilfie had the next three kills for MVC, while Junior Setter Lucas Rodrigues (Balnelariu, Cambriu, Brazil) added a block to make it game-point, 24-20.  Park again rallied, and got to within a 24-23 score.  However, a service error from the Pirates ended the game, 25-23, in favor of Missouri Valley.  Park was limited to a -.111 hitting percentage in the game.

Park got out in front early in the second game, by a 5-2 advantage.  Manana and Essilfie landed one kill each to tie the score, but the Pirates continued to stay in front through a 12-8 score.  Manana teamed up with Rodrigues on a block, then added a solo block to help work back to a 12-10 gap.  The teams traded points, as the next kill from Azevedo helped bring MVC into a 14-13 deficit.  Three-straight kills, coming from Essilfie, Bastos and Rodrigues eventually sent the Vikings ahead, 17-16.  Back-to-back kills from Essilfie and Manana made it 20-18, but Park eventually tied the score at 21-21.  The Pirates committed two-straight errors late in the game, including a solo block from Isernhagen to give MVC a 23-21 lead.  Essilfie moved Missouri Valley to game-point, and the pair of Isernhagen and Azevedo landed a block to end the game, 25-22, and give the Vikings a 2-0 advantage in the contest.

Missouri Valley jumped out to an early lead in the third game, as Essilfie and Azevedo put down one kill each, and two-straight Park errors made it a 5-1 score.  The two teams traded points until back-to-back kills from Isernhagen and Bastos put the advantage at 11-5.  The Pirates responded to win four-straight and make it 11-9.  The Vikings then won four of the next five points, helped by one kill and two blocks from Essilfie, as the team led, 15-10.  Park again responded, and went on another four-point streak to shrink the team's deficit to 15-14.  Azevedo ended the MVC drought with a kill, followed by one kill from Essilfie.  Missouri Valley began to pull away from there, using three-straight kills from Azevedo to push the advantage out to 21-15.  Bastos and Essilfie landed the next two kills for MVC, making it game-point.  Isernhagen closed the game at a 25-17 score with one more kill to sweep the match.  Missouri valley hit at a match-high .440 percentage in the game.

Essilfie led with 17 kills, on a .481 hitting percentage, to go with eight digs.  Azevedo had nine kills and six digs, while Bastos added eight kills and six digs.  Rodrigues led with 34 assists and Junior Libero Leonardo Leao (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) had nine digs.  Missouri Valley totaled 11 blocks in the match, and held Park to a .022 hitting percentage.

Missouri Valley improves to 11-2 overall and 6-2 in the Heart.  Park drops to 14-3 on the season and 6-2 in the conference.  This is the program's highest ranked victory since defeating No. 2 Park in five games back on Feb. 12, 2021.

Up next, the Viking men's volleyball team hosts Missouri Baptist in a Heart match, Tuesday at 7 p.m., inside the Burns Athletic Complex.

Box Score-Click Here

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.