No. 5 Men's Volleyball Opens Season With Sweep at Cornerstone

Grand Rapids, Mich., (Jan. 23, 2026)- The No. 5 Missouri Valley College men's volleyball team opened its season with a match in Grand Rapids, Mich., against Cornerstone (Mich.).  The Vikings swept the contest by scores of 25-18, 25-17, 25-23.

Cornerstone jumped in front early in the first game, as Senior Middle Blocker Arthur Martenelli (Curitiba, Brazil), Senior Opposite Luca Hasse (Paderborn, Germany) and Freshman Outside Hitter Logan Fargier each had one kill as Missouri Valley sat in a 9-7 deficit.  The Golden Eagles eventually moved their lead out to 11-7, then held a 13-10 advantage.  The Vikings responded with a run, taking seven of the next eight points. Junior Middle Blocker Joao Tavares (Parana, Brazil) and Junior Outside Hitter Andrey Bastos (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) each landed two kills, while Hasse and Fargier both added one kill to move MVC in front, 17-14.  After Cornerstone won two-straight points, Missouri Valley followed with one kill from Freshman Outside Hitter Bart Mulder (Hoogeveen, Netherlands), who then teamed up with Martenelli on a block, and two Cornerstone errors to push the lead out to 22-16.  The Vikings closed out the game, taking four of the final five points, helped by one kill apiece from Bastos and Hasse to end a 25-18 win to go in front, 1-0, in the match.  The team hit at a match-high .400 percentage in the game.

Missouri Valley went ahead at the start of the second game, using an ace from Bastos and one kill each by Hasse and Tavares to hold a 5-1 advantage.  Cornerstone responded to win four-straight and tie the score at 5-5.  The Vikings answered with winning the next five points, as Hasse put down two aces, and the pair of Sophomore Setter Leonardo Goncalves (Ribierao Preto, Brazil) and Tavares teamed up on a pair of blocks to make it a 10-5 score.  The teams traded the next several points, as Hasse put down two kills and Tavares added an ace, with Cornerstone chipping its deficit down to 14-11.  Four of the next five points were won by MVC, including three kills from Hasse to stretch the lead out to 18-12.  Fargier put down the next three kills for the Vikings, and two Cornerstone errors helped the team reach game-point.  Another error from the Golden Eagles closed out the second game in favor of Missouri Valley, 25-17.

The first point of game three came on an ace from Freshman Setter Leonardo De Gouveia (Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil), followed by one kill by Fargier to give Missouri Valley a 3-1 lead early.  The teams traded the next several points, as Mulder and Fargier added one kill each to help MVC hold a 10-8 advantage.  Cornerstone responded to win five-straight points, and move in front, 13-10.  The Vikings responded to win four of the next five points, featuring one kill from Hasse and an ace by Martinelli, to tie the teams at 14-14.  One kill and one block by Senior Middle Blocker Pedro Berti (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) helped Missouri Valley win three-straight, and take a 17-15 lead.  Hasse added one kill, and the pair of Fargier and Martenelli teamed up on a block to keep the team in front, 19-17.  The Vikings held a 21-20 lead late in the game, as Fargier and Martenelli added one kill, but Cornerstone won three-straight points to take a 23-21 advantage.  Missouri Valley closed out the game with a four-point run, featuring two kills from Hasse and a Golden Eagles error to make it match-point.  The final kill was put down by Mulder to end a 25-23 win in the game, and a sweep.

Hasse led with 14 kills, on a .423 hitting percentage, to go with eight digs.  Goncalves led with 16 assists, and De Gouveia added 13 assists.  Fargier had a team-high nine digs and added seven kills.  Missouri Valley totaled six blocks and six aces as a team while holding Cornerstone to a .080 hitting percentage in the match.

Missouri Valley improves to 1-0 on the season, while Cornerstone drops to 0-1.

Up next, the Viking men's volleyball team will play one more contest in Grand Rapids, Mich., taking on Indiana Tech, Saturday at 3 p.m.

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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.