Five Missouri Valley College Student-Athletes Earns Weekly Heart Awards
Marshall, Mo., (Feb. 10, 2025)- A total of five Missouri Valley College student-athletes have earned weekly awards from the Heart of America Athletic Conference for their performances last week. The awards come from men's wrestling, women's wrestling, men's volleyball, cheer and Esports.
Named the Heart Men's Wrestler of the Week, presented by Musco, is No. 5 Junior Francis Morrissey (Warner Robins, Ga.), after finishing 2-0 in duals last week. Morrissey led the No. 18 Vikings to a 22-14 win over No. 16 Central Methodist (Mo.) with a first period (1:32) pin in his 174 pound match against No. 12 Roman Garcia. He followed with a technical fall victory, 18-2, against Christion Griggs in a 40-4 dual win over Benedictine (Kan.).
This is the first weekly award for Morrissey in his career at Missouri Valley, and this is the second award of the season for the team. No. 21 Senior Donavan Parn (Brookfield, Mo.), at 141 pounds, was the weekly winner back on Dec. 16.
Winning the Heart Women's Wrestler of the Week, presented by Musco, award is No. 3 Freshman Xochitl Mota-Pettis (Humble, Texas), after capturing first place in the 131 pound bracket at the Midland (Neb.) Warrior Open. Mota-Petts won four times by technical fall, and once by pin. In the semifinals, Mota-Pettis defeated No. 17 Bryce White of Oklahoma City in a 10-0 technical fall, and earned a 14-2 technical fall victory in the championship match against Piper Cadden of Fort Hays (Kan.).
This is the first weekly honor for Mota-Pettis, and joins teammate No. 5 Senior Kelani Corbett (Wahiawa, Hawaii), at 180 pounds, as an award winner. Corbett won the award twice, on Nov. 24 and Jan. 20.
Earning the Heart Men's Volleyball Attacker of the Week, presented by Molten, is Junior Opposite Luca Hasse (Paderborn, Germany) after leading the No. 10 men's volleyball team to a 4-0 record at the Jamestown (N.D.) Invitational. Hasse had 11 kills in a sweep of Viterbo (Wisc.), 10 kills in a sweep of Simpson (Calif.) and nine kills in a sweep of Jamestown (N.D.). he finished with 30 total kills and a .471 hitting percentage on the weekend.
This is the first weekly Heart award of the season for the men's volleyball team, and the first weekly award in Hasse's career.
Junior Kloee Mills (Oak Grove, Mo.) has been named the Heart Cheerleader of the Week, after leading the cheer team in two competitions over the weekend. The cheer team finished second at the York (Neb.) Crown Classic, posting a score of 86.4, Friday. The following day, Missouri Valley earned scores of 91.55 and 89.85 at the Nebraska Day of Duals, finishing with the second-highest combined scores for the day.
This is the first weekly award for Mills, and joins teammate Sophomore Aidan Oldham (Kansas City, Mo.) as an honoree this season. Oldham earned the weekly award last week.
Also earning a weekly award is Junior Dominic Hoskins (Witham, England), who was named the Heart Esports Rocket League Player of the Week. Hoskins led the Vikings to a sweep of Clarke (Iowa) to open the conference Rocket League season. Hoskins scored a total of 13 goals and added two assists as the Vikings won by scores of 8-0, 4-1, 8-0.
This is the first weekly award for Hoskin in his career, and becomes the second in program-history to earn the weekly award, after Benjamin Searle won last season.
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.