Men's Volleyball Upsets No. 5 William Penn in Five Games

Marshall, Mo., (Feb. 23, 2024)- The Missouri Valley College men's volleyball team welcomed in No. 5 William Penn (Iowa) for a Heart of America Athletic Conference match Friday evening inside the Burns Athletic Complex.  The Vikings went the distance with the Statesmen, and earned an upset victory by scores of 19-25, 25-22, 18-25, 25-23, 15-8.

The first game opened with Missouri Valley using William Penn errors and a block from Junior Setter Lucas Rodrigues (Balnelariu Cambriu, Brazil) to go on top, 4-2.  The Statesmen responded with a 7-1 run that allowed the team to move ahead, 9-5.  Sophomore Right Side Samuel Essilfie (Tema, Ghana) put down the first kill for MVC, then teamed up with Senior Outside Hitter Oscar Manana (The Bronx, N.Y.) on a block.  The pair of Senior Middle Blocker Daniel Isernhagen (Cuitiba, Brazil) and Freshman Outside Hitter Andrey Bastos (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) added a block, while Isernhagen followed with one kill to cut the gap to 11-9.  Another kill from Essilfie and a WPU error allowed the Vikings to sit in a 14-13 deficit.  William Penn answered with another run, winning five-straight to hold a 19-13 lead.  The teams traded points through the rest of the game.  Manana and Isernhagen each added one more kill, but the Statesman won the opening game, 25-19.

Play in game two started with WPU going in front, at a 6-4 score.  Freshman Outside Hitter Davi Azevedo (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) came through with one kill, while Rodrigues put down an ace and Manana handled a solo block to move Missouri Valley in front, 7-6.  Isernhagen and Essilfie teamed up on a block, then the pair put down one kill each to help push the advantage out to 13-11.  William Penn answered, and briefly went on top, 16-15.  Three-straight kills from MVC, including two kills from Manana and one kill from Azevedo, moved the team ahead, 18-16.  The Statesmen came back again, and tied the score at 20-20.  Bastos landed a kill, and Rodrigues finished off a block to give the VIkings a late lead, 22-20.  One kill from both Bastos and Azevedo moved Missouri Valley to game-point, and a WPU error ended the second game, 25-22, allowing Missouri Valley to tie the match at 1-1 in games won.

After the teams played even through a 5-5 score to open the third game, Missouri Valley went in front after one kill from Manana, then a solo block from Bastos, who then teamed up with Essilfie on another block to make it an 8-5 lead.  The teams traded points over the next stretch of play, with Essilfie and Isernhagen each recording one kill as the score sat at 11-9.  William Penn put together a run of winning eight of nine points to pull ahead, 17-12.  Azevedo ended the MVC drought with a kill, but the score went to 20-14.  The Vikings were unable to rally late in the game, as the Statesmen won, 25-18.

Needing a win in the fourth game to extend the match, Missouri Valley gradually built up an early advantage.  Azevedo put down a solo block, with two kills from Manana and one kill from Isernhagen giving the team a 6-4 lead.  Isernhagen produced the next three points, which included a kill, solo block and another block with Essilfie to make it a 9-5 score.  William Penn began to work back from there, and tied the teams at 15-15.  Azevedo finished off the next kill for MVC, to keep the team on top, 18-17, while back-to-back kills from Rodrigues and Manana gave the team a 20-19 lead.  The Statesmen won the next two points, to briefly hold a 21-20 advantage, but the Vikings won four of the next five to gain control.  Bastos landed two kills, and Isernhagen recorded another block to make it game-point, 24-22 for Missouri Valley.  The game ended on a service error, and the Vikings forced a fifth game with a 25-23 win.

The fifth game started with Missouri Valley taking control and building up a large lead.  Bastos gave the team the first point with a kill, and Rodrigues came through with a block.  After William Penn made it a 2-1 score, the Vikings won seven-straight points.  Sophomore Right Side Luca Hasse (Paderborn, Germany), Rodrigues and Isernhagen each finished off one kill, while the pair of Rodrigues and Isernhagen came down with a block to eventually make it a 9-1 score.  Hasse and Manana finished off one kill each over the next stretch, while one more kill from both Azevedo and Bastos allowed the team to hold match-point.  William Penn committed one more error to end the game, 15-8, and secure the upset victory for Missouri Valley.  The Vikings hit at a .615 percentage in the game, and limited WPU to a -.048 percentage.

Isernhagen led with 10 kills, on a .500 hitting percentage, and was part of five blocks.  Essilfie totaled nine kills and eight digs, while Manana had eight kills and three blocks.  Rodrigues totaled 39 assists, four kills and nine digs, while Junior Libero Leonardo Leao (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) led with 10 digs.  Missouri Valley finished with 17 total blocks in the match.

The win moves Missouri Valley to 7-0 overall and 2-0 in the Heart.  William Penn drops to 6-2 on the season and 1-1 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 plays at home Saturday, with a 2 p.m., match against No. 9 Grand View (Iowa) inside the Burns Athletic Complex.

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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.