Men's Volleyball Sweeps Clarke on the Road

Dubuque, Iowa, (Mar. 2, 2024)- The Missouri Valley College men's volleyball team traveled to Dubuque, Iowa, Saturday afternoon for a Heart of America Athletic Conference match against Clarke (Iowa). The Vikings swept to a victory by scores of 25-19, 25-12, 25-19.

The opening game started with the teams trading points early. Freshman Outside Hitter Andrey Bastos (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) landed two kills, while Sophomore Right Side Luca Hasse (Paderborn, Germany) had a kill to make it a 6-6 score. Missouri Valley went in front after one kill from Freshman Outside Hitter Davi Azevedo (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and a solo block, then Hasse and Freshman Middle Blocker Samuel Stafford (Taringa, Australia) teamed up on a block to take the lead, 10-6. The Vikings pulled ahead from there winning six of the next nine points, where Hasse had back-to-back kills, Stafford and Bastos added one kill each to build up a 17-11 advantage. The Pride cut down its deficit to 22-18 late in the game, but Missouri Valley answered back with a kill by Bastos and a solo block from Azevedo to take game one, 25-19.

Missouri Valley took control of game two from the start, as Hasse and Stafford teamed up for a block and Azevedo landed a kill, making it a 4-3 score. The Vikings won five-straight points, including back-to-back kills from Bastos and one kill by Hasse to hold a 9-3 lead. MVC continued to pull away from there, as Hasse and Bastos landed an ace each, Junior Libero Leonardo Leao (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) teamed up with Isernhagen on a block, and a pair of CU errors helped to stretch the advantage to 17-5. The teams traded points through the next stretch of play but the Pride were unable to get any close through the rest of the game, 19-9. Sophomore Middle Blocker Vasil Stoimenov (Pazardzhik, Bulgaria) had one kill and also teamed up with Stafford on a block, while a few errors by Clarke helped the Vikings finish off the second game, 25-12.

The third game opened with the Pride going in front early, 6-3. Missouri Valley worked back to take the lead, 8-7, which included one kill from Isernhagen and another kill by Azevedo, who also teamed up with Stafford on a block, and a pair of errors by Clarke. Points were traded through a 12-11 score, but the Vikings eventually had a long run where Hasse totaled three kills and two aces, and Isernhagen added one kill to give the team a 19-12 advantage. Clarke tried to close the gap winning five of the next seven points, but a kill by Freshman Outside Hitter Benjamin Webb (Auckland, New Zealand) ended their run. Hasse had back-to-back kills, and Junior Outside Hitter Georgi Vlahov (Sofia, Bulgaria) had the final kill to complete a 25-19 win in the game and sweep the match. 

Leading the team was Hasse with 10 kills, a 0.476 hitting percentage and three aces. Bastos followed with eight kills and Azevedo added six kills. Leao led with 23 assists, while Sophomore Outside Hitter Ruben Baquero (Madrid, Spain) had 14 digs. Missouri Valley finished with ten blocks in the match and four aces.

The win moves Missouri Valley to 8-2 overall and 3-2 in the conference. Clarke drops to 5-9 on the season and 2-4 in the Heart.

Up next, the Vikings men's volleyball team will travel to St. Louis (Mo.) for a conference match with University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy, Tuesday at 7 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.