No. 11 Men's Volleyball Outlasts No. 8 Missouri Baptist on the Road

St. Louis, Mo., (April 9, 2024)- The No. 11 Missouri Valley College men's volleyball team finished its regular season with a road Heart of America Athletic Conference match against No. 8 Missouri Baptist Tuesday evening in St. Louis, Mo.  The Vikings outlasted the Spartans in a five-game victory by scores of 25-27, 25-21, 13-25, 25-20, 15-13.

Missouri Valley got out to an early lead in the first game as Freshman Outside Hitter Davi Azevedo (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) finished off two kills, while Sophomore Right Side Luca Hasse (Paderborn, Germany) landed one kill and Senior Middle Blocker Daniel Isernhagen (Curitiba, Brazil) put down one block to help the team stay on top, 6-3.  Missouri Baptist worked back to a 9-8 deficit, but two kills from Hasse, and the pair of Azevedo and Isernhagen teamed up on a block to push the advantage to 12-8.  The Spartans cut the gap down to 16-14, while another three-straight points for MVC, on two kills from Freshman Outside Hitter Andrey Bastos (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and one ace from Junior Setter Lucas Rodrigues (Balnelariu Cambriu, Brazil) made it a 19-14 score.  One more kill each from Hasse and Azevedo put the lead at 22-19, but MBU followed with the next three-points to tie the teams at 22-22.  Another kill from Bastos gave the Vikings game-point, but Missouri Baptist rallied late, and won five of the final six points to come out in front in game one, by a 27-25 score.

Game two started with the Spartans holding a 5-3 advantage early.  Six of the next seven points were won by Missouri Valley, including a block from the pair of Rodrigues and Isernhagen, one ace from Hasse and one kill each from Azevedo and Bastos moved the team in front, 9-6.  A three-point run that included an ace from Isernhagen and one kill from Bastos kept MVC on top, 12-8.  The two teams traded points over the next stretch of play, as Hasse had three kills through a 17-14 score.  The Spartans worked down their deficit to 21-20, but three-straight points, featuring one kill from both Freshman Middle Blocker Samuel Stafford (Taringa, Australia) and Hasse, to go with a block from Azevedo, allowed the Vikings to reach game-point.  Hasse ended the game with one more kill, and MVC won, 25-21, to tie the teams at 1-1 in games.

Missouri Baptist took control of the third game early, and pulled away.  Missouri Valley fell into a double-digit deficit at 13-3.  The Spartans eventually took the game, 25-13, to move ahead, 2-1 in games won.

Needing a win in the fourth game to extend the match, Missouri Valley used a six-point run to grab control early.  Isernhagen had two kills and a block, while Hasse finished off an ace to give the team an 8-3 lead.  The Vikings followed by taking six of seven points later in the game, as Isnerhagen had one kill, two aces and teamed up with Rodrigues on a block during the stretch of play.  Azevedo had one ace in the run, and MVC led, 14-5.  The two teams traded points through a 22-14 score, which was followed by four-straight points won by MBU.  Azevedo and Hasse each had one kill to push the Vikings to game-point, and Hasse landed one final kill to give the team a 25-20 win and extend the match into a fifth game.  Missouri Valley hit at a match-high .385 percentage in the game.

Points were traded at the start of the fifth game, as Azevedo and Isernhagen put down one kill each to keep the score tied at 4-4.  The next four points were won by the Vikings, featuring one block from Bastos and Isernhagen to move the team on top, 8-4.  Missouri Valley eventually held a 10-7 lead, but Missouri Baptist won three-straight to tie the score at 10-10.  The Vikings responded with three-straight points, capped on a Hasse kill to move the team ahead, 13-10.  Stafford created match-point after one kill, and Hasse ended the contest with another kill to give Missouri Valley a 15-13 win in the game, and a 3-2 victory in the match.

Hasse led with a career-high 21 kills, on a .306 hitting percentage, to go with eight digs.  Bastos totaled 11 kills and seven digs, while Azevedo had 10 kills and eight digs.  Isernhagen totaled eight kills, on a .500 hitting percentage, four aces and seven blocks.  Rodrigues led with 46 assists.  Missouri Valley finished with eight aces and nine blocks in the match..

Missouri Valley improves to 20-5 overall and 13-5 in the Heart.  Missouri Baptist falls to 22-7 on the season and 11-7 in the conference.

Up next, the Vikings will host a quarterfinal round match in the Heart Postseason Tournament, Saturday, inside the Burns Athletic Complex.  The Vikings will be the No. 4 seed, and host No. 5 Missouri Baptist in a rematch of tonight's contest.  The two teams split the regular season meetings.  Game time will be announced.

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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.