No. 10 Men's Volleyball Drops Road Match at No. 11 Missouri Baptist

St. Louis, Mo., (Feb. 11, 2025)- The No. 10 Missouri Valley College men's volleyball team traveled to St. Louis, Mo., Tuesday evening, for a Heart of America Athletic Conference match against No. 11 Missouri Baptist.  The Vikings went to five games, but fell by scores of 27-25, 30-32, 25-22, 18-25, 11-15.

The first game opened with Missouri Baptist going on an early run to move in front, taking five-straight points to make it a 5-2 score.  Missouri Valley chipped away at its deficit over the next stretch, as Sophomore Outside Hitter Davi Azevedo (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), Junior Opposite Samuel Essilfie (Tema, Ghana), Sophomore Middle Blocker Joao Tavares (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Sophomore Outside Hitter Andrey Bastos (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) each had one kill to cut the gap down to 9-8.  The Vikings followed with a five-point run, helped by one kill from Azevedo, who then teamed up with Freshman Middle Blocker Martin Tseyera (Salta, Argentina) on back-to-back blocks, to help push the team ahead, 13-11.  The two teams traded the next several points.  Essilfie landed two kills, while both Bastos and Azevedo had one kill, then the pair teamed up on a block, as the score eventually sat at 18-16.  The Spartans won four of the next five points to go back in front, 20-18.  Missouri Baptist eventually reached game-point, 24-21.  However, the game ended on a run for MVC, winning six of the final seven points.  Bastos put down one kill to tie the score at 24-24.  One kill from Azevedo gave Missouri Valley game-point, and Essilfie ended the game with another kill to seal a 27-25 win.

Missouri Baptist went on top early in the second game, winning five-straight points to make it a 6-1 score.  Bastos came back with one kill, and Azevedo landed an ace as the deficit sat at 6-5.  The teams traded points over the next stretch of play, until one kill from Tavares and an ace by Essilfie tied the score at 13-13.  The Vikings took five of six points midway through the game, featuring one kill from both Bastos and Azevedo, along with Bastos and Tseyera teaming up on a block as MVC moved ahead, 19-16.  One kill from Essilfie, an ace by Freshman Outside Hitter Tymoteusz Zadeberny (Gliwice, Poland) and an MBU error made it game-point for Missouri Valley, 24-23.  The Vikings eventually held two more game-points, but Missouri Baptist extended the game, and eventually held four game-points.  Trailing 30-29, Azevedo extended the game with one kill.  The next two points were won by the Spartans to close out a 32-30 in the second game, and tie the match at 1-1 in games won.

Another early run for Missouri Baptist opened play in the third game, as the team held a 5-1 lead.  Tavares put down a solo block, and Bastos landed one kill to tie the teams at 7-7.  Missouri Valley then won seven of eight points, as Tavares had one kill and an ace, and both Essilfie and Bastos added one kill each to put the team on top, 14-10.  Another kill from Tavares, who teamed up with Senior Setter Lucas Rodrigues (Balnerlariu Cambriu, Brazil) on a block, and an ace from Junior Opposite Luca Hasse (Paderborn, Germany) gave MVC a 20-14 advantage.  Missouri Baptist chipped away at its deficit, bringing the team back to a 22-20 deficit.  Bastos responded with one kill, and an MBU error gave Missouri Valley game-point.  Hasse closed the third game with one more kill, and the Vikings won 25-22.

The two teams traded points at the start of the fourth game, helped by three kills from Essilfie, two kills by Tavares and a Tysera kill to keep the score tied at 6-6.  Missouri Baptist built up a lead from there, out to 11-6.  The teams traded points through much of play in the game.  The Vikings were unable to work back to within a four-point deficit as the game played on, and the Spartans won the game, 25-18, to force a fifth game.

The final game started with two kills from Tavares to help give MVC a 4-2 lead.  Missouri Baptist responded to win six of the next seven points and move on top, 8-5.  The Sparants began to pull away at a 12-7 score.  Tavares put down back-to-back kills, and one kill from Zadeberny brought the Viking deficit to 13-11.  Missouri Baptist won the next two points to close out the game, 15-11, and defeat the Vikings in the match.

Tavares led with 13 kills on a .364 hitting percentage.  Essilfie had 12 kills.  Rodrigues led with 36 assists and Senior Leonardo Leao (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) had 19 digs.  Missouri Valley totaled 12 total blocks and put down six aces.

The loss drops Missouri Valley to 4-1 overall and 0-1 in the Heart.  Missouri Baptist improves to 5-2 on the season and 1-0 in the conference.

Up next, the Viking men's volleyball team travels to Parkville, Mo., for a Heart match against No. 6 Park (Mo.), Saturday at 6 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.