No. 11 Men's Volleyball Tops William Penn on the Road

Oskaloosa, Iowa, (Mar. 7, 2025)- The No. 11 Missouri Valley College men's volleyball team traveled to Oskaloosa, Iowa, for a Heart of America Athletic Conference match with No. 15 William Penn (Iowa), Friday evening. The Vikings fell behind early, but worked back to earn a victory in four games by scores of 19-25, 25-19, 25-20, 26-24.

The first game opened with William Penn moving in front, taking eight of the first ten points to make it an 8-2 score. Missouri Valley cut down its deficit winning three-straight points, with a kill each from Junior Opposite Samuel Essilfie (Tema, Ghana) and Sophomore Middle Blocker Joao Tavares (Sao Paulo, Brazil), 9-6. The Statesmen took seven of ten points midway through the game, which included a kill each from Essilfie and Junior Opposite Luca Hasse (Paderborn, Germany), and one WPU error. The Vikings were unable to trim down the gap, and eventually trailed, 20-13. Missouri Valley won the next three points, with two WPU errors and an ace from Tavares, but William Penn closed out a 25-19 win in the first game. 

Game two started with Missouri Valley going in front early, winning seven of the first nine points, which included three kills from Hasse, and a kill each from Essilfie and Senior Middle Blocker Arthur Martenelli (Curitiba, Brazil), 7-2. The Vikings kept gradually building up, using three WPU errors, two kills from Essilfie and another kill from Hasse to make it a 15-9 score. The Statesmen cut into their deficit taking the next three points but Missouri Valley answered back winning four-straight points with back-to-back kills from Essilfie and a kill from Tavares to hold a 20-13 advantage. Teams traded points over the next stretch of play but a WPU error ended the game, and the Vikings won game two, 25-19, to tie the teams at 1-1 in games.

Both teams traded points at the start of the third game, as Essilfie put down two kills, Hasse and Tavares teamed up on a block and then both added a kill each to keep the score tied at 7-7. William Penn took the lead taking five of the next eight points, 12-10, but the Vikings eventually tied the game and then pulled away from there using two kills from Hasse, one kill each from both Setter Lucas Rodrigues (Balnerlariu Cambriu, Brazil) and Essilfie, to go with two kills and an ace from Sophomore Outside Hitter Davi Azevedo (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) to hold a 22-15 lead. William Penn cut the gap down to 22-18, but back-to-back kills from Hasse gave the Vikings game-point, and one final kill from Essilfie ended the third game, 25-20, in favor of Missouri Valley.

An early run for the Statesmen opened play in the fourth game, as the team held a 7-3 lead. Missouri Valley responded winning the next five points, with a kill each from Azevedo and Tavares, and two teamed up blocks from the Vikings to make it an 8-7 score. Points were traded over the next stretch of play through a 13-13 score, featuring a kill from both Azevedo and Tavares. Rodrigues landed a kill and teamed up with Tavares on a block. Missouri Valley won five of the next seven points to sit on top, 18-15, which included three blocks from the Vikings. The next three points were won by MVC, as Azevedo landed two kills and WPU had an attack error, Missouri Valley led 21-16. William Penn won four-straight points and eventually tied the game at 24-24, but Martenelli had a kill and Rodrigues ended the game with an ace, giving the Vikings a 26-24 win in the game, and a 3-1 victory in the match. 

Essilfie led with a double-double of 21 kills and 14 digs, to go with a .235 hitting percentage. Hasse followed with a double-double of 14 kills and 10 digs, while Azevedo had nine kills and five digs. Tavares totaled six kills and four blocks, and Martenelli added four kills and five blocks. Rodrigues led with 46 assists. Missouri Valley finished with four aces and eleven blocks in the match.

The win moves Missouri Valley to 8-2 on the season and 4-2 in the Heart, while William Penn drops to 8-6 overall and 5-2 in the conference.

Up next, the Viking men's volleyball team will travel to Des Moines, Iowa, for a Heart match with No. 6 Grand View (Iowa), Saturday at 1 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.