The top-seeded and third-ranked Missouri Valley College men’s volleyball team fell behind early and suffered just their third loss on the season with a three sets to one loss to eighth-seeded Ottawa on Saturday, April 12 in the first round of the Heart of America Athletic Conference tournament.

A tight-fought first set went the way of Ottawa when they claimed the last four points to win 25-21. Ottawa then overcame three errors early in the second set to post a 22-17 lead, before key plays from Valley’s Arthur Martineli spurred a 6-1 run for the Vikings. However, another late run by Ottawa resulted in the Vikings losing the second set 25-23. The Vikings needed to overcome a seven point deficit in the third set, stringing together a pair of runs to take the lead en route to a 25-20 win. Unfortunately for the Vikings, another tight set would break the way of the visitors, with Ottawa winning four of the final five points to close out a 25-23 set and the upset.

Davi Azevedo led MoValley with 14 kills and eight digs, while Samuel Essilfie had ten kills and seven digs. Lucas Rodrigues totaled 34 assists and nine digs.

The Vikings had already clinched a spot in the NAIA Men’s Volleyball National Championship by virtue of their regular season conference title. The tournament will run April 29 through May 3 in Cedar Rapids.