Pride fall in tight three sets against No. 6 Missouri Valley
DUBUQUE, Iowa - Beginning their final stretch of the 2026 season with their return to their home floor in five matches, the Clarke University men's volleyball team dropped a 3-0 match to No. 6 Missouri Valley College on Friday night in the Kehl Center.
The Vikings were able to pull out a tight first set 25-23 then win the second set by a slightly wider margin of 25-20, then once again edge out CU for a 25-22 third set win to close out the match as the visitors held at least a four-point lead within the first 15 rallies in each set, but relinquish those leads to Clarke not long after.
The most notable early deficit comeback for the Pride came in the third set as they trailed 8-0 and were able to claw all the way back to tie the set at 15-15 with the latest tie coming at 20-20 before MVC finished off the match scoring five of the final seven points, including two of their six aces in the match.
On the attack, Missouri Valley had a larger quantity of kills, errors, and attacks as a team but still finished with a higher hitting percentage at .220 compared to Clarke's .205 as the Vikings went 42-for-100 with 20 errors and CU went 33-for-83 with 16 errors.
Leading the match in kills was MVC's Luca Hasse, who finished with 16 kills on 30 swings for a .300 hitting percentage while adding an ace, four digs, and a block assist while Frederico Baptista, Arthur Martenelli, and Loan Fargier were the three closest behind Hasse in kills finishing with nine, six, and five respectively.
Pride freshman Micah Dancy finished with nine kills on 17 attempts with an error for a .471 hitting percentage while also adding four digs and a block assist with Eduardo Hernandez and Tanner May producing eight and seven kills respectively behind Dancy's team-high as Hernandez led the team with six digs and May also added four total blocks with two solos and two assists for a 12-point night.
Clarke men's volleyball will be back on their home court for the second-straight day when they celebrate Senior Day on Saturday in a 1:00 p.m. CT scheduled match against Culver-Stockton College.