By Daijah White / Sports Editor

Missouri Valley No. 3 ranked Men’s Volleyball made history winning their first ever Conference Championship title. 

“It is a great feeling,” said Noah Cotterman. “Hopefully, we are able to capitalize and go make some noise on the national level.”

The Vikings beat Ottawa University 3-1 in sets to claim a Conference Championship title and close out their regular season with their seventeenth win in a row. The Vikings opened up their season ranked number 10 in the NAIA National Coaches Preseason Poll. They traveled to North Dakota in February and ended with a four-game win streak at the University of Jamestown Invitational. 

“For me personally, the regular season champion means that all the hard work and effort we put into the gym every week and every practice have paid off,” said Luca Hasse. “Especially with all the hard competition in the conference, it feels even better that we managed to stay strong this whole time and be able to play game by game to the best of our abilities.”

Valley suffered their only two losses of the regular season back to back in February. In their match against nationally ranked Missouri Baptist, Valley fell 3-2 in sets. They then took on nationally ranked Park University and lost 3-1. The Vikings had not faced a loss since February 15. 

Their current record is 17-3. The team’s most recent match was this past Saturday. The quarterfinals opened up the Heart of America Conference Tournament against Ottawa University, which resulted in their 3rd loss of the season and their chance to win the tournament title for the conference. 

Valley still has a spot and will move forward to play in the National NAIA Tournament. The selection show took place on April 22.