By Easton DeMilia / Staff Writer

Missouri Valley College men’s volleyball earned a No. 4 seed in the NAIA National Tournament and will begin play April 28 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

The team will be the top seed in Pod D and open play against No. 12 Indiana Tech on April 28 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. They will face No. 5 Campbellsville on April 30. The semifinals are scheduled for May 1, followed by the national championship match on May 2.

Missouri Valley defeated Indiana Tech 3-0 on Jan. 24 and will face Campbellsville for the first time this season.

The Vikings enter the tournament with a 21-4 record after a strong regular season and conference tournament run. Missouri Valley defeated sixth-seeded Dordt 3-1 and second-seeded Mount Mercy 3-0 before falling to top-seeded Park in five sets, including a 17-15 loss in the final set.

Head coach Leonardo Bilitardo said the conference championship match tested the team under pressure.

“The biggest lesson we got from this conference championship match was just how to play under pressure,” Head Coach Leonardo Bilitardo said. “We had a lot of freshmen on the court and it was a lot of their first final in the United States against number one in the country.”

Bilitardo, in his first year as head coach, said his familiarity with the roster helped ease the transition into the role.. 

“The good thing coming from a player and Graduate Assistant role to a head coach job is that I know most of the boys,” Bilitardo said. “I either played with them, recruited them or coached them before. So we have this respect already, which was something that I didn’t have to build from scratch.”

Senior Luca Hasse said the team’s postseason appearance reflects months of preparation.

“The nationals and this last week of the season is the reflection of everything we have been working on and progressing on over the past months,” Hasse said. “It’s a great conclusion to everything we left in the practices and games.” 

Senior Arthur Martineli said his experience has shaped his mindset heading into the tournament.

“Since this is my fourth national tournament, I’ve learned that the mindset that works best for me is to focus on ‘surviving’ each day, approaching every match like it could be my last, because it really can be,” Martineli said.

Depth has been a key factor in Missouri Valley’s success this season, with multiple players contributing throughout the lineup.

“I think the biggest difference that is helping us this year is a little bit more depth in the roster,” Bilitardo said. “This year, we have at least 15 or 16 guys that have been playing.”

Bilitardo said that depth has set the Vikings apart from many opponents.

“All the teams we study for have seven or eight players, but we also have three or more players that are ready to surprise at any moment,” Bilitardo said.

The team has had to build chemistry on the fly, which has been embraced with senior leadership that has been helpful with the number of rotations this year.

Martineli is one of the players who has battled through injury, which has made this season difficult.

“The biggest challenge for me this season has been playing through an overuse injury in my Achilles tendon,” Martineli said. “I’ve been doing everything I can to manage the pain and still perform at a high level.”

After months of regular season and conference play, the team is turning its focus to the NAIA National Tournament.