DES MOINES, Iowa – [BOX SCORE]  Grand View (Iowa) was named the 2021 NAIA Men's Volleyball Champion after a 3-0 win over Benedictine Mesa (Ariz.) on Saturday night in the Iowa Events Center.

The two teams faced each other in the semifinals of the 2019 tournament. Benedictine Mesa defeated Grand View (Iowa) 3-0 that year to advance to the finals and win the 2019 title.

Grand View (Iowa) landed at No. 1 in the final poll of the 2020 season before the season was cancelled due to the pandemic. The Vikings came back into the 2021 season with that same No. 1 ranking and held it for the entirety of the regular season.

Benedictine Mesa (Ariz.) opened the 2021 season at No. 5 and worked its way up to No. 2 for the last three polls of the regular season.

Both teams came into the tournament undefeated and continued that trend through to the final match where only one team would keep its perfect record intact.

Set one was the highest contested set of the match with nine ties in 48 rallies. The score bounced back and forth throughout the match until the Vikings notched a 6-1 run that would give them their largest lead of the set at four points. Benedictine Mesa put together a final three-point run at the Vikings set point but a kill from Felix Chapman of Grand View would seal set one for the Vikings 25-23.

Grand View jumped out to an early lead in set two and extended that lead to as much as seven. The Vikings closed out the set with four kills off the hand of Felix Chapman.

The teams stayed within three points of each other at the start of set three until the Vikings went on a six-point run that they would extend to as much at 10 points. Chapman again closed out set three with the final two points of the match.

Chapman led all scorers with 28 kills in the match and surpassed the championship record that he set himself in 2019 with 26 kills. Raffy Polanco of GVU followed with 13 kills of his own.

Landon Fuller of Benedictine Mesa led the Redhawks with 10 kills in the match.

Francisco Arredondo of Grand View directed the offense with 43 assists on the night.

Livan Moreno of Grand View led the defensive effort with 11 digs.

All-Tournament Team

Kyle Anema, Vanguard (Calif.)

Joao Friedrich, Park (Mo.)

Charles Pullnow, Benedictine Mesa (Calif.)

Francisco Arrendondo, Grand View (Iowa)

Raffy Polanco, Grand View (Iowa)

Sportsman of the Year: Bryce Thompson, Vanguard (Calif.)

National Championship Molten Most Valuable Player