COLUMBIA, Mo. – Five members of the University of Missouri volleyball team received 2024 AVCA Central All-Region honors, the organization announced Tuesday.
Mychael Vernon was named the 2024 AVCA Central Region Player of the Year while head coach Dawn Sullivan was tabbed 2024 AVCA Central Region Coach of the Year. Vernon along with Jordan Iliff, Maya Sands and Marina Crownover were also listed on the 2024 AVCA Central All-Region and are Mizzou’s 38th, 39th, 40th and 41st AVCA All-Region players in program history (16th, 17th, 18th and 19th AVCA Central All-Region players).
Mizzou’s four AVCA All-Region honors are the most since 2016 when Melanie Crow, Carly Kan, Kira Larson and Alyssa Munlyn were named to the AVCA Southeast All-Region.
Outside hitter Mychael Vernon is the first-ever AVCA Central Region Player of the Year in Mizzou history. She was also named to her first career AVCA All-Region Team.
The graduate student from Ossining, New York, leads the SEC with 493 kills (4.32 kills/set, seventh in the SEC) and is third in the league for points (549.0, 4.82 points/set, eight in the SEC).
In the NCAA, Vernon ranks 23rd for total kills and 33rd for total points. She has finished in double-digits kills in all but two matches this season (28 of 30) along with 13 double-doubles.
Most recently, the 2024 SEC Newcomer of the Year, logged back-to-back 20-kill matches in her NCAA Tournament debut posting 20 and 23 kills, respectively, in Dallas against Texas State and SMU this past week.
Vernon ranked fourth in SEC play with 4.46 kills per set (290 kills) and 4.92 points per set (320.0 points). She was the top newcomer in the SEC for both categories.
She registered a career-best 37 kills against Arkansas (Oct. 25) to set a new Mizzou single-match record.
Vernon was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 30.
Head coach Dawn Sullivan is the third AVCA Region Coach of the Year in Mizzou program history after Wayne Kreklow picked up the honors in the Southeast Region in 2013 and 2016.
Sullivan has led the Tigers to the NCAA Sweet 16 with a 22-8 overall record this season. MU earned the seventh seed in the NCAA Tournament and is currently ranked in the top-25.
Mizzou has registered 20-plus overall wins and 10-plus SEC wins in a season for the first time since 2019. MU finished tied for third in the SEC this season with an 11-5 mark after being selected to finish sixth in the preseason poll.
The Tigers have also surpassed their SEC (9) and overall win (18) totals from 2023, when Sullivan was named SEC Coach of the Year in her first season in Columbia.
Mizzou picked up a five-set win over No. 9 Texas Nov. 1 in Austin, Texas, for the Tigers’ top-25 win. MU most recently downed No. 10 ranked and second-seeded SMU in Dallas to advance to the Third Round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
Missouri went on a nine-match win streak (eight SEC matches) from Oct. 9 to Nov. 10. It marked MU’s longest win streak since 2016 (13 matches, nine SEC matches).
Right side hitter Jordan Iliff earned her second-straight AVCA All-Region honors Tuesday.
The senior from St. Louis, ranks sixth in the SEC for points (524.0, 4.60 points/set, 10th in SEC) and 10th for kills (429, 3.76 kills/set, 11th in SEC).
She has also recorded a Mizzou single-season record 66 aces which leads the SEC (seventh in the NCAA, 0.58 aces/set, eighth in NCAA).
Iliff most recently tallied 11 (.348) and 16 kills over Mizzou’s First and Second Round matches at the 2024 NCAA Tournament in Dallas. She added 10 digs to complement the 16-kill outing for her 15th double-double of the season at SMU.
Iliff has totaled double-digit kills in all but five matches (25 of 30). She has finished in double-digits offensively in 14 of the last 16 matches.
Iliff ranked first in SEC play with 32 aces (0.49 aces/set) for 2024 All-SEC honors. Her career-best nine aces against Texas A&M (Sept. 29) set a new Mizzou single-match record. Iliff was second on Mizzou during SEC play with 231 kills (3.55 kills/set), 158 digs (2.43 digs/set) and 283.0 points (4.35 points/set).
She was pegged SEC Offensive Player of the Week (Sept. 16 & Oct. 14) twice in 2024.
Iliff registered a career best 24 kills against Illinois (Sept. 20) and personal best 21 digs vs. Tennessee (Oct. 13).
She surpassed 1,000 career kills, 500 career digs, 100 career aces and 100 career matches at Mizzou in 2024. Iliff ranks 10th all-time in Mizzou program history for career kills (1,217).
Libero Maya Sands was named to her second-straight AVCA All-Region Team Tuesday.
Sands most recently grabbed 20 digs and 14 digs, respectively, over Mizzou’s First and Second Round matchups of the 2024 NCAA Tournament in Dallas.
She has registered double-digit digs in all but one match this season. Sands leads the SEC with 4.58 digs per set and is second overall in the league with 522 digs. Her 522 digs rank sixth all-time in Mizzou history.
The junior from Rock Falls, Illinois, ranked second during the conference slate with 4.49 digs per set (292 digs) to earn SEC Libero of the Year and All-SEC honors for the second-straight season. She also had 15 aces in 2024.
Sands compiled a career-best matching 30 digs twice in 2024, against Mississippi State (Oct. 20) and at Arkansas (Oct. 25).
Sands notched her second career double-double versus MSU (Oct. 20), adding 10 assists to go with her 30 digs.
Setter Marina Crownover was named to her first career AVCA All-Region Team Tuesday.
The redshirt sophomore ranks third in the SEC with 10.91 assists per set and third in the league with 1,102 assists. In the NCAA, Crownover is 15th for assists per set.
The Austin, Texas, native, most recently had 40 and 53 assists over the First and Second Rounds of the 2024 NCAA Tournament. Crownover added 11 digs to complement her 40 assists against Texas State for her 11th double-double of the campaign.
The 2024 All-SEC selection and three-time SEC Setter of the Week (Sept. 16, Oct. 14, Oct. 28) led the conference in SEC play with 728 assists (11.56 assists/set).
Crownover notched a career best 61 assists and four aces at Arkansas (Oct. 25).
She surpassed 1,000 career assists in 2024 and has totaled sixteen 40-plus assist matches in 2024. Crownover has dished out 22 or more assists in each of the last 15 matches.
LOOKING AHEAD
• The No. 25 ranked and seventh seeded University of Missouri volleyball team (22-8, 11-5 SEC) will next face No. 11 ranked and third seeded Kentucky (22-7, 14-2 SEC) Thursday in the Third Round of the 2024 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship.
• First serve is set for noon, CT in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The match will be broadcasted on ESPN2.
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