NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Missouri volleyball team (7-3) commenced its stay at the 2024 Lippy Invite with a 3-1 victory (25-17, 25-16, 23-25, 25-17) over host Lipscomb (3-7) Thursday evening at Allen Arena.
With the win, Mizzou extended its win streak to four ahead of its Braggin’ Rights matchup against Illinois on Friday.
Jordan Iliff led a trio of Tigers in double-digits attacking with 19 kills on a .536 hitting percentage with 13 digs and a career-best seven aces and three assists. Iliff, this week’s SEC Co-Offensive Player of the Week, had a stretch of six consecutive aces in the fourth set to finish tied for sixth all-time in Mizzou program history for single-match aces (7).
Mychael Vernon added 16 kills on a .333 clip with five digs while Janet deMarrais totaled 13 kills (.440), four digs and three aces in her second start of the campaign.
Marina Crownover, the reigning SEC Setter of the Week, notched a career-best 48 assists with seven digs and two blocks as Mizzou hit .420 as a team.
Libero Maya Sands led the defense with 18 digs and four assists.
FIRST SET (25-17 Missouri, Missouri leads 1-0)
After a back-and-forth start to the match, Mizzou put together a 4-0 run to pull ahead 9-4 and bring on a Lipscomb timeout.
Vernon hit three-straight kills including back-to-back following the stoppage to make the score 11-4.
MU increased their lead to 15-7 after a rally stopper from Iliff.
Lipscomb clawed back with consecutive service aces and put together a 3-0 run, cutting the edge to 16-11.
Mizzou responded by putting together a 3-0 run of their own with a deMarrais kill and a Crownover and Colleen Finney block, making it 21-13 Tigers.
Missouri put away a Lipscomb comeback effort with a pair of kills by Vernon as the Tigers took set one 25-17.
deMarrais (.714) and Vernon (.400) each had five kills in the opening set as Mizzou hit .393.
SECOND SET (25-16 Missouri, Missouri leads 2-0)
Mizzou jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the second stanza.
The momentum continued to stay with MU, as the Tigers put up a 5-0 run with three kills by deMarrais and an ace from Iliff, making it a 10-point advantage (14-4).
Missouri kept the pressure on with a 4-0 rally that featured an ace and a kill by deMarrais and a rally stopper from Naomi Franco, increasing the margin to 18-5.
Mizzou then grew their lead to 22-8 before a 5-0 Bison run cut the advantage to 22-13.
Morgan Isenberg and deMarrais each notched kills as Mizzou took a 2-0 lead in the match (25-16 second set).
Mizzou hit .625 in the second frame behind six kills from deMarrais (.857) and five from Vernon (.714).
THIRD SET (25-23 Lipscomb, Missouri leads 2-1)
With Mizzou leading 9-6 early, the Bison responded with a 4-0 run to pull ahead 10-9.
A kill from Isenberg knotted the set back up at 10-10 before a 5-2 rally from Lipscomb brought on the media timeout at 15-12.
Finney knocked a rally stopper followed by a deMarrais ace to even the frame at 16-16.
Lipscomb retook an 18-16 lead after a couple of Tiger errors.
Back-to-back kills by Iliff then knotted the set at 21-21.
Mizzou took the lead in the set after consecutive kills from deMarrais and Finney before the Bison cut the Missouri lead in the match to 2-1 on a 3-0 run (25-23 third set).
Iliff tallied seven kills on a .600 clip over the frame in a set that featured seven ties and three lead changes.
FOURTH SET (25-17 Missouri, Missouri wins 3-1)
The Tigers opened the fourth stanza with a 12-9 advantage led by five kills from Iliff.
Missouri then opened its lead in the set, putting together a 7-0 run with Iliff registering six-straight service aces for a 19-10 advantage.
The Tigers added a 3-0 rally for a 22-12 lead.
Lipscomb responded with a 4-0 run, drawing the Bison closer and making the score 22-16 MU.
Finney then slammed a kill before a Vernon termination brought on match point (24-17).
Mizzou then took the match on a Bison error.
MATCH NOTES
- Jordan Iliff led a trio of Tigers in double-digits attacking with 19 kills on a .536 hitting percentage with 13 digs and a career-best seven aces and three assists
- Jordan Iliff, this week’s SEC Co-Offensive Player of the Week, had a stretch of six consecutive aces in the fourth set to finish tied for sixth all-time in Mizzou program history for single-match aces (7). Yvette Buhlig totaled a Missouri program-high nine aces twice during the 1990 season.
- Jordan Iliff is the eighth Tiger to register seven aces in a match and the first since Kaylee Cox notched the mark against Northwestern State on Sept. 3, 2022.
- Jordan Iliff picked up her fifth double-double of the 2024 campaign.
- Jordan Iliff tied her career-best point total, notching 26.5 to match her mark against Georgia on Nov. 5, 2023.
- Mychael Vernon added 16 kills on a .333 clip with five digs.
- Janet deMarrais totaled 13 kills (.440), four digs and three aces in her second start of the campaign.
- Jordan Iliff and Mychael Vernon reached double-digit kills for the ninth time this season.
- Marina Crownover, the reigning SEC Setter of the Week, notched a career-best 48 assists with seven digs and two blocks as Mizzou hit .420 as a team.
- Marina Crownover has tallied 33 or more assists in each of her last three starts.
- Maya Sands led the defense with 18 digs and four assists.
- Colleen Finney (four blocks) and Morgan Isenberg (three blocks) each had five kills, hitting .455 and .400, respectively.
- Claire Morrissey notched a career-best two digs in her fourth career collegiate match.
- Mizzou has now hit .420 or higher in three of the last four matches.
- With the victory, Mizzou moves to 2-1 all-time against Lipscomb.
- With the win, Mizzou extended its win streak to four ahead of its Braggin’ Rights matchup against Illinois on Friday.
LOOKING AHEAD
- Missouri next concludes the Lippy Invite Friday against Illinois. First serve is set for 4 p.m., CT, at Allen Arena.
- Mizzou then opens its SEC slate with a double road weekend at LSU and Texas A&M Sept. 27 and 29.
FOLLOW THE TIGERS
- For all the latest information on Mizzou Volleyball, please visit MUTigers.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Tigers on X, Instagram, and Facebook.
