Mizzou volleyball travels to face No. 1 Nebraska in a rescheduled match on Wednesday, Sept. 23 after the event at Wrigley Field was suspended earlier in the month. The first serve is set for 6 p.m. CT at the Bob Devaney Sports Center and will be televised on BTN. The match will resume with the score 0-0, based on a mutual agreement between the two teams.
MATCH AT A GLANCE
Game No. 1 • Wednesday, Sept. 23 • 6 p.m. CDT
Mizzou (7-4) vs. Nebraska (10-0)
LOCATION: Bob Devaney Sports Center • Lincoln, Neb.
SERIES HISTORY: Nebraska leads 74-3-1• STREAK: Nebraska has won 18 straight
LAST GAME: L 3-0 at NCAA Tournament Second Round (Lincoln, Neb. • Dec. 2, 2023)
LIVE STREAM: BTN
OPPONENT WEB: huskers.com
SERIES HISTORY
Mizzou seeks a victory against Nebraska for the first time since Oct. 15, 2003, where it secured a 3-2 road win. A win would also go down in the history books as the first time defeating a No. 1 ranked opponent.
The Tigers last saw the Huskers during the second round of the NCAA tournament on Dec. 2, 2023.
Missouri and Nebrasks played a total of 45 matches while being members of the Big Eight together, the first match dating back to Oct. 31, 1975.
With the road trip, the Tigers close out the non-conference portion of the 2026 season campaign.
LAST TIME OUT
MU returns from a three-match road tournament over the weekend in the Bowling Green/Toledo Invitational. The Tigers went 1-2 and are now 7-4 for the season.
Mizzou fell to Dayton in a five-set thriller at Stroh Center for the first match of the tournament. The offense produced 73 kills, the first time reaching the 70+ margin since 2024, while also posting 64 assists. Libero Ainoah Cruz notched a season high 30 digs, leading the team to a total of 71. Three Tigers tallied double-digit kills to mark season highs: Grace O’Reilly with 19, Kimani Johnson with 18 and Maizy Agnello with 11.
MU lost to Toledo in its second five set match of the season at Savage Arena. Paige Felder led the offensive effort with a career high 16 kills, extending her season streak of matches with double-digit kills to six. Setter Sierra Dudley recorded her first double-double of the season with 18 assists and 14 digs. On the defensive end of the court, Tia Phinezy led Mizzou with a a career high six blocks.
Mizzou defeated Bowling Green 3-1 in its first meeting in program history. Freshman Lydia Stahley led the Tigers with 11 kills and four aces, both career highs. The team ended the match with a season high 11 aces. Freshman Eva Smith contributed a career high nine kills and secured six total blocks, helping the Tigers post six matches with 10+ total blocks for the season. Johnson punched in seven kills to achieve a season high hitting percentage of .538.
L.F.G.
This season, the team’s motto is LFG, which stands for Love. Family. Grit.
The slogan is a big part of the team culture as they use it as their primary source of pride. It has two meanings: the classic LFG motto, which means to fire yourself up, and the other is the three core values the team focuses on.
EYES ON THE TIGERS
Following the Bowling Green/Toledo Invitational, MU currently stands fifth in conference rankings and 19th in national rankings with a hitting percentage of .287.
The team stands second in the SEC and 61st in the national for total blocks with a value of 102.5.
Libero Ainoah Cruz is 20th in the nation and second in conference for digs per set, with an average of 4.71. The senior is also second in the SEC for total digs with 198.
With a .443 individually, junior Lauren Larkin is 16th nationally and fourth in the SEC for hitting percentage. Grace O’Reilly joins her at 129th nationally and 14th in the SEC.
Freshman Eva Smith has 45 total blocks this season, good for fifth in the SEC. She ranks 13th in conference for blocks per set with 1.13.
THE FRESHMEN SHOW
Mizzou’s freshmen shined in the Bowling Green/Toledo Invitational, notching multiple career highs and leading the team across several categories.
Lydia Stahley led the Tigers in kills and aces against Bowling Green with 11 and four, respectively.
Middle blocker Eva Smith posted a career high nine kills in the same match, also claiming six total blocks for the third time this season.
Outside hitter Maizy Agnello recorded back-to-back double-digit kills across the Dayton and Toledo matches, with 11 and 10, respectively.
Setter Piper Batie led the Tigers in assists in the matches against Toledo and Bowling Green.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Junior Nina Mandovic has claimed three double-doubles this season, her most recent being at Louisville.
Sophomore Paige Felder recorded her first double-double of the season against Arkansas State with 10 kills and 10 digs.
Sierra Dudley accomplished her first of the season with 18 assists and 14 digs against Toledo.
CRUZIN’ ALONG
Ainoah Cruz has tallied 10+ digs in every match this season, and had 16 or more in every match of the Bowling Green/Toledo Invitational.
REACHING MILESTONES
Against Arkansas State, setter Sierra Dudley recorded 36 assists and passed the milestone of 1,500 in her career and is now at 1,598.
Ainoah Cruz also reached a milestone of 1,500 in career digs while facing FGCU, and is now at 1,582.
HITTING GOALS
Kimani Johnson ranks eighth all-time in a single game with a hitting percentage of .813, achieved against JMU on 08/29/25, where she notched 13 kills.
Grace O’Reilly punched a hitting percentage of .722 against FGCU, which is the first time a Tiger has hit over .700 since 2023 (Morgan Isenberg at Auburn on Oct. 23, 2023).
NIELSEN RATINGS
During the 2025 regular season, Mizzou had four games broadcast on National TV, including two on the SEC Network, one on ESPN2 and one on ESPN.
The Tigers were 2-2 in those games, as they were 2-0 on the SEC Network (W, 3-1 vs. LSU/W, 3-0 at Mississippi State) and 0-2 on the ESPN Network channels (0-1 on ESPN2; L, 3-0 at Texas A&M, 0-1 on ESPN; L, 3-1 vs. Stanford).
Mizzou was 6-2 on ESPN+ and was 6-6 on the SEC Network+ stream.
Mizzou was 6-2 on ESPN+ and was 6-6 on the SEC Network+ stream.
This season, the Tigers are set to have three games on SEC Network, one on ESPN2, one on ESPNU and one on FOX.
FIVE SET STANDARDS
Last season, the Tigers went 2-4 in five-set matches, but are 12-8 under head coach Dawn Sullivan.
As a head coach, Sullivan 31-19 all-time in five-set matches.
In 2023, the Tigers went a perfect 5-0 in five-set matches.
WELCOME TO COMO, ASSISTANT COACHES!
In March, head coach Dawn Sullivan announced the hiring of Lauren Cost as an assistant coach.
The former Big 12 Player of the Year and All-American from Kansas State played her collegiate career at Sullivan’s alma mater, K-State, from 2000-04.
Cost remains among the top performers in K-State volleyball history, ranking in the top 10 in career kills (1,212), career hitting percentage (.354) and career block assists (380).
In recognition of her outstanding career, she was inducted into the Kansas State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2013 and the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2019.
In July, Sullivan additionally hired Atanas Petrov as assistant coach.
Petrov served as head coach of the U19 Bulgarian women’s national team, leading them to a World Championship and was named the best coach in Bulgaria for 2025. He was previously named the best coach of the National Sport Association of Bulgaria back in 2005.
Before joining the Tigers, Petrov was head coach of the Volley Schönenwerd Men’s Volleyball Club (Switzerland). The club-level veteran has coached numerous clubs in Romania, Bulgaria and Greece. Over that course, he is a seven-time club champion, five-time national cup winner and two-time super cup winner.
As a player, he was an outside hitter on the junior national team in Bulgaria, and he played for a variety of top Bulgarian clubs.
NEW PASSPORT
During the 2025 season, associate head coach Wendel Camargo passed his citizenship test and became a U.S. Citizen.
Camargo is originally from Brazil and has coached across the globe, as his first coaching job was with the Dominican Republic National Team.
TRANSFERS TO TIGERS
The Black and Gold welcomes two transfers in Cruz (Evansville) and Larkin (Utah State).
ABOUT THE TIGERS
The 2026 campaign is the fourth year for head coach Dawn Sullivan. In 2024, Sullivan led the Tigers to their fifth NCAA Sweet Sixteen in program history and earned AVCA Central Region Coach of the Year.
Last season, Sullivan led Missouri to a record of 17-11, including an 8-7 record in SEC play.
During the year, the Tigers secured their highest-ranked conference victory against No. 16 Tennessee, winning 3-1.
During the 2026 campaign, the Tigers will face eight top-25 teams ranked in the 2026 AVCA Preseason Poll, including five top-10 squads.
10 Tigers return to the team after the 2025 season.
INTERNATIONAL INFLUENCE
Ahead of the 2026 season, the Tigers added two international products in Cruz (Arecibo, Puerto Rico) and Kuyan (Istanbul, Turkey). They now have four players on the roster from other countries: Maca Lobaglio (Buenos Aires, Argentina) and Mandovic (Subotica, Serbia).
