COLUMBIA, Mo. – The University of Missouri volleyball team (17-5, 8-2 SEC) defeated Georgia (9-12, 3-8 SEC) in four sets (25-18, 25-12, 26-28, 25-17) Wednesday evening at the Hearnes Center.
With the victory, Mizzou extended its win streak to eight matches (seven SEC matches) and is now tied for first in the SEC with Kentucky at 8-2.
Mychael Vernon finished with 20 kills on a .349 hitting percentage to pace the Mizzou offense as four Tigers finished in double-digits attacking. She also had five digs, two assists, two blocks and an ace.
Jordan Iliff recorded 18 kills on a .371 clip. She also recorded a double-double, tallying 12 digs, two aces, a block and an assist. Iliff has now reached 500 career digs.
Janet deMarrais chipped in 11 kills (.280) while Colleen Finney finished with 10 (.500).
Regan Haith put up five blocks and hit seven kills (.545) over the match.
Marina Crownover recorded 57 assists with seven digs, two kills and an ace as Mizzou hit a season-best during SEC play .378 as a team.
Missouri had three student-athletes with 10 digs, led by Maya Sands’ 18. Kiaraliz Perez Catala notched 10 over the start.
FIRST SET (Mizzou wins 25-18, Mizzou leads 1-0)
Tigers opened the contest with consecutive points before extending their lead to 5-1, forcing Georgia into an early timeout.
The Bulldogs then evened the set early at 5-5 before consecutive kills from Vernon ignited a 9-1 run as Mizzou pulled ahead 14-6. Iliff had a trio of terminations during the sequence while Vernon added an ace.
Georgia then pulled within three (16-13) on a 6-1 rally.
Finney, Vernon and Haith each notched kills before a block assist rebuilt the Tiger edge to 21-14.
Georgia would score four of the next five points (21-17) before Mizzou secured the set on a 4-1 run (25-18) that featured two kills from Iliff.
Iliff (.714) and Vernon (.308) each had five kills over the opening set as Mizzou hit .394 out of the gates.
SECOND SET (Mizzou wins 25-12, Mizzou leads 2-0)
Missouri jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead to commence the second set.
The Tigers advantage grew to 15-5 following five-straight points including a kill and an ace from Iliff coupled with two terminations from deMarrais and a rally stopper from Finney.
Mizzou then extended the margin to 22-8 after a 7-2 run.
A deMarrais kill would bring on set point (24-10) before a Bulldogs attack error put the Tigers up 2-0 (25-12).
Mizzou hit a match-high .581 over set #2. Vernon (.714) and Iliff (.333) each had five kills while Crownover had 15 assists over the final three sets Wednesday.
THIRD SET (Georgia wins 28-26, Mizzou leads 2-1)
The third set featured 21 ties and nine lead changes.
A 3-0 Mizzou run made the score 7-4 before four-straight Georgia points provided the visitors a 10-8 lead.
deMarrais slammed a kill before an Iliff ace to even the set at 10-10.
Crownover notched a setter kill before a termination from Finney made the tight set 21-20 Mizzou.
Crownover and Haith then both added kills to keep it a one-point edge (22-21, 23-22).
Georgia responded with the next two points for set point (24-23).
Mizzou would fend that off with a deMarrais rally stopper and a Kaylen Rush ace (25-24).
The Tigers would score once more on a deMarrais termination (26-25) before Georgia registered the final three points (28-26) to force a fourth frame.
Finney (.500) and Vernon each had four kills in the third stanza.
FOURTH SET (Mizzou wins 25-17, Mizzou wins 3-1)
Georgia took the initial first three points of the fourth set.
Mizzou responded with a 5-1 run to take an early 5-4 lead.
With the set tied at 10-10, the Tigers rattled off four-straight points including a pair of kills from Vernon (14-10).
Vernon added two more kills to extend the lead to 16-12 as Georgia would pull within one (16-15).
Mizzou then captured the match with a 9-2 run (25-17).
Iliff notched a pair of kills before a Rush ace made it match point (24-16). Iliff then secured the victory with a kill (25-17).
Iliff had five kills over the final set on a .571 clip while Vernon had six (.308). Mizzou hit .323 in the fourth set after dropping the third.
MATCH NOTES
- Mychael Vernon finished with 20 kills on a .349 hitting percentage to pace the Mizzou offense as four Tigers finished in double-digits attacking. She also had five digs, two assists, two blocks and an ace.
- Mychael Vernon has now totaled 16 or more kills in each of the last six matches. It also marked her fifth 20 or more kill match in 2024.
- Jordan Iliff recorded 18 kills on a .371 clip. She also recorded her 11th double-double of the campaign, tallying 12 digs, two aces, a block and an assist.
- Jordan Iliff has now posted consecutive 18 kill matches and has registered 18 or more kills in each of the last three matches.
- Jordan Iliff also recorded her 500th career dig over the match.
- Jordan Iliff now has 56 aces in 2024, which ranks fifth in Mizzou program history.
- Janet deMarrais chipped in 11 kills (.280) Wednesday while Colleen Finney finished with 10 kills (.500).
- Janet deMarrais has finished in double-digits attacking in each of the last six matches.
- Colleen Finney posted her second double-digit kill match of the season.
- Regan Haith put up five blocks and hit seven kills (.545) over the match.
- Regan Haith has notched six or more kills and three or more blocks in each of the last five matches. She has also posted five blocks in each of the last two matches (five 5.0 block matches in 2024).
- Marina Crownover recorded 57 assists with seven digs, two kills and an ace as Mizzou hit .378 as a team.
- Marina Crownover has posted 50 or more assists in each of the last six matches. She has notched 50-plus assists eight times this season.
- Missouri had three student-athletes with 10 digs, led by Maya Sands’ 18 to go with five assists.
- Maya Sands has posted 12 or more digs in each of the last eight contests.
- Kiaraliz Perez Catala notched 10 digs over the start (15th start in 2024) Wednesday. She now has three double-digit dig matches in 2024.
- Kaylen Rush notched a season-best two aces.
- Mizzou hit .378, which is a season-best during SEC play.
- With the victory, Mizzou extended its win streak to eight matches (seven SEC matches) and is now tied for first in the SEC with Kentucky at 8-2.
- Mizzou now leads the all-time series with Georgia, 12-10.
- Mizzou is one win away from matching both its overall total and SEC total from 2023, as head coach Dawn Sullivan earned SEC Coach of the Year in her first season with the Tigers.
LOOKING AHEAD
- Missouri will next host South Carolina (13-7, 4-5 SEC) Sunday at 5:30 p.m., CT at the Hearnes Center.
- The match will be featured on SEC Network to conclude Mizzou’s streak of three-straight linear broadcasts. Sam Ravech and Nicole Branagh will be Sunday’s talent.
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