LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Missouri volleyball team (9-5, 1-2 SEC) fell to No. 13 Kentucky (9-6, 3-1 SEC), 25-18, 25-20, 25-21, Sunday afternoon at Historic Memorial Coliseum.
Graduate student Mychael Vernon led the Tigers offensively with nine kills on a .333 hitting percentage with six digs, two blocks and an ace. The Ossining, New York, native, also surpassed 200 career blocks in the contest.
Janet deMarrais added seven kills while Colleen Finney finished with six (.750) in Mizzou’s third top-25 matchup of the season.
Marina Crownover totaled 17 assists to go with six digs, a block, a kill and an ace.
Maya Sands grabbed 10 digs with five assists.
FIRST SET (Kentucky 25-18, Kentucky leads 1-0)
Missouri opened the match with a 2-0 lead after kills from Regan Haith and deMarrais.
A 3-0 Mizzou run that featured a pair of kills from Finney then evened the set early at 8-8.
The Wildcats then utilized a 6-1 rally of their own for a 14-9 lead and held a 15-10 edge at the media stoppage.
Consecutive Tiger blocks then trimmed the UK advantage to 18-14.
Mizzou then pulled within two (20-18) following terminations from Finney and Crownover.
Kentucky secured the opening frame on a 5-0 rally (25-18).
Finney tallied four kills (1.000) in the opening frame Sunday followed by deMarrais and Iliff who each had three.
SECOND SET (Kentucky 25-20, Kentucky leads 2-0)
Kentucky commenced the second stanza with a 4-1 edge.
A block by Finney and Crownover evened the set at 7-7.
Mizzou would then knot the frame at 11-11 following a kill by deMarrais and a Tigers’ block assist.
The Wildcats then extended their margin to 20-15 after a 4-0 rally.
Mizzou responded with a 4-1 run to trim the deficit to 23-20. Finney started the sequence with a kill before a service ace from Crownover.
The Wildcats scored the next two points to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
THIRD SET (Kentucky 25-21, Kentucky wins 3-0)
Mizzou grabbed the first two points of set #3 before four unanswered points from Kentucky provided the home team a 5-3 lead.
The Wildcats then distanced themselves from Mizzou, 12-7, following a 3-0 run.
Vernon slammed a pair of kills to make the score 13-9.
Kentucky would then go up 17-12 after a Brooklyn DeLeye kill before Mizzou utilized a 4-1 run to come within two (18-16). Sands knocked an ace before a Vernon rally stopper in the sequence.
The Wildcats and MU would then exchange consecutive 4-0 runs to bring the score line to 22-20.
Mizzou would score once more as Kentucky secured the victory, 25-21.
Vernon tallied six kills over the third set Sunday, connecting at a .455 rate.
MATCH NOTES
- Graduate student Mychael Vernon led the Tigers offensively Sunday with nine kills on a .333 hitting percentage and six digs, two blocks and an ace. The Ossining, New York, native, also surpassed 200 career blocks in the contest.
- Mychael Vernon now has 200 kills in 2024 to lead Mizzou (4.00 kills/set).
- Janet deMarrais added seven kills Sunday while Colleen Finney finished with six kills (.750) and two blocks.
- Colleen Finney has totaled five or more kills in each of Mizzou last eight matches.
- Colleen Finney is now three blocks away from 250 in her career.
- Marina Crownover totaled 17 assists to go with six digs, a block, a kill and an ace.
- Maya Sands grabbed 10 digs with five assists to continue her double-digit dig streak in 2024.
- Jordan Iliff chipped in four kills and six digs while Regan Haith had three kills, three blocks and two digs.
- Jordan Iliff is now 29 kills away from 1,000 in her collegiate career.
- Regan Haith paced Mizzou Sunday with three blocks and has posted three or more in each of her last three starts.
- Naomi Franco grabbed her first dig of the season Sunday.
- Kentucky now leads the all-time series against Missouri, 16-5.
- Sunday marked Mizzou’s first of five volleyball matches on SEC Network this season.
- Sunday was also Mizzou’s third top-25 matchup of the season.
LOOKING AHEAD
- Mizzou next returns to Columbia, Missouri, for a four-match homestand at the Hearnes Center.
- Missouri will host in-state foe Southeast Missouri on Wednesday, Oct. 9 before SEC matches against Alabama (Oct. 11) and Tennessee (Oct. 13).
- Wednesday, Oct. 9’s match against SEMO is Military Appreciation & Mental Health Awareness while the Alabama match (Oct. 11) is Mizzou’s SEC Home Opener and a Gold Rush. Oct. 13 against Tennessee will be MU’s Breast Cancer Awareness Night presented by MU Health Care.
FOLLOW THE TIGERS
- For all the latest on Mizzou Volleyball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team @MizzouVolleyball (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook).
