COLUMBIA, Mo. – The University of Missouri volleyball team (8-3) hits the road to open its 2024 Southeastern Conference slate this weekend as MU treks to both Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and College Station, Texas. The Tigers take on LSU (8-3) Friday before completing the weekend trip at Texas A&M (9-1) Sunday.
First serve Friday is set for 7 p.m., CT at the Maravich Center while Sunday’s start time is 2 p.m., CT at Reed Arena.
Both matches this weekend will be featured on SEC Network+. Lyn Rollins and Fran Flory will be on the call Friday at LSU while Casey Richardson and Chelsea Reber will be on Sunday’s broadcast at Texas A&M.
Mizzou heads into SEC play riding a five-match win streak. The Tigers rank second in the conference for hitting percentage (.310) and kills per set (14.49). MU is also third with 13.59 assists per set and fourth for aces per set (1.97), assists (530) and kills (565).
SERIES HISTORY
• Missouri leads the all-time series with LSU, 13-7.
• Despite this advantage, Missouri has lost its previous three matches against LSU.
• Missouri most recently fell at LSU Sept. 29, 2023, 3-1,
• Mizzou last bested LSU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Oct. 2, 2020 (3-1) and picked up a pair of wins over the Tigers Jan. 29-30, 2021, in Columbia, Missouri.
• Texas A&M leads the all-time series with Missouri, 33-21.
• Missouri swept the 2023 series picking up a pair of 3-1 wins on the road (Oct. 1, 2023) and in Columbia, Missouri (Nov. 10, 2023).
TEXAS-MIZZOU CONNECTION
• Wendel Camargo and Cullen Irons have spent time in College Station, Texas, working at Texas A&M.
• Camargo who serves as Mizzou’s Associate Head Coach and coaches the setters, spent five years as an assistant coach at Texas A&M with head coach Laura Kuhn.
• As a member of Kuhn’s staff, Camargo helped lead the Aggies (23-8, 13-5 SEC) to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen as Kuhn was awarded SEC Coach of the Year in 2019.
• Irons spent a brief time at Texas A&M before joining Mizzou head coach Dawn Sullivan as an assistant at UNLV.
• The 2024 Mizzou rosters features five student-athletes from the Lone Star State in Aspen Maxwell (Humble, Texas), Vivian Parker (Aledo, Texas), Grace Sweeney (Midlothian, Texas), Janet deMarrais (Colleyville, Texas) and Marina Crownover (Austin, Texas).
• Sophomore Alayna Pearson returns to Texas A&M for the first time as a member of Mizzou. Pearson, an Overland Park, Kansas, native, tallied 34 digs, eight assists and five aces over 17 matches (36 sets) in 2023 with Texas A&M. In 2024, she has appeared in three matches, notching a pair of digs for Mizzou.
• Mizzou Director of Volleyball Operations Emily (Siefken) Garrett previously served as the Director of Operations at Texas Tech before joining Dawn Sullivan‘s staff at Mizzou.
LIPPY INVITE RECAP
• Mizzou went 2-0 over the 2024 Lippy Invite to wrap non-conference tournament play.
• Jordan Iliff, Marina Crownover and Janet deMarrais were selected to the All-Tournament Team. Iliff was tabbed Tournament MVP.
• Iliff paced Mizzou over the tournament with 19 or more kills over each of the two matches, finishing with 43 kills (4.78 kills/set), 27 digs (3.00 digs/set) and 12 aces (1.33 aces/set) on a .337 clip.
• Mychael Vernon and deMarrais added 29 (3.22 kill/set, 17 digs) and 28 kills (3.11 kills/set, .350), respectively.
• Maya Sands paced the Mizzou defense, registering 30 digs (3.33 digs/set) and eight assists.
• Crownover totaled 107 assists (11.89 assist/set) and 22 digs (2.44 digs/set) in Nashville.
• Middle blockers Colleen Finney and Morgan Isenberg chipped in 14 (.464) and 11 kills (.304), respectively, over the tournament. Finney is nine blocks away from 250 in her collegiate career.
• Five players had double-digit digs against Illinois. Kiaraliz Perez Catala notched a Mizzou personal-best 10 digs.
• Claire Morrissey notched a career-best two digs in her fourth career collegiate match vs. Lipscomb.
• Mizzou has hit over .420 in three of the last five matches.
JORDAN ILIFF
• Jordan Iliff totaled 19 or more kills over each of the two Lippy Invite matches, finishing with 43 kills (4.78 kills/set), 27 digs (3.00 digs/set) and 12 aces (1.33 aces/set) on a .337 clip. Iliff was named the Lippy Invite MVP, for her second all-tournament honor of the campaign.
• 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 against Lipscomb. Iliff 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).
• She 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.
• Iliff then recorded her sixth double-double of the season, notching a career-best 24 kills and a season-best 14 digs against Illinois. The St. Louis native added five aces and three blocks to lead a trio of Tigers in double-digits attacking.
• Iliff tallied over 26.5 points against Lipscomb and 30.5 versus Illinois.
• The right side hitter currently leads the conference in both aces per set (0.64, 12th in NCAA) and service aces (25, 11th in the NCAA).
• The St. Louis native leads Mizzou this season with 157 kills (sixth in SEC, 4.03 kills/set, seventh in the SEC) on a .328 hitting percentage (11th in the SEC). She also ranks second in the SEC with 189.0 points (4.85 points/set, fifth).
• She has notched 16 or more kills in three of her last four matches. Iliff also finished with 13 or more digs in each match of the Lippy Invite.
• Iliff is 55 kills away from 1,000 in her career.
MAYA SANDS
• Maya Sands paced the Mizzou defense over the Lippy Invite, registering 30 digs (3.33 digs/set) and eight assists.
• Sands led the defense against Lipscomb with 18 digs and four assists.
• She then posted 12 digs with four assists versus Illinois.
• Sands ranks second in the SEC with 4.62 digs per set and 180 digs (third in SEC).
• She has finished in double-digits in all 11 matches this season and posted four assists in both Lippy Invite matches.
MARINA CROWNOVER
• Marina Crownover totaled 107 assists (11.89 assist/set) and 22 digs (2.44 digs/set) for Lippy Invite All-Tournament honors in Nashville.
• She tallied 48 assists with seven digs and two blocks as Mizzou hit .420 as a team in the victory over Lipscomb.
• Crownover then notched a career day, setting new career-highs with 59 assists and 15 digs against Illinois for her second double-double of her career. The Austin, Texas, native, added two aces and a block over her fifth Mizzou start.
• She ranked 10th in the SEC with 9.00 assists per set (252 assists) and has tallied 33 or more assists in each of her last four starts.
500 CAREER KILLS FOR DEMARRAIS
• Junior Janet deMarrais crossed the 500 career kill milestone (508) against Illinois, totaling 15 to go along with two blocks and a dig.
• She is now one of five active Mizzou student-athletes with 500 or more kills.
• deMarrais notched 28 kills (3.11 kills/set) on a .350 hitting percentage over the Lippy Invite for All-Tournament honors.
• She has posted 13 or more kills in each of the last two matches and opened the Invite with 13 kills on a .440 with four digs and three aces.
• deMarrais is fourth on Mizzou with 2.85 kills per set (111 kills) this season.
MYCHAEL VERNON
• Mychael Vernon notched 29 kills (3.22 kills/set) and 17 digs (1.89 digs/set) over the Lippy Invite.
• Vernon, a graduate transfer from Oregon State, has posted double-digit kills in each of the last six matches and all but one in 2024.
• She notched 16 kills on a .330 clip with five digs against Lipscomb.
• She logged the fifth double-double of the season with 13 kills and 12 digs in the Lippy Invite finale against Illinois. Vernon added on three blocks in the winning effort.
• Vernon ranks second at Mizzou and eighth in the SEC with 148 kills (3.79 kills/set, ninth SEC). She also is 10th in the conference for points (166.5, 4.27 points/set).
• She is six blocks away from 200 in her collegiate career.
MIZZOU DEBUTS
• All five transfers have played in 2024. Four of these student-athletes have appeared in the starting lineup paced by Mychael Vernon who has started in all 11 matches at outside hitter.
• Regan Haith, Kiaraliz Perez Catala, Vernon and Marina Crownover all made starts over the season-opening Bluejay Invitational.
• Haith has made seven starts (eight matches) since transferring from Illinois State. The middle blocker has notched 36 kills and 19 blocks.
• Catala has competed in all 11 matches with nine starts. She has grabbed 49 digs.
• Aspen Maxwell, Tatum Longnecker, and Claire Morrissey all made their Tiger debuts over the home-opening Mizzou Invitational. Maxwell tallied a block against Lindenwood while Longnecker notched a pair of digs and an assist against Kansas City. Morrissey appeared in all three matches with an ace and a dig in the matchup with UT Martin.
ABOUT THE TIGERS
• The 2024 campaign marks the second for head coach Dawn Sullivan who led the Tigers to their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2020 as she was selected SEC Coach of the Year this past fall.
• During her first season, Sullivan guided Missouri to an impressive 18-13 mark including a .500 (9-9) record in SEC play, surpassing the Tigers’ combined win total from the past two seasons (nine in 2022, five in 2021).
• In SEC play, Missouri went on both three-match and four-match win streaks in 2023, while also securing five wins over top-50 AVCA (based on KPI, Pablo, and RPI rankings) teams and nine wins over top-100 AVCA teams including two ranked wins over Auburn (#23 and #24, Oct. 20 & Nov. 12).
• The eight-win overall improvement from 2022 (nine wins), tied for 12th nationally and ranked second among Power Five institutions.
• Mizzou received votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association national poll over the first two weeks of the season. The Tigers will face eight teams (nine matches) ranked in the preseason top 25.
• Mizzou returns six of seven starters from 2023 including a trio of All-SEC performers in Maya Sands (SEC Libero of the Year), Jordan Iliff and Sierra Dudley. Sands and Iliff also earned AVCA Southeast All-Region recognition.
PRESEASON ALL-SEC
• Jordan Iliff was one of 18 student-athletes named to the 2024 Preseason Volleyball All-SEC Team.
• The St. Louis native led Missouri over her junior season in 2023 with 388 kills (3.40 kills per set), swinging at a .236 clip.
• Iliff, a 2023 AVCA Volleyball Southeast All-Region Honorable Mention and 2023 All-SEC Selection, started and played in all 31 matches in 2023. She also led the Tigers in points with 468 (4.11 points per set) this past season.
• Iliff was named to the 2024 USA Volleyball Women’s Collegiate National Team and trained with the Olympic Team June 30-July 6 in Anaheim, California.
• She ranked fifth for serve effectiveness (33.1 percent) in the NCAA Power 4, according to 2023 VolleyMetrics data.
PRESEASON POLL
• Mizzou was selected to finish sixth in the 2024 SEC Preseason Coaches’ Poll with 127 points.
• Texas, the two-time defending National Champion, was voted the preseason favorite for the 2024 SEC volleyball season. The Longhorns secured 14 of the 15 first-place votes and 196 points to earn the top spot in the preseason poll. Florida earned one first-place vote and 174 points to claim second place in the poll.
• Kentucky, who won its seventh consecutive SEC title and 10th overall title in 2023, placed third with 173 points, while Georgia took fourth place with 148 points.
RETURNERS
• With the trio of All-SEC performers in Maya Sands, Jordan Iliff and Sierra Dudley, Mizzou returns six of seven starters from 2023.
• Dudley ranked fifth in SEC play with 10.90 assists per set (730 assists) in 2023 for SEC All-Freshman Team honors. The Spartanburg, South Carolina, native, was the top true freshman setter in the conference in 2023, totaling 1,161 assists.
• Outside hitter Janet deMarrais was second on Mizzou offensively with 357 kills (3.25 kills/set) and started in the final 20 matches.
• Middle blocker Morgan Isenberg led the Tigers defensively, picking up 138 total blocks (1.23 blocks/set) in her first season as the full-time starter.
• Middle blocker Colleen Finney rounds out the returning Mizzou starters, after compiling 154 kills (1.38 kills/set) and 68 blocks (0.61 blocks/set) in her first season donning the Black & Gold.
NEWCOMERS
• MU added 11 players (six freshmen, five transfers) to complete the 22-member squad. The 2024 freshman are Morgan Jones, Tia Phinezy, Vivian Parker, Aspen Maxwell, Grace Sweeney, and Claire Morrissey who ranked third nationally in the 2024 recruiting class.
• Mizzou also added transfers Mychael Vernon (2023 All-Pac-12 outside hitter at Oregon State), Marina Crownover (two-time NCAA National Champion setter at Texas), Regan Haith (2022 All-Missouri Valley Conference Freshman Team middle blocker at Illinois State), Kiaraliz Perez Catala (2023 Western Athletic Conference Libero of the Year at UTRGV) and Alayna Pearson (Overland Park, Kansas, libero who spent her freshman season at Texas A&M).
LOOKING AHEAD
• Following the Tigers’ SEC Opening weekend, Mizzou next heads to No. 12 Kentucky Oct. 6 to continue its road stand. First serve is set for noon, CT in Lexington, Kentucky, in Missouri’s fifth-straight road contest.
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.
