COLUMBIA, Mo. – The University of Missouri volleyball team (16-5, 7-2 SEC) returns to the Hearnes Center for a pair of home contests this week to commence a three-match homestand. Mizzou will face Georgia (9-11, 3-7 SEC) Wednesday at 7 p.m., CT before taking on South Carolina (13-7, 4-5 SEC) Sunday at 5:30 p.m., CT.
Both matches will be featured on SEC Network in Mizzou’s streak of three-straight linear broadcasts. Anne Marie Anderson and Leah Edmond will be on the call Wednesday while Sam Ravech and Nicole Branagh will be Sunday’s talent.
Mizzou heads into this week riding a seven-match win streak (six-match SEC win streak). The Tigers’ six-match SEC win streak is the longest since the Tigers won six straight league matches Nov. 4 to Jan. 30 during the 2020-21 season.
Missouri is currently receiving votes (102) in this week’s AVCA/TARAFLEX Division I Poll and is on the verge of the top-25. The Tigers have now received votes four times this season (preseason, Sept. 2, Oct. 28 and now Nov. 4).
MU is also ranked 22nd this season for RPI (third highest SEC school).
The Tigers rank first in the SEC for assists per set (13.77, second in NCAA), kills per set (14.63, third in the NCAA), assists (1,088), kills (1,156) and aces (153, 1.94 aces per set, second in SEC). Mizzou is also second in the conference for hitting percentage (.295, ninth in NCAA).
In league action, Mizzou is first in the SEC for assists (13.73 assists/set) and kills (14.57 kills/set) while ranking second for aces (1.78 aces/set).
Mizzou is two wins 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.
Tickets to Wednesday and Sunday’s matches are $4 each and can be purchased online.
PROMOTIONS
• Wednesday is Student Organization Night. Students in attendance will receive Mizzou water bottles, while supplies last.
• Wednesday is also Alzheimer’s Awareness Night. Donate to Mizzou’s cause online at MUTigers.com/ALZAwareness
• Sunday is Alumni Day and First Responders Appreciation Day. The Tigers will welcome their volleyball Alumni back for Sunday’s match.
• Fans are encouraged to bring supplies, care items, snacks and more for our First Responders donation drive Sunday.
SERIES HISTORY
• Mizzou leads the all-time series with Georgia, 11-10.
• Missouri and UGA split the 2023 series with each team winning a match in its respective building.
• The Tigers beat Georgia in five sets on Nov. 5 at the Hearnes Center before dropping the 2023 regular-season finale to the Bulldogs in Athens on Nov. 25 (3-0).
• Mizzou leads the all-time series with South Carolina, 10-8.
• Head coach Dawn Sullivan picked up her first career SEC win over South Carolina Sept. 24, 2023, at the Hearnes Center in the most recent matchup between the two teams.
TEXAS RECAP
• Mizzou overcame No. 9 Texas in five sets (21-25, 25-19, 17-25, 26-24, 15-10) Nov. 1 at Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, Texas.
• Three Tigers finished in double-digits attacking paced by Jordan Iliff’s 18 kills to go with 15 digs, two assists, an ace and a block. The double-double was her 10th of the campaign.
• Mychael Vernon also tallied a double-double, finishing with 16 kills, 10 digs, two aces and two blocks. The double-double marked the 11th of the season for Vernon.
• Janet deMarrais totaled 15 kills and two digs in her home state of Texas.
• Libero Maya Sands grabbed 12 digs as four Tigers finished in double-digits defensively. She also had four assists and two aces.
• Marina Crownover registered 51 assists and 10 digs. She also had a career-best six kills on an .857 clip with two aces and two blocks. Crownover recorded her eighth double-double in 2024 Friday.
• Regan Haith chipped in six kills (.286) and five blocks with a dig. She has notched six or more kills and three or more blocks in each of the last four matches. The five-block outing was her fourth of the campaign. She ranks fifth in SEC play with a .389 hitting percentage and is 21st for most effective middle blocker based on expected points added per touch (0.04).
• Colleen Finney added five kills on a .385 hitting percentage with a block. She has posted five or more kills in each of the last four matches. Finney ranks fifth in the SEC with a .350 hitting percentage over league matches (53 kills).
• Mizzou finished with 10 aces for the sixth time in 2024 (seventh double-digit ace match).
• Mizzou’s ranked win was its first of the season (four top-25 ranked matches thus far in 2024).
• Mizzou’s win over No. 9 Texas is its first top-25 win since a 3-1 win over No. 24 Auburn Nov. 12, 2024. It also was Mizzou’s first top-9 win since defeating No. 5 Florida Nov. 20, 2016.
AUSTIN HOMECOMING
• Texas transfer setter and Austin, Texas, native, Marina Crownover registered a 51-assist (10.20 assists/set), 10-dig (2.00 digs/set) double-double in her return to Gregory Gymnasium.
• She also had a career-best six kills on an .857 clip with two aces and two blocks to push Mizzou past No. 9 Texas in five sets Nov. 1.
• Crownover recorded her eighth double-double in 2024 over the contest.
• She has registered 30 or more assists in each of the past seven matches and 44 or more in each of the last six SEC matches (51 or more assists in each of the last five matches).
• Crownover ranks second in the SEC with 10.62 assists per set (722 assists, eighth in the SEC).
• In league competitions, the three-time SEC Setter of the Week this season, has registered 440 assists (11.89 assists/set) to pace the conference.
JORDAN ILIFF
• Jordan Iliff has finished in double-digits offensively in six of the last seven matches. In 2024, she has totaled double-digit kills in all but four matches (17 of 21).
• She most recently paced a trio of Tigers in double-digits attacking as Mizzou overcame No. 9 Texas Nov. 1 in five sets at Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, Texas. Iliff notched 18 kills (3.60 kills/set) to go with 15 digs (3.00 digs/set), two assists, an ace and a block. The double-double was her 10th of the campaign.
• With an ace at No. 9 Texas, she now has 54 in 2024 which ranks tied for fifth all-time in Mizzou program history with Shen Danru (2003).
• Iliff, a two-time SEC Offensive Player of the Week selection this season, has posted 21 or more kills in three of the last five SEC matches (five 20-plus kill matches in 2024) including 23 against both Mississippi State (10/20) and Oklahoma (10/27).
• The St. Louis native competed in her 100th career match as a Missouri Tiger at Arkansas (10/25) and surpassed 1,000 career kills and 100 career aces against Alabama on Oct. 11.
• Iliff ranks first in the SEC (second in the NCAA) with 0.68 aces per set and 54 aces (sixth in the NCAA). In SEC-only matches, she is first in the league with 0.68 aces/set (25 aces).
• She is also fifth in the conference for points (378.0, 4.78 points/set, ninth) and seventh for kills (307, 3.89 kills/set, ninth).
• Iliff ranks 10th in the SEC during league play with 4.59 points per set (170.0 points) and averaging 3.68 kills per set (136 kills).
• She is 12 digs away from 500 in her career.
MYCHAEL VERNON
• Mychael Vernon has finished in double-figures offensively in each of the last seven matches.
• The outside hitter from Ossining, New York, most recently compiled her 11th double-double of the campaign, finishing with 16 kills, 10 digs, two aces and two blocks at No. 9 Texas (11/1).
• Vernon, an Oregon State graduate transfer, leads the Tigers offensively, with 339 kills (third in SEC, 4.29 kills/set, seventh in SEC) and 379.0 points (fourth in SEC, 4.80 points per set, eighth in SEC) on a .300 hitting percentage.
• In SEC play, she is third with 4.84 kills per set (179 kills) and fourth with 5.35 points per set (198.0 points).
• Vernon notched a career-best 37 kills against Arkansas (10/25) to surpass Paola Ampudia’s 35 kills (Oct. 24, 2009, at Kansas) to become MU’s single-match program record holder. She also finished with 38.0 points which also is a Mizzou single-match record.
• She was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 30 and has finished in double-digits kills in all but two matches this season (19 of 21).
• Vernon is 96 kills away from 1,500 in her collegiate career.
MAYA SANDS
• Maya Sands has registered double-digit digs in every match this season and ranks first in the SEC with 4.62 digs per set (365 digs, second in SEC).
• In league matches, Sands is first with 4.57 digs per set (169 digs).
• She ranks first in the NCAA for receiving at 2.76.
• The junior libero from Rock Falls, Illinois, most recently grabbed 12 digs at No. 9 Texas on Nov. 1. She also had four assists and two aces.
• Sands, the 2023 SEC Libero of the Year, notched consecutive career-best 30-dig matches against Mississippi State (10/20) and at Arkansas (10/25). She has posted 30 digs three times in her career. Sands’ 30 digs rank second in the SEC this season.
• Sands is 93 digs away from 1,000 at Missouri.
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 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.
LOOKING AHEAD
• Following this week’s pair of home matches, Mizzou wraps its three-match homestand Friday, Nov. 15 against No. 22 Florida. First serve is set for 7 p.m., CT at Hearnes Center.
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.
