University of Missouri
18-5,9-2SEC
South Carolina
13-9,4-7SEC
Volleyball Registers Ninth Straight Win with Sunday Sweep of South Carolina
11/10/2024 9:52:00 PM | Volleyball
COLUMBIA, Mo. – The University of Missouri volleyball team (18-5, 9-2 SEC) notched a 3-0 sweep of South Carolina (13-9, 4-7 SEC), 25-23, 25-13, 25-18, Sunday evening at the Hearnes Center.
The victory extended the Tigers win-streak to nine (eight SEC matches), putting them second in the SEC standings at 9-2 right behind Kentucky (10-2 SEC).
The win also matched Mizzou's SEC and overall record from 2023 in the first season of the Dawn Sullivan era.
Mychael Vernon led the Tigers with 14 kills (.324), eight digs, two blocks and an ace in the sweep.
Janet deMarrais followed with 12 kills on a .346 hitting percentage to go with four blocks.
Marina Crownover paces the SEC with 12.14 assists per set (534 assists) during conference play and finished Sunday's outing with 37 assists, five digs and a block as Mizzou hit .351 as a team.
Colleen Finney totaled a career-best matching seven total blocks to go with six kills, as Mizzou totaled 11.5 as a team Sunday. For Finney, a graduate middle blocker from Blythewood, South Carolina, it marked her third time with seven total blocks, previously last achieving the feat against the Gamecocks on Sept. 6, 2022.
Maya Sands led the team in digs with 16, increasing her season total to 399.
Kiaraliz Perez Catala notched two aces and five digs.
FIRST SET (25-23, Mizzou leads 1-0)
The teams traded points to kick off the set at 7-7. Sands recorded an ace while Haith and Iliff both notched kills throughout the early battle.
Finney slammed a trio of kills to help take the Tigers to 11-8.
The Tigers extended the run to 3-0 run (5-1 run) with an ace from Perez Catala (12-8).
Mizzou held a 15-12 advantage at the media timeout.
A kill by deMarrais ignited a 4-1 run by the Tigers that forced a South Carolina timeout (19-15 Mizzou). Finney added her fourth kill of the set during the run.
The Gamecocks then pulled within one after a 5-2 sequence to bring the score to 21-20 as Mizzou called a timeout.
Vernon slammed a pair of terminations to fend off the Gamecocks and make the score 23-22.
deMarrais' third kill of the match took the Tigers to set point and an Iliff rally stopper clinched the frame at 25-23.
Mizzou hit .353 over set one and finished Sunday at .351, its third highest hitting percentage during league play.
SECOND SET (25-13, Mizzou leads 2-0)
The Tigers commenced the second set with a trio of Vernon kills followed by a termination by Iliff. The run brought the Tigers to an early edge over the Gamecocks at 7-2.
Vernon posted an ace to close a 3-0 Tiger run that led South Carolina to call a timeout at 10-3.
The Tigers kept the Gamecocks at bay with kills by deMarrais and Finney (14-7).
deMarrais notched a kill to keep the Tiger lead at 19-10.
Back-to-back kills by Vernon and Finney increased the Tigers lead to 23-13.
Vernon worked in another kill and Perez Catala placed an ace during a 5-0 run that secured the second set.
Vernon tallied six kills over set #2 on a .545 clip. Missouri as a team hit .435 over the second stanza.
THIRD SET (25-18, Mizzou wins 3-0)
The third set opened with a 4-4 tie as Vernon chipped in a pair of kills during the exchange.
An Iliff kill kicked off a 6-0 Tiger run that also featured a deMarrais termination and three blocks by Finney, providing Mizzou a 10-4 lead.
deMarrais then notched a pair of kills and Vernon posted a rally stopper to put the Tigers lead at 14-8.
Haith compiled a pair of kills and Vernon slammed a termination, taking the Mizzou edge to 16-11.
The Tigers extended their lead with two deMarrais kills that forced a South Carolina timeout at 19-13.
deMarrais came out of the stoppage, blasting another termination for Mizzou (20-13).
The Gamecocks then pulled within three as the Tigers called a timeout at 21-18.
Back-to-back kills by Vernon helped widen the margin to 23-18.
A Crownover kill clinched a 4-0 run and secured the match at 25-18.
deMarrais and Vernon each had six kills over the final set while Crownover passed out 13 assists.
MATCH NOTES
- Mychael Vernon led the Tigers with 14 kills (.324), eight digs, two blocks and an ace in the sweep.
- Mychael Vernon has now registered 14 or more kills in each of the last eight matches.
- Janet deMarrais was second in kills with 12, on a .346 hitting percentage to go with four blocks.
- Janet deMarrais has finished in double-digits attacking in each of the last seven matches.
- Marina Crownover finished Sunday's outing with 37 assists, five digs and a block as Mizzou hit .351. She paces the SEC with 12.14 assists per set (534 assists) during conference play.
- Marina Crownover has now registered 37 or more assists in each of the last eight matches.
- Maya Sands, who is first in the SEC for digs during conference play (203 digs, 4.61 digs/set), led Mizzou Sunday with 16, increasing her season total to 399.
- Maya Sands has totaled 16 or more digs in each of the last two matches.
- Jordan Iliff (five kills, four blocks) and Mychael Vernon each chipped in eight digs over the sweep.
- Colleen Finney totaled a career-best matching seven total blocks to go with six kills and three digs, as Mizzou totaled 11.5 as a team Sunday.
- For Colleen Finney, a graduate middle blocker from Blythewood, South Carolina, it marked her third time with seven total blocks, previously last achieving the feat against the Gamecocks on Sept. 6, 2022.
- Kiaraliz Perez Catala notched two aces and five digs.
- Regan Haith added four kills and four blocks, hitting .571.
- Missouri registered a season-best 11.5 blocks.
- Mizzou finished Sunday at .351, its third highest hitting percentage during league play.
- Mizzou leads the all-time series with South Carolina, 11-8, and now has won the last two meetings.
- With the victory, Mizzou extended its win streak to nine matches (eight SEC matches) and remains tied for first in the SEC with Kentucky at 9-2.
- The win also matched Mizzou's SEC and overall record from 2023 in the first season of the Dawn Sullivan era.
- Missouri is on its longest win streak since 2016 and longest SEC win streak since 2013.
- The 3-0 sweep Sunday was Mizzou's third in SEC play (eighth overall) this season.
- Mizzou welcomed a season-best 3,841 fans to the Hearnes Center. It marked the fourth 3,000-plus match in 2024 for the Tigers who are 9-0 at home.
LOOKING AHEAD
- Missouri will next host No. 22 Florida (18-5, 9-3 SEC) on Friday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m., CT at the Hearnes Center.
- The contest will be aired on SEC Network+.
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.
