University of Missouri
#21 Florida
No. 25 Volleyball Hosts No. 21 Florida Friday
11/14/2024 4:52:00 PM | Volleyball
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No. 25 Mizzou (18-5, 9-2 SEC) vs. No. 21 Florida (18-5, 9-3 SEC) |
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Match Information |
Friday, Nov. 15 • 7 p.m., CT • Columbia, Mo. • Hearnes Center |
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Match Coverage |
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Match Notes |
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COLUMBIA, Mo. – The No. 25 ranked University of Missouri volleyball team (18-5, 9-2 SEC) will take on No. 21 Florida (18-5, 9-3 SEC) in a top-25 matchup Friday evening at the Hearnes Center. First serve is set for 7 p.m., CT.
It's also a top-3 SEC meeting between Missouri and Florida, who are second and third, respectively, in the conference standings.
The match will be broadcasted on SEC Network+ with Noah Reed and former Mizzou Tiger Riley Rohler on the broadcast.
Mizzou is currently on a nine-match win streak (eight SEC matches) in 2024. Missouri is on its longest win streak since 2016 (13 matches, nine SEC matches).
MU is ranked in the top-25 for the first time since April 26, 2021, where MU concluded the spring 2020-21 campaign at No. 25. The Tigers previously received votes four times this season (preseason, Sept. 2, Oct. 28 and now Nov. 4) before breaching the top-25.
MU is ranked 17th this season for RPI (third highest SEC school).
Mizzou welcomed a season-best 3,841 fans to the Hearnes Center Sunday (Nov. 10) against South Carolina. It marked the fourth 3,000-plus match in 2024 for the Tigers who are 9-0 at home. MU ranks 23rd in the nation for average attendance this season.
The Tigers most recently matched their SEC (9) and overall win (18) totals from 2023, when Dawn Sullivan was named SEC Coach of the Year.
The Tigers rank first overall in the NCAA for assists per set (13.90) and kills per set (14.72). Mizzou is also first in the SEC for assists (1,195), kills (1,266) and aces (163, 1.90 aces per set, second in SEC). MU is also second in the conference for hitting percentage (.300, eighth in NCAA).
In league action, Mizzou is first in the SEC for assists (13.98 assists/set) and kills (14.75 kills/set, 649) while ranking second for aces (1.73 aces/set) and third for hitting percentage (.280).
PROMOTIONS
• Friday night's match is a Beach Bash and Hawaiian shirt giveaway. The first 300 fans in attendance Friday will receive a Hawaiian shirt.
SERIES HISTORY
• Florida leads the all-time series with Missouri, 13-5.
• The Gators won the most recent meeting, 3-0, on Mizzou's Senior Day last season (Nov. 17) in front of a 2024 campaign-best 5,452 fans. The crowd was the seventh largest attendance in Mizzou Volleyball program history.
• Mizzou last beat Florida, 3-2, in Gainesville, Florida, on Oct. 21, 2018. The Tigers last picked up a victory over the Gators in Columbia, Missouri, on Nov. 20, 2016 (3-2 win).
VOLLEYBALL SIGNS FIVE FOR NATIONAL SIGNING DAY
• The University of Missouri volleyball team announced Thursday the signing of five student-athletes for National Signing Day. Maca Lobaglio, Paige Felder, Asia Harvey, Ashley Euston, and Zoey Matias have all inked with the Tigers and will head to Missouri ahead of the 2025 campaign.
NINE STRAIGHT WINS
• Mizzou extended its win streak to nine matches with home victories over Georgia (Nov. 6, 3-1 win) and South Carolina (Nov. 10, 3-0 win).
• Mychael Vernon led the offense with 34 kills (4.86 kills/set) while Janet deMarrais and Jordan Iliff each chipped in 23 kills (3.29 kills/set) over the week. Vernon notched 20 kills on a .349 hitting percentage against Georgia (Nov. 6). Iliff added 18 kills on a .371 clip vs. UGA.
• Marina Crownover dished out 94 assists (13.43 assists/set) with 12 digs over the pair of matches. She recorded 57 assists with seven digs, two kills and an ace as Mizzou hit a season-best during SEC play .378 against UGA (Nov. 6).
• Maya Sands grabbed 34 digs over the two matches including 18 against Georgia (Nov. 6).
• Regan Haith put up five blocks and hit seven kills (.545) against UGA (Nov. 6).
• Kiaraliz Perez Catala notched 10 digs over the start vs. the Bulldogs (Nov. 6). She has three double-digit dig matches in 2024.
• Kaylen Rush notched a season-best two aces vs. Georgia (Nov. 6).
BLOCK PARTY
• Mizzou registered a season-best 11.5 blocks against South Carolina (Nov. 10).
• The block total was the most for Missouri since notching 12 against Georgia on Nov. 5, 2023.
• Colleen Finney led the Tigers with a career-best matching seven blocks while Jordan Iliff, Regan Haith and Janet deMarrais each had four.
DEMARRAIS ON A TEAR
• Janet deMarrais has finished in double-digits attacking in each of the last seven matches. In the last four matches, deMarrais is averaging 3.00 kills per set and 3.26 points per set on a .321 hitting percentage.
• She most recently notched 12 kills on a .346 hitting percentage to go with four blocks against South Carolina (Nov. 10).
• deMarrais, a junior from Colleyville, Texas, is third on Mizzou offensively with 244 kills (2.84 kills/set) this season.
COLLEEN FINNEY
• Colleen Finney totaled a career-best matching seven total blocks to go with six kills, as Mizzou totaled a season-best 11.5 blocks as a team against South Carolina (Nov. 10).
• 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.
• Finney finished with 10 kills (.500) in the match prior against Georgia (Nov. 6). It marked her second double-digit kill match of the season.
• She is third on Mizzou with 57.0 total blocks (0.68 blocks/set).
MARINA CROWNOVER
• Marina Crownover notched a team best 94 assists (13.43 assists per set) to go with 12 digs, three kills, two blocks and an ace as Mizzou went 2-0 over its homestand with victories over Georgia and South Carolina.
• Crownover recorded 57 assists with seven digs, two kills and an ace as Mizzou hit a season-best during SEC play .378 against Georgia (11/6).
• She then finished Sunday's sweep of South Carolina (11/10) with 37 assists, five digs and a block as Mizzou hit .351 as a team. The .351 hitting percentage is Mizzou's third highest hitting percentage during league play.
• Crownover has registered 37 or more assists in each of the last eight matches.
• The three-time SEC Setter of the Week this season, paces the league during SEC matches with 12.14 assists per set (534 assists). Overall, she is second in the SEC with 10.88 assists/set (816 assists, eighth in SEC).
JORDAN ILIFF
• Jordan Iliff has finished in double-digits offensively in seven of the last nine matches. In 2024, she has totaled double-digit kills in all but five matches (18 of 23).
• Iliff recorded 18 kills on a .371 clip against Georgia (Nov. 6). She also recorded her 11th double-double in 2024, tallying 12 digs, two aces, a block and an assist. Iliff also reached 500 career digs in the match.
• 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 (third in the NCAA) with 0.65 aces per set and 56 aces (seventh in the NCAA). In SEC-only matches, she is first in the league with 0.61 aces/set (27 aces). Her 56 aces rank fifth in Mizzou program history.
• She is also third in the conference for points (417.0, 4.85 points/set, seventh) and seventh for kills (330, 3.84 kills/set, 11th).
• During league play, Iliff has 4.49 points per set (197.5 points) and is averaging 3.61 kills per set (159 kills).
MYCHAEL VERNON
• Mychael Vernon led Mizzou offensively with 34 kills (4.86 kills/set) on a .338 hitting percentage as the Tigers went 2-0 over their homestand with victories over Georgia and South Carolina.
• Vernon finished with 20 kills on a .349 hitting percentage to pace the Mizzou offense against Georgia (11/6). She also had five digs, two assists, two blocks and an ace.
• She then led the Tigers with 14 kills (.324), eight digs, two blocks and an ace in the sweep of South Carolina (11/10).
• Vernon has registered 14 or more kills in each of the last eight matches.
• She ranks third in the SEC during league play with 4.84 kills per set (213 kills) and 5.36 points per set (236.0 points). Overall, Vernon is third in the SEC for points (417.0) and total kills (373).
• 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 62 kills away from 1,500 in her collegiate career.
MAYA SANDS
• Maya Sands led the Missouri defense with 34 digs (4.86 digs per set) as the Tigers went 2-0 over their homestand with victories over Georgia and South Carolina.
• Sands notched 18 digs with five assists against Georgia (11/6).
• She then led Missouri in digs with 16, increasing her season total to 399, in the sweep of South Carolina (11/10).
• She has totaled 16 or more digs in each of the last two matches. She has also finished with double-digit digs in every match this season.
• Sands leads the SEC during league play with 4.61 digs per set and 203 digs. Overall, in 2024, she is first in the SEC with 399 digs (4.64 digs/set, second).
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
• Mizzou next travels to Mississippi for a pair of SEC matches. The Tigers take on Ole Miss Friday, Nov. 22 in Oxford before facing Mississippi State on Sunday, Nov. 24 in Starkville.
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.
