The Mizzou women’s volleyball team celebrates being invited to play in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday. (Photo courtesy: Mizzou Athletics)
Cedric Williams
Senior Editor
COLUMBIA, MO — One day after finishing off its regular season with a home win over Auburn, the University of Missouri women’s volleyball team received an at-large bid to play in the 2024 NCAA Division I Tournament on Sunday.
Missouri has a 20-8 record and finished in fourth place in the SEC this season. Those accomplishments earned the Tigers the No. 7 seed in the Dallas Regional, which will be hosted by No. 2 seed SMU at that school’s Moody Coliseum.
Mizzou will play its first tournament game on Thursday, December 5 against Texas State. First serve for that contest is set for 4 p.m., with the winner advancing to the second round to play the winner of Thursday’s other match, SMU versus Wichita State.
The second round contest will be in Dallas on Friday, December 6, with a start time set at 7 p.m. All three matches will streamed live on ESPN+.
The Missouri Tigers volleyball team celebrates their win over Auburn, Saturday night at Hearnes Center. (Photo: Terrance Williams)
Missouri will make its 19th NCAA Tournament appearance in program history and second-straight appearance.
The Tigers went to the 2023 NCAA Lincoln Regional in head coach Dawn Sullivan’s first season at Missouri. Mizzou picked up a First Round win over Delaware (3-0) before falling to No. 1 overall seed and top ranked Nebraska in the Second Round.
Mizzou is 18-18 in program history at the NCAA Tournament and has advanced to the Second Round in eight-straight Tournament appearances dating back to 2013.
Mizzou is 2-0 all-time against Texas State. The two teams last faced off in 2009 (Aug. 28), a 3-0 Tigers win in Columbia, Missouri.
MU’s 2024 roster features five student-athletes from the Lone Star State including 2024 All-SEC setter Marina Crownover (Austin, Texas) and outside hitter Janet deMarrais (Colleyville, Texas). Freshman Aspen Maxwell (Humble, Texas), Vivian Parker (Aledo, Texas) and Grace Sweeney (Midlothian, Texas) also hail from Texas.
Members of the Missouri Tigers celebrate taking the lead during the second set of Saturday’s win over Auburn. (Photo: Terrance Williams)
Pittsburgh, Nebraska, Louisville, and Penn State earned the top seeds in this year’s tournament.
First- and second-round matches will be played December 5-7 at 16 campus sites. Teams winning both matches will continue to regional play December 12-15. Regionals for the NCAA Tournament will be held at four non-predetermined campus sites, which will be announced on December 8. At each site, four teams will compete in single-elimination regional semifinal competition.
The regional winners will advance to the national semifinals and championship final hosted by the University of Louisville, in conjunction with the Louisville Sports Commission, December 19 & 22 at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville. The national semifinal matches will broadcast on ESPN starting at 5:30 p.m., and the championship match will broadcast on ABC at 2 p.m.
| 2024 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Tournament |
| First Round: Thursday, December 5, 2024 — Moody Coliseum, Dallas, TX |
| Match 1: Texas State vs. #7 Missouri — 4 pm Broadcast | Live Stats |
| Match 2: Wichita State vs. #2 SMU — 7 pm Broadcast | Live Stats |
| Second Round: Friday, December 6, 2024 — Moody Coliseum, Dallas, TX |
| Match 3: Winner of Match 1 vs. Winner of Match 2 — 7 pm Broadcast | Live Stats |