The Missouri Tigers won their eighth straight match, Wednesday night at Hearnes Center against Georgia. (Photo: Terrance Williams)
| NCAA Women’s Volleyball | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Georgia (9-12, 3-8) | 18 | 12 | 28 | 17 | (1) |
| Missouri (17-5, 8-2) | 25 | 25 | 26 | 25 | (3) |
Paige Dale
Staff Writer
COLUMBIA, MO — The University of Missouri women’s volleyball team claimed its eighth straight win, thanks to a three sets to one (25-18, 25-12, 26-28, 25-17) victory over visiting Georgia, Wednesday evening at the Hearnes Center.
The Tigers are now 17-5 on the season, 8-2 in Southeastern Conference play, and last lost a match on October 6 against then-No. 13 ranked Kentucky. Since then, Missouri has defeated Southeast Missouri, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi State, Arkansas, Oklahoma, then-No. 9 Texas, and now Georgia all in a row.
The eight straight wins is the most consecutive wins for Missouri since 2019.
Mizzou is tied for first place in the SEC with Kentucky and Texas. The Tigers will play a rematch with Kentucky, that could be for the SEC regular season championship, on the night before Thanksgiving, Wednesday, November 28.
Mizzou’s Regan Haith (11) celebrates a successful play during her team’s win over Georgia on Wednesday. (Photo: Terrance Williams)
On Wednesday, Missouri controlled the action for most of the night. In fact, the Tigers dominated play in the first two sets and never trailed at any point of those first two sets.
The third set though, was back and forth, with a score that featured 21 ties and nine lead changes, before Georgia won the last three points to claim a 28-26 set victory.
The Bulldogs continued their run at the beginning of the fourth set and led 3-0 before Mizzou finally got going. The Tigers, though, won five of the next six points to take their first lead of what would be the final set.
The teams traded points until Mizzou grabbed the lead for good at 11-10. From there, the Tigers won six of the next eight points to go up 16-12.
Georgia won three straight points to cut its deficit to 16-15, but Missouri won nine of the last 11 points to finish off the night with a 25-17 final set win.
Outside hitter Mychael Vernon led all attackers with 20 kills. Teammate Jordan Iliff had 18 kills and 12 digs, while Janet deMarrais and Colleen Finney added 12 kills and 11 kills, respectively.
Marina Crownover dished out 57 assists, with Maya Sands leading the defense with 18 digs.
The Tigers will be back in action on Sunday, when they’ll host South Carolina in another SEC home match. First serve at Hearnes Center is set for 5:30 p.m., and the match will be televised nationally on the SEC Network.
2024 MISSOURI TIGERS WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL SCHEDULE
| Date | Time | At | Opponent | Location | TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 10, 2024 (Sunday) | 5:30 pm | Home | South Carolina | Columbia, Mo. / Hearnes Center |  |
| November 15, 2024 (Friday) | 7 pm | Home | #22 Florida | Columbia, Mo. / Hearnes Center |  |
| November 22, 2024 (Friday) | 6:30 pm | Away | Ole Miss | Oxford, Miss. | |
| November 24, 2024 (Sunday) | 2 pm | Away | Mississippi State | Starkville, Miss. | |
| November 27, 2024 (Wednesday) | 7 pm | Home | #12 Kentucky | Columbia, Mo. / Hearnes Center | |
| November 30, 2024 (Saturday) | 7:30 pm | Home | Auburn | Columbia, Mo. / Hearnes Center | |