The Tigers had themselves a get right game

Mizzou Volleyball dominated in a much-needed win Wednesday night against SEMO, sweeping (25-15, 25-20, 25-11) the Redhawks. The match begins a four match homestand for the Tigers.

Mizzou’s (10-5, 1-2) middle blockers kickstarted the offense in the opening frame as three kills by Regan Haith put the Tigers up 6-4. The team began creating some separation with a 3-0 run, including another Haith kill, to move ahead 11-7.

Mizzou already held a comfortable cushion by the time yet another Jordan Iliff service run blew SEMO (7-10, 4-1) out of the water. The right-side hitter recorded three consecutive aces spanning a timeout by the Redhawks during a 5-0 run also featuring two kills by Janet deMarrais.

The Tigers took a double digit lead for the first time, 22-12, on an ace by Kiaraliz Perez Catala, and clinched the first set 25-15 on an off-handed tip over the net by Mychael Vernon that found the right spot on the court.

SEMO’s offense was clicking in the first set, hitting .364, but that was easily outpaced by Mizzou’s .583 hitting percentage.

Haith and Finney paired for six kills in the first set, establishing the attack up the middle from the start of the match.

The visitors started off the second set with the upper hand, taking a quick 4-1 lead with two kills by Abby Johnson. The Tigers didn’t take long to dial back in, though, going on a 9-1 run with three kills and a block assist by Iliff to lead 10-5.

Mizzou maintained a five to six point lead for most the set’s middle portion until the Redhawks went on a 3-0 run, cutting the lead to three at 21-18. But the visitors couldn’t complete their comeback, and Dawn Sullivan’s squad pulled ahead two sets to none when Maya Sands’ second ace of the match gave the Tigers a 25-20 victory.

The Tigers were red-hot to begin set three, taking a 5-1 lead as Regan Haith added two more kills and a block assist. SEMO narrowed the lead to two points, 10-8, with a Megan Holder service ace, but Mizzou’s lead widened to five by the media timeout.

The point sending both squads to the media timeout, a service error by Nina Schuberth, was the first in an 11-1 run to end the match for the Tigers. The only point for the Redhawks during the streak was an attack error by Iliff, breaking up runs of 6-0 and 5-0.

The Redhawks’ fate was already sealed when Janet deMarrais’ tenth kill of the match clinched the sweep for Mizzou, finishing off a dominant 25-11 set three win.

Iliff and deMarrais had much-needed bounceback performances after struggling in the last two matches against Texas A&M and Kentucky, both ending the UK match with negative hitting percentages.

Iliff led the team with 14 kills, hitting .500 and adding four aces and two blocks assists, while deMarrais recorded 10 kills on a .389 hitting percentage.

“I think they needed to just come back out and play again,” head coach Dawn Sullivan said. “You know, I think both of them were not in the best rhythm at Kentucky, we weren’t in system all that much.”

Mychael Vernon rounded out the trio of main hitters for the Tigers with 12 kills, hitting .474 with two aces and seven digs.

But the star of the show was Regan Haith, who had 10 kills on an absurd .909 hitting percentage alongside two block assists.

“Regan was on fire tonight, wasn’t she?”, Sullivan said after the match. “It’s something we worked [on] all week, just a little transition, finding the first ball but also in transition and just being available.”

“Yeah, .909 is just insane,” Jordan Iliff added. “Hitting that high, that’s almost 1.000, that’s just exactly what we need her to do for us to win games.”

The team as a whole hit .530 for the match, limiting themselves to only eight attack errors. They also showed again that serving is one of the squad’s biggest strongpoints, recording ten aces.

Some questions remain on the defensive end. The Redhawks hit .241, though the Tigers held them to a .083 hitting percentage in the final frame, and 2023 Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year Lucy Ardnt recorded nine kills on a .375 hitting percentage.

But Dawn Sullivan’s squad limited their mistakes in serve receive, allowing just four aces, and importantly avoided the maligned third set slump which cost them dearly against Texas A&M.

“I think today, we knew we had to keep our foot on the gas,” Iliff said. “We did that by just staying free and playing with a lot of joy in our hearts. And it worked, it was really fun.”

This was the kind of match Mizzou needed after displaying a few red flags during their losses to the Aggies and Wildcats.

“I think it gives us a lot of confidence to just keep crushing it every single day when we come in here,” said Iliff.

Now, the Tigers have a chance to get back to .500 in SEC play Friday when they host Alabama at the Hearnes Center.

The match starts at 7:00 p.m. and will be broadcast on SEC Network+.