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+.

Best Bets looks to bounce back after a Mizzou-esque Week 6 with picks for the Tigers-UMass game, Pitt-Cal, Vandy-Kentucky and more!

Every week, Rock M Nation will post the SEC betting lines for that week’s slate of games. DISCLAIMER: Rock M Nation is not an online gambling operator, nor a gambling site of any kind. We are simply here to provide information about sports betting for entertainment purposes only. None of the staff will be using this information for gambling purposes and are not liable for any losses incurred due to the analysis contained within.

Much like the Tigers last week, Best Bets took it on the chin, going 1-2 (1-4-1 overall.) That drops Best Bets to 12-7, which is still nothing to sneeze at, though all our picks are 17-17-1. As it turns out, picking Mizzou and Tennessee to cover on the road was not the wisest decision. A push from Rutgers (+7) saved us from a truly disastrous week. The Toledo pick to cover 6.5 against Miami (OH) was the one stalwart of the week. However, like the Mizzou Tigers, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and keep on climbing that mountain. On to Week 7!

Best Bets

Mizzou (+27) @ UMASS

The Tigers are looking for a major bounce back this week on the road at UMASS. With a record of 1-5 including losses to Miami (OH), Buffalo (by 31) and Eastern Michigan, UMASS is truly awful. Look for the Tigers defense to recover after an embarrassing performance last week and shut down the Minutemen. I like Mizzou to cover the 27 points fairly easily this week.

Cal @ Pitt (-3)

Cal is coming off a heartbreaking last-minute loss to Miami after hosting Gameday in Berkeley last week. Their reward is getting to travel across the entire country to face an undefeated Pitt team looking to earn some respect. I expect the Bears to come in demoralized and drop this one by at least a touchdown.

Vanderbilt (+13.5) @ Kentucky

Have we learned nothing yet about this Vanderbilt team? Yes, Kentucky is hosting this game and yes, their defense is better than Alabama’s, but the Wildcat offense is also considerably worse than Alabama’s. I expect this to be a low-scoring affair, and even if Kentucky wins, they won’t win by two touchdowns.

Worth a look

Arizona @ BYU (-5)

If you’ve followed Best Bets all year, you’ll know we have been bullish on BYU most of the season. The undefeated Cougars host a good-but-not-great Arizona team coming off a loss at home to Texas Tech. I like BYU to win by two scores here, but certainly to cover the 5 point spread.

San Diego State @ Wyoming (+2.5)

Early in the season, before Best Bets was BYU-pilled, we tried to pick Wyoming to cover a game at home against the Cougars. That pick failed, but the Cowboys seem to have bounced back from a slow start and are coming off a bye. San Diego State is breaking in a new coach and just barely beat an atrocious Hawaii team at home last week. Going from sea level to 7,200 feet in Laramie won’t feel good to the Aztecs so I expect the Cowboys to win a close one.

South Carolina @ Alabama (-21)

We have yet to see how Alabama responds to a loss under Kalen DeBoer, but if it’s anything like how they would respond under Nick Saban, I expect the Crimson Tide to be eating fried Gamecock for dinner. South Carolina’s defense is good, but their offense is terrible and I expect Jalen Milroe to hit enough big plays to put the Crimson Tide out front comfortably early and hold on to the lead.

Here’s to bouncing back from a tough week. Those are my picks for the week. All odds are provided by DraftKings. Which SEC teams will you be taking this week against the spread?

Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.