
The Tigers finish the season on a high note and await their postseason fate
Mizzou Volleyball closed the 2024 regular season with an exclamation point, sweeping Auburn (25-18, 25-19, 25-16) and shaking off the cobwebs of the past few weeks. The Tigers had lost three of their prior four matches.
Mizzou (20-8, 11-5) jumped out to the first comfortable lead of the opening set with a 5-0 run, 14-9, featuring two kills and a block assist by Mychael Vernon. Auburn (14-13, 4-12) cut the lead to three on a service error by Vernon, but three straight points for the black and gold Tigers made it 19-13 and prompted a timeout by the visitors.
The other Tigers made their final push out of the break, going on a 3-1 run, but Sullivan’s squad built its lead back out and took the first frame 25-18 on a service error by Peyton Dunn. Mizzou hit .295 in set one, powered by five kills each from Jordan Iliff and Vernon, and were also aided by four Auburn service errors.
Sullivan’s squad built an early 8-5 lead in the second set before it was erased by a 4-0 Auburn run powered by two Madison Scheer kills. But Mizzou responded with a 6-1 run to immediately take back the lead, 14-10.
The visitors whittled down the deficit to two, 17-15, but two kills by freshman Claire Morrissey and a Kiaraliz Perez Catala service ace put Mizzou back up by four and prompted an Auburn timeout. Two more aces, one by Perez Catala and the other by Maya Sands, gave the home team a seven point lead to force set point.
“She’s continued to put the work in every single day, and more behind the scenes that people don’t even know,” head coach Dawn Sullivan said about Morrissey. “She gets the reps and she hears you, she adjusts, and she changes really fast.”
Two last-ditch Auburn kills cut into the final margin, but another kill by Vernon secured Mizzou’s 25-19 second set victory. Sullivan’s squad hit .464 in the second frame while limiting themselves to three attack errors, something which has snakebitten this team during its slump.
Looking to avoid a third set slump, Mizzou jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead with three Iliff kills. A 4-0 run soon after put the team up by nine, 16-7, with two kills by Vernon.
Sullivan’s squad moved ahead by double digits after Bella Bell’s attack error, 18-8, and Auburn called timeout. The visitors came out of the timeout determined to make a comeback push, going on a 6-2 streak sparked by two Lauren Dreves kills and making it 20-14.
But Mizzou closed out its home finale in dominant fashion, winning the final four points of the match and clinching set three with Perez Catala’s third ace, 25-16, for the sweep. All seven seniors got into the match tonight, and Naomi Franco and Colleen Finney recorded kills during the closing run.
“If I [had] opportunities, I knew I was going to play them,” Sullivan said.
“From day one, it was just, how do we make this the best program we can make it and continue to improve every single day?”, she said when asked about the seniors. “They were just bought in – I think that doesn’t always happen, right?”
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Sullivan’s squad hit .406 for the match and improved each set, recording a .517 hitting percentage in the final frame. The home team finished with only 10 attack errors, a big improvement over the past few weeks.
On the defensive end, Mizzou limited Auburn to a .189 hitting percentage and recorded five blocks. Regan Haith led the team with three total blocks, followed by Mychael Vernon and Colleen Finney (one assist, one solo) with two each.
Vernon was also a key contributor on the offensive end, hitting .387 and recording 14 kills to tie for the team lead with Jordan Iliff, who hit .500.
“It’s my last time ever playing in Hearnes, which is a bittersweet feeling,” Iliff said, “but I’m really proud of how this program has changed from my start to my end.”
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Matthew Gustafson/Rock M Nation
Colleen Finney followed with 7 kills on a .545 hitting percentage, and Regan Haith hit .556 on 6 kills.
Marina Crownover also put together a strong match after struggling last week in Mississippi, recording 38 assists to pass 1,000 for the season and adding eight digs.
After entering the regular season’s final week with some question marks, the Tigers have done their best to answer them. This team looked far more like the one we saw during its win streak, a welcome sign as Mizzou prepares for its biggest test: the NCAA Tournament.
“I think this will just continue to give us confidence and have faith in each other and trust in each other,” Mychael Vernon said, “that we are a great team and when we’re on and together we’re unstoppable.”
We’ll learn the Tigers’ path to December glory tomorrow at 5 p.m. when the tournament selection show airs on ESPN.
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