Volleyball Downs Eastern Illinois to Wrap Non-Conference Play

CHARLESTON, Ill. – Four Tiger attackers finished in double-figures as the University of Missouri Volleyball team (8-3) overcame Eastern Illinois (10-1) in four sets (25-18, 20-25, 25-22, 25-20) Friday at Lantz Arena.

Graduate student Dilara Gedikoglu paced Mizzou with her fourth double-double of the campaign with 14 kills and 15 digs on a .297 clip. It was also her third 14-kill match in 2023.

Sophomore outside hitter Janet deMarrais added a career-best 13 kills on a .344 hitting percentage to complement a trio of blocks. Jordan Iliff and Morgan Isenberg (.364) both added 10 kills.

Iliff tallied her first career double-double, chipping in a career-best 13 digs with five blocks.

Isenberg also collected eight blocks with a dig.

Mizzou handed EIU its first loss of the season to even the non-conference series at 1-1. The Tigers head into next week’s SEC play with an 8-3 mark.

FIRST SET (25-18 Mizzou, Mizzou leads 1-0)

After the Tigers dropped Thursday’s opener, Mizzou and Eastern Illinois commenced Friday with a tighter first set.

A kill from Gedikoglu evened the frame at 8-8 in a set that featured 10 ties and four lead changes.

The Panthers took a 15-12 lead into the media stoppage before Mizzou went on a 7-0 run to pull ahead 19-15. Gedikoglu had a pair of rally stoppers while Sierra Dudley and Isenberg combined for a block assist during the sequence.

A block assist by Isenberg and Iliff pushed the lead to 22-17 as the Tigers claimed the set on a 3-0 rally (25-18).

Colleen Finney teamed up with Iliff and then deMarrais for consecutive block assists following a termination from Isenberg.

Iliff and Gedikoglu (.444) each had four kills in the first set.

SECOND SET (25-20 EIU, Tied 1-1)

Eastern Illinois then jumped out to a 9-2 lead to bring on an early Missouri timeout.

A 5-0 Tigers run trimmed the home team’s edge to one (12-11). Dudley opened the rally with a setter kill from libero Maya Sands followed by a pair of Gedikoglu kills and a Kaylen Rush ace.

Rush finished Friday with two aces and a dig.

Gedikoglu and Iliff then both added kills for ties at 15-15 and 16-16. EIU would distance itself, 22-18, after a Kate Dean kill.

The Tigers would come as close as 22-20 after consecutive rally stoppers by Finney and Isenberg as the Panthers evened the match at 1-1, scoring the final three points.

THIRD SET (25-22 Mizzou, Mizzou leads 2-1)

Mizzou then hit a match-high .341 in the third frame Friday as the Tigers retook the lead in the match.

Iliff blasted a kill after an EIU attack error for a slight 11-8 lead early. The Tigers then went on a 4-1 rally for a 15-10 advantage.

Gedikoglu connected on a rally stopper before a block assist by Isenberg and Dudley put the score at 18-13.

The Tigers then increased their advantage to 20-15 before EIU cut the margin to 23-20.

deMarrais registered a kill for set point (24-20) that the Panthers fended off twice before Gedikoglu posted her fourth kill of the set (25-22).

deMarrais notched five kills in the third set on a .455 hitting percentage followed by Isenberg (4, .500 hitting percentage) and Gedikoglu (4).

FOURTH SET (25-20 Mizzou, Mizzou wins 3-1)

The Tigers took an early 13-9 lead after three-straight Panthers attack errors including block assists by Isenberg and Iliff and then Isenberg and deMarrais.

With the score knotted at 16-16, Mizzou utilized a 5-0 rally for a 21-16 lead. Lauren Forbes capped the run with an ace.

EIU responded with four-straight points to trim the Tigers advantage to 21-20.

Mizzou then captured the match, grabbing the final four points (25-20).

MATCH NOTES

• Four Tiger attackers finished in double-figures Friday. It marked the first time in 2023 that Missouri had registered the feat.
• Graduate student Dilara Gedikoglu paced Mizzou with her fourth double-double of the campaign with 14 kills and 15 digs on a .297 clip. It was also her third 14-kill match in 2023.
• Sophomore outside hitter Janet deMarrais added a career-best 13 kills on a .344 hitting percentage to complement a trio of blocks.
• Jordan Iliff and Morgan Isenberg (.364) both added 10 kills.
• Jordan Iliff tallied her first career double-double, chipping in a career-best 13 digs with five blocks.
• Morgan Isenberg also collected eight blocks with a dig.
• Graduate student Colleen Finney chipped in seven kills on a .333 hitting percentage with a season-high six blocks and a dig.
• Freshman setter Sierra Dudley passed out 48 assists, nine digs, three blocks and two kills as Mizzou hit .260 as a team.
• For Sierra Dudley, it marked her fifth career 40-plus assist match.
• Sophomore libero Maya Sands grabbed a career-best 25 digs with two assists.
• For Maya Sands, it marked her fourth 20-plus dig outing of the 2023 season.
• Defensive specialist Lauren Forbes tallied 13 digs with two assists and an ace. It marked her third double-digit dig outing in 2023.
• Missouri registered a season-high 78 digs and 14 blocks (Missouri led EIU 14-5). The Tigers last had 78 digs at South Carolina in 2022 (Oct. 1).
• Mizzou handed EIU its first loss of the season to even the non-conference series at 1-1. Eastern Illinois now leads the all-time series with Missouri, 9-6.
• The Tigers head into next week’s SEC play with an 8-3 overall mark. With one more win, Mizzou will tie its win total from the 2022 season.

LOOKING AHEAD

• Mizzou next heads to Knoxville, Tennessee, to officially begin conference play with the team’s first SEC matchup against Tennessee, on Wednesday, Sept. 20.
• First serve is set for 6 p.m., CT. Fans can watch the match live on ESPN2.

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