Volleyball Drops SEC Opener at #14 Tennessee

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Missouri volleyball team (8-4, 0-1 SEC) dropped its 2023 Southeastern Conference opener to #14 Tennessee (10-1, 1-0 SEC) Wednesday evening at the Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center.

Tennessee won the conference opener, 26-24, 25-19, 25-11.

FIRST SET (26-24 Tennessee, Tennessee leads 1-0)

Mizzou took an early 8-7 edge after a 3-0 run following kills from Jordan Iliff and Colleen Finney.

The Tigers then distanced themselves from the Volunteers, 16-12, after four-straight unanswered points. Iliff blasted a pair of kills while libero Maya Sands placed a pair of aces.

The opening set featured 14 tie score lines and six lead changes including ties at 20-20 and 21-21. Janet deMarrais connected on a pair of kills to keep the set all square.

Iliff added a rally stopper to make the score 23-22 before Tennessee brought on set point (24-23).

Dilara Gedikoglu tallied a kill to even the set at 24-24 before the Volunteers claimed the opening set.

Iliff and deMarrais had five (.250) and four kills, respectively, in the first set.

SECOND SET (25-19 Tennessee, Tennessee leads 2-0)

The Volunteers utilized an early 4-0 run to pull ahead 7-4 and went to the media stoppage ahead 15-8.

The home team then strung together six-straight points to grow the Tennessee advantage to 17-8.

A kill from Gedikoglu followed by a block assist from Naomi Franco and Finney trimmed the margin to 23-18.

The Tigers came as close as 24-19 before a solo block by Keondreya Granberry increased the Vols lead in the match to 2-0.

THIRD SET (25-11 Tennessee, Tennessee wins 2-0)

Tennessee took six of the first seven points to open set #3 before going up 14-4 after a 5-0 rally.

The Tigers took a timeout trailing 18-8 as Mizzou would score three more times before UT secured the match (25-11).

MATCH NOTES

• Janet deMarrais paced Mizzou with 10 kills, four digs, two blocks and an ace. It marked her third career double-digit kill match.
• Dilara Gedikoglu (four digs) and Jordan Iliff (two digs) each added five kills.  
• Freshman Sierra Dudley tallied 19 assists with a dig.
• Sarah White and Luisa Melloni added six and four assists, respectively.
• Libero Maya Sands grabbed 10 digs with a pair of aces.
• Wednesday marked head coach Dawn Sullivan’s first career SEC match.

LOOKING AHEAD

• Mizzou next returns home to host its first SEC opponent of the season, as the Tigers face South Carolina on Sunday, Sept. 24 at the Hearnes Center.
• First serve is set for 3 p.m., CT. Fans can watch the match live on SEC Network+.
• Sunday is a Gold Rush and fans are encouraged to wear gold. There will also be a Gold T-shirt giveaway, while supplies last, and fans can stick around for post-match autographs from the Mizzou Volleyball Team.

FOLLOW THE TIGERS

• For all the latest information on Mizzou Volleyball, please visit MUTigers.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Tigers on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
• Single-match and Season Tickets for Mizzou Volleyball are currently on sale now at mutigers.com/feature/VBTix.