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COLUMBIA, Mo. – The University of Missouri Volleyball team’s (10-6, 2-3 SEC) comeback attempt fell short against #22 Kentucky (6-7, 4-1 SEC) as the Tigers succumbed to the Wildcats, 3-1 (19-25, 21-25, 25-23, 24-26), Friday night at the Hearnes Center in front of a season-best crowd of 2,921 fans.
Dilara Gedikoglu led Mizzou with 17 kills on a .405 hitting percentage for her third-straight double-digit kill match. She also had eight digs Friday.
Junior Jordan Iliff added 16 kills, connecting on a rate of .389 to go with nine digs and two aces.
Freshman setter Sierra Dudley tallied her fifth double-double of the season with 45 assists and 10 digs as the Tigers set a new season-best team hitting percentage of .320. Dudley also compiled two kills and matched a personal-high three blocks.
Sophomore libero Maya Sands notched her seventh 20-plus dig outing of the season, finishing with 22 Friday to complement nine assists.
Sophomore Janet deMarrais contributed 15 kills, marking her sixth-straight contest with double-digit kills (seventh of the season). She also added six digs and two blocks.
FIRST SET (25-19 Kentucky, Kentucky leads 1-0)
Mizzou jumped out to an early 11-6 lead aided by five kills from deMarrais. She had six in the opening set Friday on a .385 clip.
Gedikoglu then chipped in a kill to provide Missouri a 16-13 advantage before the Wildcats went on a 7-0 run to seize a 20-16 edge.
Trailing 23-17, Colleen Finney and Naomi Franco connected on back-to-back kills to trim the deficit to 23-19 before Kentucky would take the next two points for the set.
SECOND SET (25-21 Kentucky, Kentucky leads 2-0)
UK took an early 6-3 advantage in the second stanza.
Mizzou responded, rally to score four of the next five points, including a pair of Gedikoglu rally stoppers to even the set at 7-7.
An Elise Goetzinger kill made the score 15-12 in favor of the Wildcats at the media timeout.
Consecutive Gedikoglu kills out of the break then brought Mizzou to within one (15-14).
The Wildcat would then regrow their lead to 18-15, to prompt a Mizzou timeout.
Missouri pulled within one (19-18) again, this time courtesy of a block assist from Iliff and Morgan Isenberg.
Kentucky then went on a 4-0 run to rebuild the margin to 23-18.
Facing set point (24-19), Mizzou fended it off twice with back-to-back Gedikoglu kills before Kentucky closed the set (25-21).
Gedikoglu, a graduate student from Alanya, Turkey, had seven kills during the set, hitting at a rate of .600.
Mizzou hit .345 as a team during the second frame Friday.
THIRD SET (25-23 Missouri, Kentucky leads 2-1)
Kills from Gedikoglu and deMarrais (2) provided Missouri an early 7-5 lead.
Iliff then added three rally stoppers over the span of five points to break an 11-11 tie.
Finney chipped in a kill for a 15-12 edge at the media stoppage.
Three more Iliff kills contributed to a 21-20 Tigers lead. Gedikoglu then registered a termination to make the score 22-20, forcing Kentucky to call their first timeout.
Kentucky then evened the set before consecutive Wildcat errors made it set point at 24-22.
Missouri then took the set off a Gedikoglu kill.
Iliff finished the third frame with seven kills (.429) and an ace to cut the Kentucky lead in the match to 2-1.
Mizzou hit a match-best .432 with its back against the wall. The third set saw 13 ties and six lead changes.
FOURTH SET (26-24 Kentucky, Kentucky wins 3-1)
Kills by four different Tigers tied the fourth set early at 8-8.
Consecutive Iliff kills then provided Mizzou a 10-9 edge, before UK tied the set again at 11-11.
Kentucky then answered with three-straight points to take a 15-13 lead into the media timeout. The Wildcats added a 5-1 rally to pull ahead 20-15.
Three-straight Mizzou points including an Iliff kill and ace cut the deficit to 21-19 and brought on Kentucky’s first timeout.
Another Iliff kill tied the set at 23-23 and forced another Wildcats’ timeout.
deMarrais added a rally stopper for another tie score line at 24-24. The fourth set featured 10 ties and three lead changes.
UK then closed out the match with consecutive points including an ace from Emma Grome.
Iliff added seven more kills in the final set Friday, hitting .700.
MATCH NOTES
- Mizzou registered a season-best team hitting percentage of .320 Friday against Kentucky.
- Dilara Gedikoglu led Mizzou with 17 kills on a season-best .405 hitting percentage for her third-straight double-digit kill match. She also had eight digs Friday.
- Junior Jordan Iliff added 16 kills, connecting on a rate of .389 to go with nine digs and two aces.
- For Jordan Iliff, it was her second-straight 16-kill match.
- Freshman setter Sierra Dudley tallied her fifth double-double of the season with 45 assists and 10 digs. She also compiled two kills and matched a personal-high three blocks.
- For Sierra Dudley, it marked her eighth 40-plus assist performance in 2023.
- Sophomore libero Maya Sands notched her seventh 20-plus dig outing of the season, finishing with 22 Friday to complement a season-best nine assists.
- Sophomore Janet deMarrais contributed 15 kills, marking her sixth-straight contest with double-digit kills (seventh of the season). She also added six digs and two blocks.
- A season-high 2,921 fans attended Friday’s match with #22 Kentucky. It surpassed the previous season-high of 2,503 set against then #3 Louisville on Sept. 3.
- Mizzou recognized its alumni Friday night at Hearnes including the 10 year anniversary of the 2013 SEC Championship Team.
- Kentucky now leads the all-time series with Mizzou, 14-5, and has won 10-straight meetings.
UP NEXT
- The Tigers next trek to Fayetteville, Arkansas, for the Shelter Insurance Rivalry Game against the #13 Razorbacks on Sunday.
- First serve is set for 3 p.m., CT at Barnhill Arena. The match will be televised on SEC Network+.
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.
