Volleyball Hosts #22 Kentucky Before Heading to #13 Arkansas

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The University of Missouri volleyball team (10-5, 2-2 SEC) is set for another pair of conference matchups this weekend, as the Tigers return home to face #22 Kentucky Friday before traveling to #13 Arkansas Sunday.

Mizzou will first host #22 Kentucky (5-7, 3-1 SEC) at the Hearnes Center on Friday at 6:30 p.m., CT. From there, the Tigers are set to travel to Fayetteville, Arkansas, where they will face the #13 Razorbacks (14-2, 4-0 SEC) Sunday afternoon. First serve is set for 3 p.m., CT at Barnhill Arena.

Both matches will be televised on SEC Network+. Casey Roehl and Riley Rohler will be on the call Friday night at the Hearnes Center. 

Missouri officially eclipsed double-digit (10) wins for the first time since 2020 (16-8, 15-7 SEC) with its latest win over Texas A&M (Oct. 1). Additionally, the SEC victory tied the Tigers’ conference win total from the past two seasons (2021 and 2022).

Missouri is currently ranked #29 for RPI, which announced its first installment of rankings this week.

PROMOTIONS

• Friday is Alumni and Mental Health Awareness Night at Hearnes. 

• The Tigers will recognize their Alumni and celebrate the 10th anniversary of the 2013 SEC Championship team.

• Fans in attendance Friday will receive Koozies and Rally Towels, while supplies last.

• Following the match, fans can stick around for post-match autographs from the Mizzou Volleyball Team.

SERIES HISTORY: KENTUCKY

• Kentucky leads the all-time series with Missouri, 13-5.

• The two teams most recently met on Sept. 28, 2022, with the Wildcats prevailing, 3-1, in Columbia, Missouri. 

• UK has won each of the last nine meetings between the two institutions. 

• Missouri last beat Kentucky, 3-0, on Nov. 6, 2016, in Lexington, Kentucky. 

• Mizzou last bested the Wildcats in the Hearnes Center (3-2) on Oct. 23, 2016.

SERIES HISTORY: ARKANSAS

• The Tigers lead the all-time series with Arkansas, 15-5.

• The Razorbacks have won each of the last two matchups including, 3-0, on Nov. 16, 2022, in Columbia, Missouri. 

• Missouri fell to Arkansas in its last trip to Fayetteville, Arkansas, on Oct. 27, 2021 (3-0). 

• Prior to this meeting, Missouri had a 12-match win streak in the all-time series dating back to Oct. 2, 2013, including eight 3-0 sweeps, over Arkansas. 

• Head coach Dawn Sullivan previously earned her first career SEC win as a head coach over Arkansas (Dec. 7, 2021) in the NIVC Quarterfinals as UNLV captured the 2021 National Invitational Volleyball Championship.

LSU AND TEXAS A&M RECAP

• Missouri fell to LSU, 3-1, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Sept. 29 before overcoming Texas A&M, 3-1, in College Station, Texas, on Oct. 1.

• Dilara Gedikoglu led the way for the Tigers at LSU, posting six kills on an .857 hitting clip in the first set alone. The outside finished the night with 11 kills and 12 digs, marking her fifth double-double of the season. 

• Colleen Finney added nine kills with a pair of blocks out of the middle.

• Jordan Iliff posted a career-best three aces on the night. The right side also posted seven kills, two blocks and nine digs against LSU. 

• Missouri picked up its first victory over Texas A&M in College Station since Sept. 24, 2017 (3-1) as Mizzou had previously not faced Texas A&M on the road over the last six seasons.

• The Tigers had a well-rounded afternoon at the net, as three Tigers finished with double-digit attacks at Texas A&M. 

• Janet deMarrais put on an impressive performance in her home state, as she paced Mizzou with a career-best 18 kills and eight digs (second-straight match with eight). It marked the Colleyville, Texas, native’s fifth-straight double-digit kill outing (sixth in 2023). 

• Iliff added 16 kills to go along with 14 digs for her third double-double of the season. She also contributed six blocks and two aces to help secure the win. 

• Gedikoglu concluded the trip with 10 kills, eight digs, a block and an ace at Texas A&M. 

• Sophomore libero Maya Sands logged her sixth match with 20 or more digs in 2023, as she grabbed 21 digs with five assists and an ace. 

• Freshman setter Sierra Dudley distributed 40 assists for her seventh match with 40 or more assists this season. Dudley added seven digs and two aces.

• Morgan Isenberg registered eight blocks to go with five kills.

DOUBLE-DIGIT WINS FOR THE TIGERS

• Missouri officially eclipsed double-digit (10) wins for the first time since 2020 (16-8, 15-7 SEC) with its latest win over Texas A&M (Oct. 1). 

• Additionally, the SEC victory tied the Tigers’ conference win total from the past two seasons (2021 and 2022).

• Missouri was ranked #29 in the first installment of the RPI rankings this week. The Tigers are the fifth highest SEC school in the Rating Percentage Index which is a quantity used to rank sports teams based upon a team’s wins and losses and its strength of schedule.

• Head coach Dawn Sullivan picked up her first SEC road win at the helm of the Mizzou program against the Aggies on Oct. 1. 

• Missouri previously earned its first conference win of the season at home on Sept. 24 in Columbia, Missouri, marking Sullivan’s first SEC win at Mizzou.

IT’S JO TIME

• Jordan Iliff recorded her third double-double of the 2023 campaign, as the six-rotation standout logged 16 kills and 14 digs (just one short of her personal-best) in the Tigers’ victory over Texas A&M (Oct.1). 

• Iliff hit .270 to go with six blocks and two aces for her third double-double in the past five matches. 

• The right side also matched a career-best three aces at the service line Sept. 29 at LSU. It marked her fourth career match with three aces. Iliff also had seven kills and nine digs in the road contest. 

• Iliff registered a career-best day against the Gamecocks (Sept. 24), tallying 21 kills on an impressive .455 clip (one error on 44 total attacks). Iliff also recorded a personal-best 15 digs as Missouri defeated South Carolina to snag its first SEC win of the season.

• Iliff has been a force at the net for the Tigers during their 2023 campaign, as she leads Mizzou this season with 180 kills (3.27 kills/set, 11th in the SEC). 

• She also ranks seventh in the SEC with 215.5 points thus far in 2023. 

• The St. Louis native has registered 10 matches with 10 or more kills this season, to go along with 10 matches with five or more digs.

• Iliff started the season with a bang, logging double-digit kills in five consecutive matches to start the 2023 campaign, from Aug. 25 through Sept. 2. She commenced the season with 19 kills in the 2023 opener against Illinois State (Aug. 25).

OUR LIBERO

• Maya Sands combined for 35 digs (4.38 digs/set) in the Tigers’ SEC road series at LSU (Sept. 29) and Texas A&M (Oct. 1), including 21 digs to go along with five assists and an ace in Missouri’s win over the Aggies. She finished the week with just one receiving error over 60 attempts.

• The sophomore has registered 20 or more digs six times in 2023 including 21 at Texas A&M on Oct. 1. 

• In the most recent Tigers’ home matchup, Sands totaled 24 digs (just one shy of her career-best) against South Carolina on Sept. 24. She also added six assists and an ace to help secure the win.

• In the Tigers’ non-conference finale against Eastern Illinois (Sept. 15), Sands tallied a career-best 25 digs to go along with two assists.

• The libero leads Mizzou and ranks second in the SEC with 254 digs (4.54 digs/set), including nine matches with 15 or more digs. 

• The libero also paces the Tigers with 23 aces (fifth in the SEC, 0.41 aces/set, ninth in the SEC), as she has tallied three aces in four separate matches this season.

FRESHMAN SETTER

• Sierra Dudley logged her seventh match of 40 or more assists in the Tigers’ road victory over Texas A&M on Oct. 1. The setter distributed 40 assists against the Aggies to go along with two aces, seven digs and a kill. 

• During Mizzou’s SEC road series last week at LSU (Sept. 29) and Texas A&M (Oct. 1), Dudley totaled 76 assists (9.50 assists/set), 15 digs and three aces over the two matches.

• The freshman handed out 45 assists to help Missouri register a season-best .299 team-hitting percentage in its home win over South Carolina (Sept. 24). Dudley also logged 11 digs to go with four kills, three blocks and two aces in Mizzou’s first SEC victory of the season.

• Dudley has produced double-digit assists in every match this season, including 11 with 25-plus assists. 

• She ranks fifth in the SEC with 510 assists (9.44 assists/set, eighth in the SEC). 

• Dudley’s time as a Tiger got off to an impressive start after the setter registered a career-best 52 assists in Missouri’s third match of the season against Colgate (Aug 27). The freshman combined for 146 assists over the course of Mizzou’s season-opening tournament (Aug. 25-27).

• The Spartanburg, South Carolina, native has also proved to be an offensive threat, tallying three or more kills in eight matches this season. She recorded a career-best five kills against Xavier on Sept. 9.

• In the back row, Dudley has logged 12 matches with five or more digs, including securing double-digit digs four times this season (four double-doubles).

• She commenced the campaign with a trio of double-doubles Aug. 25-27.

MO MAKING MOVES

• Morgan Isenberg snagged 12 blocks (1.50 blocks/set) to go with nine kills out of the middle for the Tigers in their latest SEC series against LSU (Sept. 29) and Texas A&M (Oct. 1).

• Isenberg registered eight blocks against the Aggies on Oct. 1 (just one shy of her career-best). It marked her seventh match on the year with five-plus blocks. 

• The junior has registered nine matches with five or more kills this season, including three double-digit kills matches. 

• Isenberg notched a career-best 16 kills on a .444 hitting clip to help the Tigers secure a five-set win over Xavier on Sept. 9.

• At the net, the Wildwood, Missouri, native has tallied five or more blocks a total of seven times in 2023, including a career-high nine against South Dakota (Sept. 2).

• She ranks second in the SEC with 70 total blocks (1.27 blocks/set, fourth in SEC).    

DEMARRAIS ALL THE WAY

• Janet deMarrais recorded a career day in her home state, tallying a personal-best 18 kills against Texas A&M on Oct. 1. It marked the fifth consecutive double-digit kill match (sixth of the season) for the Colleyville, Texas, native.

• The six-rotation outside also logged a career-best matching eight digs in Sunday’s victory over the Aggies (Oct. 1). She had set the personal-high in the match prior against LSU (Sept. 29), where she also added 11 kills. 

• deMarrais has appeared in the Mizzou starting lineup each of the last four matches dating back to the Tiger’s SEC opener at Tennessee on Sept. 20. She previously had started in Mizzou’s first two matches of the season Aug. 25-26 (Illinois State and Central Arkansas) at the Mizzou Classic.

• The sophomore has recorded 66 kills over the last five matches including 53 (3.53 kills/set) during SEC play this season. 

GEDIKOGLU, MORE THAN JUST A FUN NAME TO SAY

• Dilara Gedikoglu leads Mizzou in 2023 with five double-doubles. She has finished in double-digits attacking eight times.

• The Alanya, Turkey, native, compiled a season-best 20 kills to go with 13 digs in her third match as a Tiger (Aug. 27 vs. Colgate).

• Gedikoglu has also finished with 14 kills three times including the series finale with Eastern Illinois (Sept. 15) to go with a season-best 15 digs on a .297 clip.

• She ranks second on Mizzou with 145 kills (2.64 kills/set) and 132 digs (2.40 digs/set) this season. The outside hitter has posted six double-digit dig matches in 2023.

• Gedikoglu most recently recorded 11 and 10 kills, respectively, in Mizzou’s SEC road slate at LSU (Sept. 29) and at Texas A&M (Oct. 1). She also added 12 digs in the match at LSU for the double-double. 

• In her career, Gedikoglu just surpassed both 800 career kills and digs and enters the weekend with 829 kills and 828 digs.

ABOUT THE TIGERS

• Head coach Dawn Sullivan enters her first season at the helm of the program in 2023.

• Sullivan amassed a 109-38 (.741) mark over five seasons at UNLV, leading the Rebels to five-straight postseason appearances and a pair of Mountain West Championships.

• Sullivan has added seven transfers and four freshmen since her arrival in Mid-Missouri this past December.

• The Tigers return juniors Jordan Iliff, Lauren Forbes, Morgan Isenberg, and sophomores Madilyn Sell and Janet deMarrais from the 2022 team.

• Iliff, a right side hitter from St. Louis, was named to the 2023 USA Volleyball Women’s Collegiate National Team in June. The junior was third on Mizzou offensively in 2022 with 227 kills (2.39 kills per set).

NEW FACES ON THE BENCH

• The 2023 team features a multitude of new staff members in addition to head coach Dawn Sullivan.

• Cullen Irons, who coached with Sullivan at UNLV, was added as an assistant coach in January.

• Wendel Camargo and Arielle Wilson will serve as Sullivan’s Recruiting Coordinators. Wilson, a four-time NCAA Champion, and four-time Big Ten Champion at Penn State, is also the Defensive Coordinator.

• Technical Coordinator Jhenna Gabriel competed for Sullivan at UNLV in 2022, helping the Rebels secure the Mountain West Regular-Season Championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Gabriel also earned All-American honors at Texas before her graduate transfer season at UNLV.

NEWCOMERS

• The 2023 team features 11 newcomers with seven transfers and four freshmen.

• Libero Maya Sands was Dawn Sullivan‘s first addition in January, transferring to Mizzou from UNLV.

• Other transfers include right side hitter Naomi Franco, setter Luisa Melloni, setter Sarah White, right side hitter/middle hitter Kimani Johnson, outside hitter Dilara Gedikoglu and middle blocker Colleen Finney.

• Sullivan also signed four freshmen in setter/libero Tatum Longnecker, outside hitter/right side hitter Chapel Dobbs, Columbia libero Kaylen Rush and setter Sierra Dudley.      

LOOKING AHEAD

• Mizzou next travels to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to face the Crimson Tide on Wednesday, Oct. 11. First serve at Foster Auditorium is set for 7 p.m., CT.

• The match will be streamed on SEC Network.

• The Tigers then welcome Ole Miss to Columbia, Missouri, on Sunday, Oct. 15 for the MU Healthcare Breast Cancer Awareness Match. The match will commence at 3 p.m., CT.

• Fans in attendance can receive Pink T-Shirts and Shakers, while supplies last, along with post-match autographs.