Mizzou Volleyball sweeps Bama in SEC home opener

Missouri’s Colleen Finney (1) celebrates making a kill during a game against Alabama on Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, at the Hearnes Center in Columbia. (Cal Tobias/Rock M Nation)

The Tigers are now 2-2 in league play and undefeated this week

Mizzou Volleyball pulled off a sweep Friday night (25-22, 25-19, 25-21) against a scrappy Alabama team, moving back to .500 in SEC play.

The Tigers fell behind early before a massive run at the end of the first set, carrying that momentum over into the rest of the match.

Much of the first set was a back-and-forth matchup between Mizzou and Bama. The Crimson Tide slowly built up a three point lead, 12-9, off a kill by Chaise Campbell.

The Tigers would cut their deficit to one point, then Alabama would rebuild a three point cushion, and the Tide led by that much as late as 21-18. But Mizzou, and Jordan Iliff, refused to waste the energy given by the crowd of 2,810.

Her kill, which sent her to the service line, sparked a massive 6-0 run which made it set point for the home squad. Iliff recorded one ace, and heavily contributed to another point with her serving, during that time, and Colleen Finney added a kill and block assist.

A service error by Iliff delayed the comeback’s completion for a short moment, but another kill by Finney clinched the whirlwind 25-22 finish for Dawn Sullivan’s squad.

The moment sent the crowd into a frenzy, including the Mizzou men’s swim and dive team in attendance.

“This crowd was incredible, right?”, Sullivan asked. “The heart of Hearnes, it’s real.”

Iliff specifically pointed to the swim and dive team’s energy.

“Whenever the swimmers come here and they take off all 25 layers of clothes, it’s like, how do you not win that game?”, she said. “You have to win that game, and that’s exactly what we did.”

The lead bounced between the two sides at the beginning of the second set before a 5-1 Mizzou run featuring two kills and another ace by Iliff created some separation for the team, 14-10.

The Crimson Tide again pushed back, cutting the lead to two points three separate times with the help of outside hitter Sophie Agee. But the Tigers went on another 5-1 run, with three more Iliff kills, towards the end of the set to secure the lead.

Mizzou clinched set two 25-19 on a kill by, you guessed it, Jordan Iliff. The senior had seven kills on a .700 hitting percentage during the set.

Dawn Sullivan went outside the box with her strategy during the frame, switching halfway through to a 6-2 formation. This involves having either two setters or one setter and a right-side hitter who can set on the floor at the same time, in this case Sierra Dudley and Naomi Franco.

“I just thought it was a nice opportunity to see what we could do in that 6-2,” Sullivan said. “In those three rotations we don’t typically side out as well, and so we wanted to see, ‘Okay, does that help us?’”

She returned to a traditional 5-1 (one designated setter on the floor) again towards the end, allowing Iliff to work her magic late in the frame.

The Tigers hit .359 during the set while limiting the visitors to a .219 hitting percentage, their worst of the match.

Alabama again battled closely with Mizzou at the start of the third set, and the Tigers took their first two point lead 13-11 with a block by Marina Crownover and Regan Haith.

The Tide went on a 3-1 run soon after, tying the match twice during that span with kills by Campbell and Agee. But Mizzou responded by taking the lead for good with a 5-1 run, 21-17, sparked by a kill and ace from Iliff.

She reached two notable milestones in the third set, recording her 1,000th career kill and 100th career service ace in the same match. Iliff’s season ace total now stands at 44, leading the SEC with 16 more than runner-up Brooklyn DeLeye of Kentucky.

Sullivan said the senior is one of the best servers she has coached alongside her former player Mariena Hayden, who now plays professionally.

“It tails a little bit different, which is really nice, she gets on it a little bit higher than [Hayden],” she said. “Jordan’s serve is legit, it’s one of the best in the nation.”

Bama labored to make a late push, but it wasn’t enough. A kill by Regan Haith secured the sweep for the Tigers with a 25-21 third set win.

Iliff led the way with 17 kills on a .500 hitting percentage and three service aces. Mychael Vernon struggled greatly in the first two sets but caught fire with an .833 hitting percentage in the final frame, finishing with 14 kills and hitting .273.

Janet deMarrais built off her performance against SEMO with nine kills on a .269 hitting percentage, and Regan Haith continued her strong week by hitting .857 on six kills.

The team hit .345 for the match, again establishing themselves as a force to be reckoned with when all three main hitters are clicking, while Bama recorded a .255 hitting percentage.

Mizzou was able to side out 65% or more of the time in all three sets, taking advantage of their opportunities when receiving the serve and only surrendering one ace.

Another key element of the match was challenges. Both coaches held up the challenge card several times, and Dawn Sullivan wasn’t afraid to ask for review after review. The strategy was mostly successful as many calls were overturned in a rough night for the officials.

This was a strong win for the Tigers against an Alabama team which has proven surprisingly difficult to handle this year, taking at least one set in each of their prior three SEC matches (two against teams receiving top-25 votes) despite being picked last in the preseason poll.

“I was very fortunate, because if you don’t show up tonight, they beat you, right?”, Sullivan said. “That’s the type of team they are.”

Mizzou is showing plenty of positive signs they may have turned a page heading into a pivotal matchup this Sunday against Tennessee, who is receiving votes in the AVCA top-25 poll.

“I think every team in the SEC is beatable this year, and I think coming off the two wins at home is really going to help us going into the game,” Iliff said.

The match will be hosted by the Tigers at 2:00 p.m. and will be broadcasted on SEC Network+.