University of Missouri
Georgia
Mizzou Falls at Georgia, 3-1
10/5/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Regan Peltier had her most kills since 2012 in the loss.
ATHENS, Ga. - Mizzou volleyball dropped to 11-7 and 2-2 in SEC play after falling to Georgia, 3-1 (25-17, 18-25, 17-25, 20-25), on Sunday evening (Oct. 5) at the Ramsey Center. Mizzou won the first set, using seven blocks in the frame, but tallied just four blocks in the remaining three sets as Georgia came back to complete the win. Senior libero Sarah Meister (San Diego, Calif.) pulled in 16 digs in the loss, giving her 1,320 in her career as she now ranks fourth in Mizzou history.
"I thought we took the foot off the gas after the first set and once we let them back in it, they played really well and you just can't do that on the road," head coach Wayne Kreklow said. "I thought we did the same thing we did Wednesday where we just let one mistake become four or five and we just gave them too many points."
Junior Regan Peltier (Nixa, Mo.) had a nice night for Mizzou, tallying nine kills on .421 hitting, her most since tallying 12 at Alabama in 2012. Senior Emily Wilson (Omaha, Neb.) led Mizzou with 12 kills on .524 hitting in the loss and Carly Kan (Honolulu, Hawaii) added nine kills. Sophomore Emily Thater (Springfield, Mo.) led Mizzou with seven blocks in the loss. Loxley Keala (Kaneohe, Hawaii) just missed her 10th double-double of the season with 18 assists and nine digs. Freshman Ali Kreklow (Columbia, Mo.) led Mizzou with 23 assists.
Mizzou used its block to open a 10-6 lead early in the first, a run highlighted by a solo stuff from Sydney Deeken (California, Mo.). The Tigers continued to block well with five early as they opened a 14-8 lead to force the first timeout of the match from Georgia. Peltier then pitched in three kills later in the frame as Mizzou extended its lead to 20-12 and ran away with a 25-17 set win after a kill from Wilson. In all, Mizzou had seven blocks in the first, limiting Georgia to .000 hitting. Peltier led the way with three kills and seven Tigers tallied kills in the first.
The Tigers fell behind early in set two, but Peltier and Thater combined for a big block on the left side to swing momentum back to Mizzou's side. The Tigers then won a long, defensive rally to pull within one at 10-9 as Georgia called a timeout. UGA got a quick sideout following the stoppage and then a pair of ball handling errors reopened a four-point lead for Georgia at 13-9. That little run was all Georgia needed to claim set two, 25-18. After hitting .000 in the first, Georgia hit .400 in the second.
Attack errors cost Mizzou early in set three as Georgia opened an 8-3 lead, due in large part to three Tiger attack errors. That theme continued as Mizzou committed eight in the frame as Georgia claimed the third set, 25-17. Georgia then jumped out to a 5-1 lead in set four before the Tigers rallied to tie the set at 6-6. But Georgia used a 5-0 run to pull away and win the set, 25-20, despite a late Mizzou rally. The Tigers again committed eight attack errors in the fourth.
Mizzou will be back in action on Friday (Oct. 10) against Auburn at the Hearnes Center. For all the latest on Mizzou volleyball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on twitter @MizzouVB.
