University of Missouri
South Carolina
Mizzou Falls in Four at South Carolina
10/26/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Kasey Reuter reset career-highs in kills and attempts in the loss.
COLUMBIA, S.C. - Mizzou volleyball fell to 13-11 and 4-5 in SEC play as it lost to South Carolina, 3-1 (25-18, 19-25, 23-25, 17-25), on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 26) at the South Carolina Volleyball Complex. Mizzou committed 13 service errors in the loss to negate a great hitting performance that saw the Tiger offense hit .370 in a losing effort. Sophomore Carly Kan (Honolulu, Hawaii) led Mizzou with 16 kills on .424 hitting and was one of three Tigers in double-figures. The .370 hitting performance its Mizzou's best in a losing effort this season.
"I was disappointed with today's match," head coach Wayne Kreklow said. "We came out and played really well in set one and then we let them get going. We just made too many mistakes and you can't do that on the road. We did well attacking, but we just continue to make little mistakes that make it really hard to win."
In addition to Kan, Mizzou got stellar offensive performances from the outside hitting duo of Regan Peltier (Nixa, Mo.) and Kasey Reuter (Sioux City, Iowa) as each posted 11 kills. Peltier posted her 11 on .400 hitting while Reuter's 11 kills are a new career-high as were her 28 attempts on Sunday. Senior Whitney Little (Keller, Texas) tallied eight kills on .583 hitting with six blocks, both of which are her best since a win over Auburn, a stretch of five matches. Senior libero Sarah Meister (San Diego, Calif.) tallied 14 digs in the loss. Loxley Keala (Kaneohe, Hawaii) led Mizzou with 27 assists.
Mizzou raced out to an 11-7 lead in set one after a stuff by Kan and extended that lead to 15-10 on a block by Thater and Peltier at the media timeout. Mizzou was hitting .500 with seven kills on 14 attempts at the media stoppage, paced by three kills from Reuter, who made her fourth consecutive start Sunday.
Out of the media timeout, the Gamecocks scored two straight but the Tigers continued to serve tough while opening a 19-13 lead after Kan buried an overpass. Mizzou extended its lead to 21-15 as South Carolina used its final timeout, out of which the Gamecocks scored three in a row. But the Tigers scored the next four points to close out the set, 25-18. Kan, Reuter and Peltier combined for 10 kills on 17 errorless attempts as Mizzou hit .458 in the opening frame.
South Carolina opened an 11-7 lead in set two as it got under a lot of Tiger swings early in the frame, digging seven balls in that span. Mizzou then rattled off three in a row, the third of which came on a heavy ball off the arm of Reuter. That pulled the Tigers back within one, but a Kan hitting error on the left side reopened a three-point lead at 14-11. From that point, South Carolina ran away with the set, winning 25-19, despite a 4-0 run by the Tigers to make it close.
Little tallied a solo block to give Mizzou a 3-2 lead in set three, but South Carolina scored four in a row to take a 6-3 lead before a kill from Reuter stopped the run. After playing close, the Gamecocks opened a 15-11 lead at the media timeout. Peltier tallied a pair of kills out of the stoppage to pull the Tigers back within two and Mizzou tied the set at 20-20. The teams traded points until a Julia Towler (Blue Springs, Mo.) service error and a kill from KoKo Atoa-Williams gave SC the set, 25-23. Mizzou hit a remarkable .421 with 17 kills in set three but could not find a way to win. South Carolina hit .310 with 18 kills in the set. Four service errors in the set cost the Tigers.
The Tigers went up 10-8 in set four before bad Tiger passing led to a 7-0 South Carolina run, giving the Gamecocks a 15-10 lead. The Gamecocks posted a 25-17 set win thanks to that run as the Tigers did not recover.
Mizzou will return to the Hearnes Center for a two-match homestand against Arkansas and Texas A&M next weekend. For all the latest on Mizzou volleyball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on twitter @MizzouVB.
