University of Missouri
9-7,1-4SEC
Florida
8-6,3-2SEC
No. 25 Volleyball Falls to Gators in Gainesville
10/10/2025 9:13:00 PM | Volleyball
No. 25 Mizzou Volleyball (9-7, 1-4 SEC) drops match to Florida (8-6, 3-2 SEC), 3-1 (23-25, 25-22, 23-25, 26-28) on Friday, Oct. 10 in Gainesville, Fla.
The Tigers played all the sets close, losing each by two points, as they fell in four sets on the road, moving to 1-4 in conference play.
KEY PLAYERS
- Senior Caylen Alexander recorded 24 kills with a .333 hitting percentage, alongside 15 digs. This is the senior's fourth double-double of the season.
- Redshirt senior Tyrah Ariail and senior Regan Haith tied for the team lead for blocks with three each.
- Senior Maya Sands posted 19 digs, with redshirt junior Marina Crownover tallying 14 and freshman Zoey Matias-Lopez also posting a double-digit total with 11.
- Crownover recorded her seventh double-double of the season with 14 digs and 40 assists.
FIRST SET (23-25, Florida leads 1-0)
The first set was a nail-biter from the get-go as both teams were finding success on the offensive side, hovering around the .300 range for hitting percentage before the first break – Florida led 15-14.
Both teams continued to exchange blows, alternating points until the Gators scored two straight, making it 22-20. Florida would continue to add to the lead, but Mizzou would gain some momentum of its own. A reversed call made it 21-23, and the Tigers would further shorten that gap, making it 22-23.
However, in the end, Florida would hang on as it won the first set 25-23.
SECOND SET (25-22, Match Tied 1-1)
Riding the late surge, the Tigers would open the second set with four-straight points on kills from deMarrais (two) and Ariail, as well as an ace from Sands. That string of success continued, as Florida would take two timeouts in the first half of the set, with Mizzou going up 10-3. The Tigers would hit .556 during that run with no errors.
While the Gators would narrow the margin to one point, the Tigers would earn the last laugh, as they would follow Florida's 8-1 run with a 3-1 run to wrap it up at 25-22.
THIRD SET (23-25, Florida leads 2-1)
Set three was similar to the first, with the only change being that the Tigers took the lead into the break, 15-14. Both teams would earn the lead and eventually lose it, but the match was close. The Gators were the first to extend the lead, as they used a 3-0 scoring streak to force a Mizzou timeout at 21-19.
Both sides continued to battle, but once again, a challenge proved crucial, as this time the Gators managed to flip the score from 23-23 to 24-22. Florida and MU would split the following two points to end the set 25-23.
FOURTH SET (26-28, Florida wins 3-1)
The fourth proved that only set two was the outlier, as the teetertotter affair continued once again. Florida took the first timeout advantage up 15-12.
That three-point advantage would stand late into the set, as the Tigers would call a timeout as they trailed 22-19. Mizzou would rattle off two points out of the break with kills from deMarrais and freshman Nina Mandovic, forcing the Gators into a timeout of their own. That two-point stretch would turn to a 4-0 scoring run, as Florida took another timeout with Mizzou leading 23-22.
This would be the only set to go to extra points, as the Gators eventually closed it by winning the set 28-26.
GAME NOTES
- Florida leads the all-time series 15-5, and the Tigers are now 2-9 in Gainesville, Fla.
- Dawn Sullivan is now 49-29 as the Tigers head coach, 158-67 overall and 0-3 against the Gators.
UP NEXT
- The Tigers continue their tour in the heart of SEC country with a trip to Auburn to face the Tigers of Alabama starting at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 12 in Auburn, Ala.
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