COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou volleyball is slated to host the Mizzou Tournament Friday-Sunday at Hearnes Center, welcoming Arkansas State, Wichita State and Florida Gulf Coast. Missouri's matches will be streamed on SEC Network +.
MATCH AT A GLANCE
Game No. 1 • Friday, Sept. 11 • 6 p.m.
Mizzou (3-2) vs. Arkansas State (3-3)
LOCATION: Hearnes Center • Columbia, Mo.
SERIES HISTORY: MIZ leads 6-2 • STREAK: W1
LAST GAME: W 3-2 at Valley View High School (Jonesboro, Ark. • Sept. 5, 2025)
LIVE STREAM: SECN+
OPPONENT WEB: astateredwolves.com
Game No. 2 • Saturday, Sept. 12 • 4 p.m.
Mizzou (3-2) vs. Wichita State (1-3)
LOCATION: Hearnes Center • Columbia, Mo.
SERIES HISTORY: Tied 5-5-1 • STREAK: W2
LAST GAME: W 3-1 at Wichita State (Wichita, Kan. • Dec. 2, 2017)
LIVE STREAM: SECN+
OPPONENT WEB: goshockers.com
Game No. 3 • Sunday, Sept. 13 • 12 p.m.
Mizzou (3-2) vs. FGCU (2-3)
LOCATION: Hearnes Center • Columbia, Mo.
SERIES HISTORY: MIZ leads 2-0 • STREAK: W2
LAST GAME: W 3-0 at FGCU (Fort Meyers, Fla. • Sept. 30, 2025)
LIVE STREAM: SECN+
OPPONENT WEB: fgcuathletics.com
SERIES HISTORY
Against Arkansas State, Mizzou has an all-time record of 6-2.
The Tigers have a record of 5-5-1 vs. Wichita State.
Missouri has a perfect 2-0 record against Florida Gulf Coast and looks to remain undefeated.
LAST TIME OUT
MU fell to No. 5 Louisville in a 3-1 result on Sept. 9 in the SEC/ACC Challenge.
Junior Nina Mandovic recorded her third double-double of the season, tallying 29 assists and 13 digs.
Senior libero Ainoah Cruz held up the defense with a season-high 29 digs.
The Missouri offense produced 49 kills and 45 assists. On the defense side, the Black and Gold punched in 71 digs.
Middles O’Reilly and Larkin remain strong for Mizzou, accounting for 14 of the Tigers’ 49 kills.
L.F.G.
This season, the team's motto is LFG, which stands for Love. Family. Grit.
The slogan is a big part of the team culture as they use it as their primary source of pride. It has two meanings: the classic LFG motto, which means to fire yourself up, and the other is the three core values the team focuses on.
EYES ON THE TIGERS
Following the matchup against Louisville, Mizzou currently stands fourth in conference rankings and 25th in national rankings for a hitting percentage of .284.
The Black and Gold ranks 22nd nationally and third in the SEC for 2.81 blocks per set.
Libero Ainoah Cruz is eighth in the nation and second in the conference in digs per set, with an average of 5.12.
Paige Felder is sixth in the SEC with .50 aces per set. The outside hitter also ranks eleventh in the conference in attacks per set with 9.31.
Two Tigers rank in the SEC top 25 in blocks per set, Eva Smith at 11th with 1.12 and Maca Lobaglio at 24th with 0.93.
FRESHMEN ON FIRE
Smith has notched 22 kills with only five errors this season, maintaining a hitting percentage of .321.
Outside hitter Ceylin Kuyan had a season-high 30 attacks at Louisville and added five kills.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Junior Nina Mandovic has recorded three double-doubles this season, her most recent being at Louisville.
The setter posted 29 assists and 13 digs against the Cardinals.
CRUZIN’ ALONG
Cruz has tallied 1,471 career digs, with a season-high 27 at Louisville.
REACHING MILESTONES
Sierra Dudley enters the season with the most assists per game among the roster, having achieved 60 against Ole Miss on 10/15/23.
The senior ranks 10th among the program career records for assists per set with 8.72.
Dudley currently claims 1,466 assists over the course of her collegiate career.
LEADING THE PACK
Kimani Johnson ranks eighth all-time in a single game with a hitting percentage of .813, achieved against JMU on 08/29/25, where she notched 13 kills.
Senior Grace O'Reilly spearheads the Tigers with most blocks in a game for her career, as she previously recorded nine.
NIELSEN RATINGS
During the 2025 regular season, Mizzou had four games broadcast on National TV, including two on the SEC Network, one on ESPN2 and one on ESPN.
The Tigers were 2-2 in those games, as they were 2-0 on the SEC Network (W, 3-1 vs. LSU/W, 3-0 at Mississippi State) and 0-2 on the ESPN Network channels (0-1 on ESPN2; L, 3-0 at Texas A&M, 0-1 on ESPN; L, 3-1 vs. Stanford).
Mizzou was 6-2 on ESPN+ and was 6-6 on the SEC Network+ stream.
Mizzou was 6-2 on ESPN+ and was 6-6 on the SEC Network+ stream.
This season, the Tigers are set to have three games on SEC Network, one on ESPN2, one on ESPNU and one on FOX.
FIVE SET STANDARDS
Last season, the Tigers went 2-4 in five-set matches, but are 12-6 under head coach Dawn Sullivan.
As a head coach, Sullivan 31-17 all-time in five-set matches.
In 2023, the Tigers went a perfect 5-0 in five-set matches.
TIGERS IN THE WINDY CITY
MU took a road trip to play No. 1 Nebraska at Wrigley Field in a one-of-a-kind event on Sunday. The match was suspended during the first set due to weather conditions that made the court unplayable, with Nebraska leading 11-7.
While in the Windy City, the Tigers were able to cheer on an old friend in a AVP Beach Volleyball League match at Oak Street Beach. Kylie Deberg, who currently plays for the Dallas Dream, earned All-American honors three times in the 2020 season with MU.
WELCOME TO COMO, ASSISTANT COACHES!
In March, head coach Dawn Sullivan announced the hiring of Lauren Cost as an assistant coach.
The former Big 12 Player of the Year and All-American from Kansas State played her collegiate career at Sullivan's alma mater, K-State, from 2000-04.
Cost remains among the top performers in K-State volleyball history, ranking in the top 10 in career kills (1,212), career hitting percentage (.354) and career block assists (380).
In recognition of her outstanding career, she was inducted into the Kansas State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2013 and the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2019.
In July, Sullivan additionally hired Atanas Petrov as assistant coach.
Petrov served as head coach of the U19 Bulgarian women's national team, leading them to a World Championship and was named the best coach in Bulgaria for 2025. He was previously named the best coach of the National Sport Association of Bulgaria back in 2005.
Before joining the Tigers, Petrov was head coach of the Volley Schönenwerd Men's Volleyball Club (Switzerland). The club-level veteran has coached numerous clubs in Romania, Bulgaria and Greece. Over that course, he is a seven-time club champion, five-time national cup winner and two-time super cup winner.
As a player, he was an outside hitter on the junior national team in Bulgaria, and he played for a variety of top Bulgarian clubs.
NEW PASSPORT
During the 2025 season, associate head coach Wendel Camargo passed his citizenship test and became a U.S. Citizen.
Camargo is originally from Brazil and has coached across the globe, as his first coaching job was with the Dominican Republic National Team.
TRANSFERS TO TIGERS
The Black and Gold welcomes two transfers in Cruz (Evansville) and Larkin (Utah State).
ABOUT THE TIGERS
The 2026 campaign is the fourth year for head coach Dawn Sullivan. In 2024, Sullivan led the Tigers to their fifth NCAA Sweet Sixteen in program history and earned AVCA Central Region Coach of the Year.
Last season, Sullivan led Missouri to a record of 17-11, including an 8-7 record in SEC play.
During the year, the Tigers secured their highest-ranked conference victory against No. 16 Tennessee, winning 3-1.
During the 2026 campaign, the Tigers will face eight top-25 teams ranked in the 2026 AVCA Preseason Poll, including five top-10 squads.
10 Tigers return to the team after the 2025 season.
INTERNATIONAL INFLUENCE
Ahead of the 2026 season, the Tigers added two international products in Cruz (Arecibo, Puerto Rico) and Kuyan (Istanbul, Turkey). They now have four players on the roster from other countries: Maca Lobaglio (Buenos Aires, Argentina) and Mandovic (Subotica, Serbia).
FOLLOW THE TIGERS
For all the latest information on Mizzou Volleyball, please visit MUTigers.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Tigers on X, Instagram, and Facebook.