Volleyball Drops Match to No. 5 FloridaVolleyball Drops Match to No. 5 Florida
Volleyball

Volleyball Drops Match to No. 5 Florida

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Mizzou volleyball fell to No. 5 Florida 3-0 on Friday night at Hearnes Center. 

KEY PLAYERS 

  • Posting eight kills, fifth-year Kimani Johnson (Southfield, Mich.) punched her seventh game this season with seven or more kills.
  • Senior Grace O'Reilly (Springfield, Mo.) posted her tenth game this season with seven or more kills.
  • Senior Ainoah Cruz (Arecibo, Puerto Rico) met the Gators' offense with 12 receptions and only one error. 

SET ONE (Florida 25-13, Florida leads 1-0) 

O'Reilly opened the scoring for the Tigers with back-to-back kills (2-3). Junior Lauren Larkin (St. George, Utah) and O'Reilly added on for Mizzou to help cut the deficit to four. The teams continued to exchange points, with a pair of kills coming from freshman Lydia Stahley (Indianapolis, Ind.) (9-16). The Gators continued their momentum, pulling ahead in the middle of the opening set (9-19). 

Johnson added two points for Missouri with a pair of late kills, but Florida ultimately kept the advantage to claim the set, 25-13.

SET TWO (Florida 26-24, Florida leads 2-0) 

Mizzou opened the frame with an ace from Paige Felder (Parowan, Utah) (2-0), and saw consecutive kills from Stahley to extend the lead to 5-2. A block at the net by freshman Eva Smith (Durham, N.C.) tallied another point for the Black & Gold (7-5). Cruz had an impressive dig to generate a kill from Johnson, adding to the Tigers' points (12-9). More assists from Cruz gave Johnson another opportunity to punch a kill to extend the lead for Missouri (13-10).

Back-to-back kills from Florida evened the score in the middle of the second set (14-14). Mizzou gained momentum with a pair of kills out of the break, pulling ahead to 17-15. Missouri and Florida both put points on the board, tying the set at 21-21. This back and forth continued until Florida swung momentum in its favor and took the second set (24-26).

SET THREE (Florida 25-13, Florida wins 3-0) 

The third set opened with a run from the Gators, building a lead that came to an end with a kill from O’Reilly (5-2). The Gators continued the momentum and carried it to a 15-6 lead halfway through the third set. Scoring points at the net, freshman Maizy Agnello (Crystal Lake, Ill.) punched a kill following an assist from junior Nina Mandovic (Subotica, Serbia). Late points came from junior Tia Phinezy (Fort Wayne, Ind.), but Florida maintained the lead, rounding out the third set 25-13. 

GAME NOTES 

  • Mizzou moves to 8-8 on the season and 1-3 in conference play.
  • MU’s all-time record against Florida is now 5-16.
  • Head coach Dawn Sullivan is now 174-79 all-time and 65-41 at MU.
  • MU’s defense now has 13 consecutive games with 90+ total attacks.
  • Senior Sierra Dudley (Spartanburg, S.C.)  notched her 12th service ace of the season in the second set.
  • Felder posted her 18th ace of the season in the second Frame

UP NEXT

Missouri will continue SEC play at home against Auburn on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. CDT at Hearnes Center. The game will be streamed on SEC Network+.

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