Volleyball's Comeback Bid Falls Short in Five-Set Loss to LSUVolleyball's Comeback Bid Falls Short in Five-Set Loss to LSU
Volleyball

Volleyball's Comeback Bid Falls Short in Five-Set Loss to LSU

BATON ROUGE, La. – Mizzou volleyball dropped its Sunday afternoon match at LSU’s Pete Maravich Assembly Center in five sets. After being down 2-1, MU took the fourth set but couldn’t win the fifth to fall to 8-7 on the year and 1-2 in SEC play.

KEY PLAYERS

  • Fifth year right side/outside hitter Kimani Johnson (Southfield, Mich.) led the offensive effort with 15 kills, her third time reaching double digits this season.
  • Senior right side Grace O’Reilly (Springfield, Mo.) tallied double-digit kills for the fifth time of the season with 13 in the contest. Freshman Lydia Stahley (Indianapolis, Ind.) followed with 10, her third match with double-digit kills. The right side/outside hitter also reached a career high of three total blocks.
  • Junior middle blocker Tia Phinezy (Fort Wayne, Ind.) recorded a career high seven kills and led the team with six total blocks.
  • The Black and Gold notched 65 total digs, with three contributing double-digit values. Junior setter Nina Mandovic (Subotica, Serbia) reached a season high of 15, with senior libero Ainoah Cruz (Arecibo, P.R.) and senior setter Sierra Dudley (Spartanburg, S.C.) pitching in 14 each.

SET ONE (Mizzou 25-17, Mizzou leads 1-0)

The first set began with the teams trading points, highlighted by a Stahley ace and a Paige Felder (Parowan, Utah) kill to claim the lead 3-2. The contest continued as a back-and-forth battle, but MU remained strong behind the service line, with Mandovic and Felder dishing aces of their own, followed by consecutive kills from Stahley and Johnson (10-5). A block by Phinezy and Johnson would force LSU into a timeout with a score of 11-5.

Mizzou’s offense continued to dominate the set, with Johnson delivering a trio of kills to gain a nine point advantage (15-6). LSU fought back with a four-point run of their own, but freshman middle blocker Eva Smith (Durham, N.C.) and O’Reilly showed out for the Black and Gold with back-to-back kills, followed by another block by the Phinezy and Johnson duo (23-16). A Phinezy kill would ultimately seal the set victory for Mizzou, 25-17.

SET TWO (LSU 25-22, Tied 1-1)

LSU opened the frame with a five-point run on its home court, but O’Reilly responded for Mizzou by notching a pair of kills (8-3). Stahley began gaining momentum for MU with three kills of her own and a block assisted by Smith (13-9). LSU continued to extend the lead, but MU came within three, thanks to back-to-back kills from Johnson (16-13). 

Mizzou forced LSU into a timeout after a Zoey Matias-Lopez (Miami, Fla.) ace, her fifth of the season, followed by a Johnson kill (20-17). MU kept fighting defensively with a solo block by O’Reilly and another by Felder and Phinezy, but LSU went on to secure the set-winning kill, 25-22.

SET THREE (LSU 25-23, LSU leads 2-1)

Smith spearheaded Mizzou’s early lead with her fourth kill of the match, followed by Johnson punching in one of her own (3-2). LSU would then go on a six-point run to gain the lead, but freshman right side/outside hitter Maizy Agnello (Crystal Lake, Ill.) represented the MU offense with a pair of kills to bring the score to 10-5. 

Phinezy went on to clinch her fifth ace of the season and assisted O’Reilly in a kill in the next play to narrow the gap (11-8). LSU contributed a kill of its own to try to pull ahead, but Mizzou responded with a three point run consisting of a kill from Smith and two more from Stahley to take the score to 12-11. Agnello and Johnson punched in kills of their own coming out the media timeout to extend MU’s offensive effort (16-14). On the defensive side, O’Reilly and Phinezy would secure a block to tie the set, 17-17.  The teams would then trade leads before the Smith and Stahley duo delivered a block to establish a one-point advantage, forcing LSU into a timeout (22-21). After a series of kills, LSU would ultimately pull ahead to claim the set, 25-23.

SET FOUR (Mizzou 25-20, Tied 2-2)

The fourth set began with LSU establishing an early lead, but Johnson and Smith ignited the Tiger effort with kills of their own to tie it up (3-3). A series of service errors continued the back-and-forth battle, with Phinezy tying the contest with her third kill of the match (6-6). Mandovic pitched in a kill for the Black and Gold to take the score to 12-12, assisted by Felder. LSU notched a few kills of its own to claim a one-point advantage going into the media timeout, 15-14.

O’Reilly spearheaded Mizzou out of the timeout with three kills, while Phinezy would post two of her own along with a block, assisted by Felder (22-17). LSU went on to fight back with a series of kills and an ace, but the Missouri offense gained momentum with kills from O’Reilly and Johnson, with Felder securing the set victory, 25-20.

SET FIVE (LSU 15-12, LSU wins 3-2)

The fifth set opened with the teams exchanging kills, with Johnson getting Mizzou on the board and Felder pitching in a pair to tie it up early, 3-3. Phinezy would then produce two kills to reach a career high, keeping the score knotted at 6-6. Stahley recorded her 10th kill of the match to give Mizzou a one-point advantage, 8-7, before LSU went on a three-point run to gain the lead (10-8).

The Tigers battled for the lead on both sides of the court, with Felder clutching a kill and Phinezy and Johnson contributing a block (13-11). Felder kept Mizzou alive with a kill after LSU reached match point, 14-12, but the home team delivered a kill to secure the win, 15-12.

GAME NOTES

  • Mizzou moves to 8-7 on the season and 1-2 in conference play.
  • MU’s all-time record against LSU is now 15-8.
  • Head coach Dawn Sullivan is now 174-78 all-time and 65-40 at MU.
  • Mizzou’s offense contributed 62 kills, the second most of the season, and outhit LSU .244 to .203.
  • MU’s defense now has 40+ digs across 11 matches this season.

NEXT UP

Missouri will head back home to face Florida on Friday night at 7 p.m. CDT at Hearnes Center. The game will be streamed on SEC Network+.

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