Mizzou volleyball lost its first match of the season and nearly lost another in a pair of road games against a feisty Arkansas State team in two five set thrillers. Here’s the full recap of each match:
Game 1: Arkansas State 3, Mizzou 2
The Tigers’ first loss of the season came sooner than anyone would have anticipated/hoped for, losing to Arkansas State in five sets on Thursday, 26-24, 16-25, 25-19, 22-25, 11-15, giving them their first-ever ranked win.
Mizzou held an 8-5 lead in the final set before a 10-3 Red Wolves run doomed their chances of victory, dropping them to 2-1 on the season. The last set the Tigers were completely unable to stop their opponents’ offense, allowing 11 kills. Arkansas State outclassed Mizzou’s attack all game, beating them in kills 68-56 and in attacking percentage, .287-.209. That advantage extended to the defense, with the Red Wolves leading in digs 78-69 and blocks 9-8.
After a tremendous first weekend, Hawaii transfer Caylen Alexander struggled for the first time in a Tiger uniform. Alexander still led the team in kills with 14, but committed nine attacking errors and finished with a .102 hitting percentage. She finished with a double-double and 14 digs.
Tyrah Ariail (12), Regan Haith (11) and Kimani Johnson (10) all joined Alexander with double-digit kills. Ariail finished with only two attacking errors on 27 attempts, as her .370 hitting percentage was a high among the four.
Maya Sands recorded a season-high 20 digs across the five-set thriller, boosting her numbers for the year. Marina Crownover also set a season-high with 43 assists, also racking up a double-double with 10 digs. Janet deMarrais made a brief return to the court in the second set with three attacking attempts.
Game 2: Mizzou 3, Arkansas State 2
In round 2, the Tigers pulled off the five-set win in a thriller against Arkansas State. The Tigers won this game at the net, outdoing the Red Wolves 16-8.
The Tigers won the fifth set 15-12, pulling an Uno reverse card with a late-set comeback. Arkansas State led 8-6 halfway through the finale before Mizzou rallied off a 9-4 scoring run to win the set. An ace from freshman Zoey Matias-Lopez sealed it for the Tigers as they pulled off the win.
Mizzou took a one-set lead to open the game 25-19 behind five service aces. Alexander racked up the stats with two aces to go alongside five kills in that opening set. Alexander struggled as a whole once again, leading the team with 15 kills but committing eight errors for a .184 hitting percentage.
Arkansas State evened it up in the second set with a 25-21 set win. The Red Wolves held the offensive advantage, winning the kills battle 13-11. The Tigers struggled offensively, putting a major dent in their attacking percentage.
Mizzou took back the lead after winning the third set 25-18. It was a true block party, as the Tigers racked up six in the set. Of those six blocks, middle blocker Tyrah Ariail contributed on five of them. As a whole, Ariail recorded eight blocks in the match, a season-high for the black and gold. Offensively, this set was done by committee, as deMarrais, Johnson and Alexander all recorded three kills in the set.
Arkansas State forced a fifth set for the second day in a row with a 25-21 win in the fourth. The Red Wolves started the set on a 7-0 run. The Tigers clawed their way back but could never take the lead. Arkansas State outmatched Mizzou, winning the kills battle, 17-9. Haith recorded two kills and two blocks in the set as one of the sole bright spots in the set.
For the second straight match, Mizzou hit .209, which is impressive from a statistical perspective, but far from ideal. The Tigers held Arkansas State to a .173 hit percentage, but this is not up to snuff for a team of Mizzou’s caliber.
Sands one-upped her performance from Friday with 23 digs for a new season-high. ZML also recorded her first double-digit dig count of her collegiate career with 11. Crownover packed the stat sheet once again with 42 assists, 13 digs and four blocks.
The No. 16 Tigers will look to secure their fourth win on Tuesday in front of a (hopefully) packed house at Hearnes as they take on No.6 Stanford in the home opener. Game time is set for 8:30 p.m. You can watch on ESPN.
