The No. 23 Mizzou volleyball team closed the Fight in the Fort tournament with a 3-1 loss to No. 15 TCU 30-32, 32-30, 21-25, 21-25 on Friday evening. In place of a late gamer, I went back and watched the game to analyze any possible issues or trends from the top-25 matchup. Here are the main three takeaways from the Tigers’ third loss of the year.
Negative at the Net
One of Mizzou’s struggles in the Dawn Sullivan era has been losing the battle at the net front. TCU won the block battle 14.5-8, causing difficulty for
the Tiger offense. Early in the third set the Horned Frogs blocked two Tiger attacks, helping them build a 6-2 lead and walk away with the set win.
Mizzou’s issue in the middle has mostly been height; primary middle blockers Regan Haith and Tyrah Ariail stand at 6-foot-2 and 6-foot-1, respectively. By comparison, TCU’s primaries middles, Sarah Sylvester and Alexis Roberson, are both listed at 6-foot-3.
Mizzou’s middles are extremely talented attackers, as Haith and Ariail have combined for 131 kills through 11 games. That offensive output has come with insane efficiency, each possessing a hitting percentage above .330.
If the Tigers hope to win against the elite teams across the nation, they need to create a more strategic approach when it comes to protecting the net with the block.
Errors evading victory
Another struggle for the Tigers came in the overall number of attacking errors; Mizzou finished the game with 19 errors, while the Horned Frogs finished with 12. Mizzou had a chance to avoid the first set loss when trailing 31-30 in the first set, but a Caylen Alexander attacking error gave TCU the 1-0 match advantage. In that first set the Tigers had five errors to the Horned Frogs’ two.
Janet deMarrais and Alexander were the two biggest culprits on the Mizzou side, with nine and seven errors respectively, with hitting percentages below .200. The other outside hitters weren’t any better, as Grace O’Reilly, Paige Felder and Kimani Johnson all hit in the negatives.
These sorts of discrepancies can cause the difference in the match, as TCU had the better hitting percentage at .250 to .193. If the Tigers look to reach the Sweet 16 once again, their outside hitters will need to reach a similar output that Jordan Iliff and Mychael Vernon achieved in 2024.
The Positives
While Mizzou didn’t walk away with the win, they remained extremely competitive with a team that is poised to step into the top 10 next week. The Tigers pushed their opponents to extra points in set one, plus scoring 20 points in each set.
Mizzou held the advantage in aces 3-1, with libero Maya Sands recording a pair of them. Sands made a major difference defensively as well with 22 digs. Marina Crownover was the second-highest on the team in digs with 21, more than anyone on TCU. In fact, the Tigers had 80 digs compared to 67 for the Horned Frogs.
Offensively, four separate players finished the game with double-digit kills. Instead of having two dominant outside hitters, Mizzou has been more poised to use its middles during the 2025 season. Ariail tied deMarrais for the lead in kills with 16, including seven for the middle blocker in the second set.
As a whole, the depth combined with the talent poised on this team should not leave fans worried heading towards SEC despite the early season losses.
The Tigers look to bounce back at the Leatherneck Invitational hosted by Western Illinois at the end of this week. Mizzou will play a double-header on Friday against Valparaiso and Chicago State at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., respectively. Neither of those games will be televised. (Editor’s Note: GRRRRRRRRRR)
Afterwards Mizzou will match up with the hosting Leathernecks on Saturday at 4 p.m. THAT match will be available to watch on ESPN+.
