In its first SEC home game of the season, Missouri volleyball hosted the Kentucky Wildcats Wednesday, looking to knock off the No. 18 team during its first matchup against a top-25 opponent. After a 25-12 first-set loss by the Tigers, the team fought back to take set two 25-23. Missouri kept sets three and four close, fueled by the student section, but lost them both 25-19 and 25-22 respectively to lose 3-1.
From the get, Kentucky played aggressively on offense. Led by junior opposite hitter Reagan Rutherford, the team registered 17 kills in the first set. Rutherford tallied six of those, and the middle-blocker duo of junior Elise Goetzinger and redshirt junior Bella Bell combined for six more. The pair also added two blocks each, helping the Wildcats win the set 25-12.
Missouri bounced back in the second set after falling short in the first. The team totaled four aces, three of which came from senior outside hitter Leandra Mangual-Duran. She tallied these aces within four consecutive points. The team’s energy hit an all-time high when sophomore middle blocker Trista Strasser had three blocks on a single point, ending on a score for the Tigers. Sophomore right side Jordan Iliff led the team with three kills in set two as Missouri pushed past the Wildcats, despite Rutherford and Goetzinger’s four kills and one block each, to win the set 25-23.
Led by senior outside hitter Anna Dixon’s four kills in set three, the Tigers kept the score close. Iliff put up another three kills, supported by Strasser’s two and another two blocks. However, a hot streak the Wildcats put together midway through the set turned a 1-point Missouri lead into a 6-point deficit. Rutherford recorded five kills, Goetzinger had two, and Bell had four kills and three blocks to lead Kentucky to a 25-19 set victory.
In the fourth set, Kentucky quickly built an 8-2 lead on the Tigers, rallying behind Rutherford with three kills and a block in the first 10 points. Missouri continued to chip away at the Wildcats, getting within 4 points — 15-19 — late in the set. Dixon led the way from there, recording three kills in 4 points to take a 1-point lead for the Tigers. Senior outside hitter Kelly Franxman responded, however, doing the same as Dixon to take the lead back for the Wildcats, allowing them to close the set 25-22 and win the match.
Despite high numbers from Dixon, who finished with 17 kills on the night, and Strasser, who recorded five total blocks, the Tigers could not overcome the high-powered Wildcat offense. Both teams moved to 7-5 on the year as the Tigers look ahead to the weekend, where they will fly to Columbia, South Carolina, for a two-game series against the Gamecocks. South Carolina is 7-6 on the year and will face Missouri as both teams look to earn their eighth win of the year.
Edited by Riley Gearhart | rgearhart@themaneater.com
Copy edited by Jacob Richey | jrichey@themaneater.com