The loss drops Missouri to 17-11 on the season.
Missouri volleyball’s trip to Lexington, Kentucky was not a fruitful one as the Wildcats won 3-1 in dominant fashion.
Missouri only recorded a .217 hitting percentage compared to Kentucky’s .386. Kentucky’s hitting percentage was above their season average of .283, meaning the Wildcats hit the ball much better than usual. Missouri also recorded six errors to Kentucky’s three.
Kentucky went on a 6-0 start to open up the first set, but junior right side Jordan Iliff opened up the scoring for the Tigers, stopping the run. The Tigers attempted a run of their own, closing the lead to three. Kentucky responded to that run, extending their lead to 6-13-6. Senior outside hitter Dilara Gedikoglu and sophomore outside hitter Janet deMarrais were the only two Tigers to score the rest of the set, as Kentucky ran away with the set, 25-12 .
The second set started out the same way, with the Wildcats getting out to a hot start. Kentucky senior middle blocker Elise Goetzinger had three kills early on, putting the Wildcats ahead. The Tigers could not gain any momentum in this set despite efforts from Gedikoglu and deMarrais. The Wildcats extended their lead to 19-11, putting it too far out of reach for a Tiger comeback. Kentucky captured the second set 25-15.
The Tigers came out much stronger in the third set, with deMarrais, Gedikoglu and Iliff starting out hot. deMarrais had a kill where she put the ball in the left corner outside of the Wildcat’s reach, furthering the score to 17-13. The Tigers went on a run after that, capitalizing on three attack errors from Kentucky. Gedikoglu closed out the third set with a kill, leading to a 25-18 Tiger victory.
The Tigers started out strong again in the fourth set, but Kentucky battled right back. Senior middle Colleen Finney had a strong fourth set with three kills, with two of them coming early to prevent Kentucky from extending their lead. The lead never was larger than five for Kentucky in this set, but Missouri could not narrow it more than that. The Wildcats won the final set 25-21 in a hard fought battle.
The Tigers fell to 17-11, finding themselves in sixth place in the SEC standings. Missouri will travel to Athens, Georgia for one last battle this season against Georgia, who are ranked just one spot below them in the conference standings. The Tigers face off against the Bulldogs on Saturday, Nov. 25.
Edited by Quentin Corpuel | qcorpuel@themaneater.com
Copy edited by Sterling Sewell | ssewell@themaneater.com