Missouri volleyball fought for three more SEC wins against Mississippi State, Arkansas and Oklahoma to extend their winning streak to six matches. Here are some takeaways from the past three wins for the Tigers.

Transfers putting up career-best numbers

In the past three matches for the Tigers, two transfers have led the way on the court. Oregon State outside hitter transfer Mychael Vernon and Texas setter Marina Crownover played key roles for the Tigers in the past three matches as well as the whole season.

Vernon put up historic numbers against Arkansas with a career-best 37 kills against the Razorbacks. She also broke the Missouri single-match kill record, passing Paola Ampudia, who previously put up 35 in 2009 against Kansas.

Vernon also put up double-digit kills against the Bulldogs and Sooners, with 22 kills in the match against Mississippi State and 17 kills against Oklahoma.

Redshirt sophomore and two-time national champion with Texas Marina Crownover brings consistency every time she steps onto the court. 

Crownover has secured at least 55 assists in the past three matches, including a career-best 61 assists against Arkansas and the Sooners. 

“Marina Crownover has been doing an incredible job, but her offense in some really nice situations, some one-on-ones, allowing her middles to find kills in transition,”said head coach Dawn Sullivan. “So she’s working really hard and really proud of her.”

Hitting efficiency importance

Missouri has been a mixed bag so far this season in hitting efficiency.

Missouri has the seventh-best hitting percentage in the NCAA rankings at .300. This is in part due to the efficiency of Jordan Iliff and Vernon, both hitting above the .290 mark this season. 

The opponent hitting percentage is where the Tigers have struggled significantly. Their .224 opponent hitting percentage puts them at 253rd in the NCAA rankings. This higher opposing hitting percentage can be credited to Missouri’s weak play around the net. The Tigers rank 298th in the country with 1.58 blocks per set.

However, the Tigers have improved defensively as of late. In the past two matches, the opponents had a hitting percentage of less than .200. These defensive numbers are necessary to compete against top-ranked teams in the future. 

Tigers win on the road

A flaw for the Tigers has been the discrepancy between home and away records. Before the road trip, Missouri had an undefeated home record at 7-0 and a road record at 3-3. However, the Tigers overcame their road struggles with back-to-back road wins against Arkansas and Oklahoma. 

The Tigers had a higher hitting percentage than their opponents in both road matches. Hitting at a good rate and limiting errors on the road is key to road success. 

The importance of playing better on the road for the Tigers has been huge recently. For a team that aspires to make a run in the NCAA tournament, the likelihood of playing tournament games in the Hearnes Center is unlikely, as the top 16 seeds host the first two rounds.

The Tigers next, and arguably, the biggest road test is against reigning two-time national champion Texas Longhorns at 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1.

Edited by Dylan Heinrich | dheinrich@themaneater.com

Copyedited by Avery Copeland and Natalie Kientzy | nkientzy@themaneater.com 

Edited by Emily Skidmore | eskidmore@themaneater.com