A Georgia fan in the front row yelled, “(Missouri) can’t handle the pressure!”

He wasn’t wrong.

It was a comedy of errors for the Tigers in the first set against the Bulldogs on Friday night — they made nine — but Missouri coach Wayne Kreklow wasn’t laughing.

“This is one of the few matches this year where I can say I’m really disappointed in just about every facet of the game,” he said. “I didn’t think we came out ready to play, which was disappointing. I thought we showed flashes of it at times, but Georgia just played smarter, more consistent (and) with more poise than we did.”

Freshman outside hitter Kasey Reuter led the way for Mizzou offensively, recording six kills and a .444 hitting percentage in the first set. However, the errors were just too much for the Tigers to overcome, and they dropped it 25-19.

“We shot ourselves in the foot,” sophomore middle blocker Julia Towler said. “We had more errors than we should have and that had an impact on the game.”

The second set was slightly kinder to Missouri, as they trimmed their error total down to just six in the set. But it was hardly an easy win.

After trailing late, te climbed back to take a 23-22 lead, only to find themselves on the verge of dropping the set when the Bulldogs scored two straight. It was a scene that was starting to look all too familiar. The Tigers knew it, but didn’t want to let history repeat itself.

“We’ve been focusing on staying composed no matters what happens,” Reuter said. “I think we really displayed that.”

The Tigers fought back once again to take a 25-24 lead, then won two of the next three points to take the set 27-25.

With things tied at one set apiece coming out of the break, the two teams found themselves playing a carbon copy of the second set. The Tigers once again held a 23-22 lead, lost it and called a timeout.

“Our seniors do a really good job of pumping us up,” Reuter said. “They always know exactly what to say. They’re fantastic leaders. And Coach Kreklow brings in the technical side of things (and also) pumps us up. So the timeouts were really effective.”

Once again, the timeout was what they needed, as two straight points out of the timeout gave Missouri a 25-23 set win and a 2-1 lead in the match.

Then “the pressure” really kicked in.

Like a baseball team with a poor bullpen, the Tigers saw their lead start to slide in the late sets. First a loss in the fourth set. Then a 7-3 deficit in the fifth. Things were looking grim.

Then the teams switched sides.

The switch seemingly fueled the Tigers, as they went on to match the Bulldogs point-for-point after swapping sides, forcing a Georgia timeout.

But again the pressure came as the Bulldogs came closer to victory, and again the Tigers couldn’t finish.

While the match was close to the end, Missouri fell victim to the 15-point fifth set and ran out of time to stage a comeback, losing 15-11.

“This is the first time all year that I feel we came into practice all week sluggish,” Kreklow said. “And we played tonight like we practiced all week.”

The Tigers have a quick turnaround, as they’ll host the Ole Miss Rebels on Sunday.

“We have to come back tomorrow and reset,” Kreklow said. “What we’re going to find out (on Sunday) is what kind of character we have.”