The last nine home matches have ended in a win for the Missouri volleyball team.
Friday night’s match against Georgia was no different, ending with a 3-0 win for the Tigers and continuing the undefeated streak at home.
Although the Tigers struggled to find energy on the court in the first set, the sweep began with a 25-22 win over the Bulldogs. Junior Carly Kan led the way with six kills and sophomore Kira Larson finished the first game with a .667 hitting percentage.
“That’s something we struggle with a lot is energy,” Larson said. “We always talk about how it’s easy to have it at the end where the game’s intense, but we gotta bring it out from the beginning and that’s something we’ve been working on. Once one person has energy, the whole team has energy.”
The Tigers eventually found their rhythm in the second set where they won 25-18. Freshman Alyssa Munlyn dominated at the net, finishing the set with .750 hitting. Junior Emily Thater stepped up her game and scored three kills on .500 hitting.
The 3,500 fans that came out to the Hearnes Center helped the Tigers gain energy and remain undefeated on their home court.
“Playing here is absolutely amazing,” Munlyn said. “The crowd gets so into it which makes us wanna play really well and do really well for our fans. It’s motivating and makes you want to go harder and play better.”
The successful rhythm carried over to the third and final set that ended in a 25-19 win for Mizzou after a close start with nine tie scores and three lead changes.
Thater, a middle blocker, ended the powerful hitting night with seven kills on .429 hitting and three blocks. Munlyn finished the night with nine kills on .727 hitting, a career high for the middle blocker.
“We had a great crowd again tonight,” Tiger coach Wayne Kreklow said. “It makes a big difference, particularly on a night like tonight where you’re struggling just a little bit. When you have a crowd that like, all we’ve gotta do is make a few plays and then our players feel the energy a little bit and get going a little bit more. I can’t overstate the importance of having crowds.”