Missouri volleyball earned its 10th 20-plus win season under coaches Wayne and Susan Kreklow with a four-set victory over Tennessee on Friday.
The win also marked the 98th career win for the senior class of Emily Thater, Carly Kan, Alexa Ethridge and Julia Towler. The four Tigers have passed the 1983 and 2013 senior classes, who earned 97 career victories.
The Tigers came ready to play in the first set, starting off with a 25-18 victory. The team tallied 13 kills, and redshirt junior Melanie Crow and sophomore Alyssa Munlyn each had a team best of four kills to help Mizzou on offense. Tennessee also helped contribute to the Tigers’ points with six service errors.
In the second set, Tennessee started off strong to take control of the game. Overall, the set would go to the Volunteers, but Mizzou would not go down without a fight, gaining the upper hand toward the end of the set. Tennessee then exploded on offense and came back with a 5-1 run to take the set away from the Tigers, winning 25-23. Mizzou was led by Thater, who tallied seven blocks for the Tigers.
Missouri took back the game in the third set with a scoring run. The Tigers claimed the set 25-17 as the Volunteers could not keep up with the Tigers’ scoring. Crow led the Tigers with four kills in the set, and the team recorded 12 kills total.
Missouri continued to dominate over Tennessee in the fourth set, claiming a 25-20 victory. The Volunteers recorded 17 overall service errors during in the match, and the Tigers had two blocks to stop the Tennessee offense. Throughout the match, the team finished with 11 total blocks. The Tigers have now produced double-digit blocks in seven out of the past nine matches.
Tigers that stood out this game were hitters Crow, Munlyn and Kan. Crow had 16 kills, one ace and a solo block. Munlyn tallied seven kills, four digs and four blocks. Kan produced 10 kills, two aces, 12 digs and three blocks. Junior Courtney Eckenrode continued to shine as setter with two kills, nine digs, three blocks and 44 assists.
Next, the Tigers will travel to Kentucky to face the No. 18 Wildcats on Sunday. The first serve is set for 11 a.m.The Tigers have already beaten the Wildcats once this season.
_Edited by Peter Baugh | pbaugh@themaneater.com_