Hearnes Center was crowded Wednesday night as Missouri volleyball kicked off its conference schedule against No. 10 Kentucky in the team’s first home match since the Black and Gold Scrimmage on Aug. 16.
After coming out strong and claiming the first set 25-19, the Tigers faltered, dropping the next three sets to lose to the Wildcats 3-1. This loss marked the first home loss in a Southeastern Conference opener for the Tigers since joining the SEC in 2012.
The Tigers played the first set with consistency and power at the net, blocking nearly every Wildcat ball. Eventually, Kentucky caught up to the Tigers, battling point for point throughout the remainder of the set. Smart ball placement to deep corners on offense and discipline in blocking helped the Tigers hold the Wildcats off and propelled Missouri to a first-set win.
In the second set, Missouri lost its momentum, and the Tigers began to fall apart in just about every aspect of the game. The Wildcats responded well after taking the first-set loss, firing back with overpowering serves and attacking to open spots on the court, throwing the Tigers out of system. After two timeouts, the Tigers still could not keep up on defense or offense and fell in the second 25-18.
“We were not consistent enough; we have to continue to work offensively,” head coach Wayne Kreklow said. “Our numbers were pretty close with theirs in every category except attacks.”
The Tigers’ unsuccessful efforts on offense continued to be a make-or-break factor in the third set, and defensively, Missouri again struggled with ball control, causing several errors that resulted in easy points for the Wildcats.
Freshman Leketor Member-Meneh checked in for the Tigers late in the third set. Member-Meneh helped the Tigers progress defensively with stellar passing in serve receive and offensively with firm blocking on the outside. Her performance was not enough to bring her team back, though, as the Tigers took another set loss 25-19.
Missed serves and miscommunication defined the fourth and final set early on for Missouri as Kentucky continued to hit the ball to open spots on the court. Again, Kreklow used two timeouts to attempt to get his team back into the game.
After the second timeout, the Tigers changed gears and began to gain on the Wildcats, forcing a Kentucky timeout. The Tigers started to show more confidence at the net late in the game, but it would not be enough to put a stop to the Wildcats as the Tigers fell 25-19.
“Kentucky is just in a different place than we are,” head coach Wayne Kreklow said in a press release. “They’re smoother, they’re more polished and they’ve got a lot of veteran people back. They’re No. 10 in the country for a reason. They’re legit. I guess the positive takeaway for me is I felt like most of those sets we had chances and we were really close. We just aren’t quite there yet.”
Though the loss was not how the Tigers wanted to start conference play, the team is taking the small accomplishments from the match as things to build off of.
“Even though we lost, we made a lot of progress, I think,” redshirt senior Kira Larson said. “Obviously, tonight didn’t go in our favor, but I was really proud of the girls. We lost by small increments, and I think the hard thing is you win and lose by small increments in this game. Working on closing that gap is another thing we’ve been working on as a team.”
Several Tigers shined on the court in the loss. On defense, redshirt sophomore Riley Sents led the Tigers in single-match digs for the ninth time this season, and it was her fifth consecutive match with digs in the double-digits. At the net, junior middle blocker Alyssa Munlyn’s four total blocks improved her career total to 384, moving into fifth place in program history.
The Tigers will finish their first week of regular season matches against Texas A&M in College Station, Texas, on Sept. 24. The first serve is set for 12 p.m. CT.
_Edited by Eli Lederman | elederman@themaneater.com_