The No. 23-ranked Missouri Tigers went 2-1 at the Fight in the Fort Tournament, beating Wyoming in four sets and sweeping Rhode Island before eventually falling to the No. 15-ranked Texas Christian University in four sets.

The Tigers have yet to beat a ranked opponent this season, losing to No. 5-ranked Stanford earlier in the week. While all eight sets played against these ranked teams have been decided by four points or less, the Tigers haven’t been able to shut the door on their opponents.

Despite the losses, however, the Tigers have shown that they can rise to the occasion when the lights are bright, with multiple players putting up career performances against the Horned Frogs.

Marina Crownover, playing in her home state of Texas, was the standout player of the tournament for Missouri. The redshirt junior led her team in assists in all three games with 40, 20 and 54, the last being a season-high. Crownover also got it done on defense, posting a career-high 17 digs against Wyoming and then breaking that record against TCU with 21 digs.

Crownover wasn’t the only player to step up to the plate against TCU, as redshirt senior Tyrah Ariail, another Texas native, recorded a career-high 16 kills, tied for the team lead. Ariail is second on the Tigers in kills this year with 74, behind Caylen Alexander’s 102.

Ariail’s career performance was overshadowed by TCU’s Evan Hendrix, who tallied a career-high 32 kills in the contest. Her performance marked the third-most kills in school history in a four set match. Despite Hendrix’s efforts, the Tigers still ended up winning the kill battle in the match, 67-64. Missouri also had more assists and digs than the Horned Frogs, making the matchup one that the Tigers would’ve expected to come away with.

TCU did win the hitting percentage battle, posting a .250 clip as opposed to Missouri’s .193. Missouri posted a similar percentage of .195 against Wyoming, well below the season average of .262.

Alexander, who only played in two out of the three games, was noticeably inconsistent on offense throughout the tourney. The senior recorded a season-low 12 kills on a .150 percentage against Wyoming and 15 kills on a .148 percentage against TCU, lower numbers than Missouri fans are used to seeing from the Hawaii transfer.

Alexander’s numbers are down across the board this year compared to her 2024 campaign, which is to be expected with a transition from the Big West to the Southeastern Conference. Through eight games last season, Alexander had six performances with 20 or more kills — a high bar to reach in a more competitive conference and a more balanced Missouri offensive attack. Alexander is still doing her part and more thus far for the Tigers, as she leads the team in kills by 30 and is third on the team in blocks with 19.

Freshman Asia Harvey made her first career start in Missouri’s first game against Wyoming in place of Caylen Alexander, who wouldn’t come in until the third set. Harvey, who was ranked the 10th-best high school player in the nation just a year ago, got off to a blazing start, with five kills in the first set that led to a 25-14 Missouri victory. Harvey finished the match with five kills and three digs. The freshman also played some time against Rhode Island, tallying seven kills, two service aces and five digs in a 3-0 sweep of the Rams.

Senior Maya Sands continued to be the backbone of the Tigers squad, leading or tying for the team lead in digs in all three matchups with 26 against Wyoming, seven against Rhode Island and 22 against TCU. Her tally of 26 against Wyoming marks the second-highest individual digs in a game in the SEC this season. Sands’s 141 digs on the year lead the entire SEC conference, making her case to win a third-straight Libero of the Year award that much stronger.

The Horned Frogs got out to early leads in all four sets, forcing the Tigers to battle back from deficits right off the bat, a major factor in their defeat. This was the mirror opposite of Missouri’s matchup against Stanford, as the Tigers obtained quick leads in all four sets of that matchup. It will be interesting to see if Missouri turns into a predominately slow starting or fast starting team as the season progresses.

If there’s one thing Missouri has been no stranger to early in the year, it’s tight matchups. The Tigers have seen four matches eclipse the 25-point threshold and go into the 30s this season, in which they are 2-2. The first two sets against TCU went into the 30s, with TCU taking the first set 32-30 and Missouri responding with a 32-30 victory of their own in the second. If the Tigers can close out those highly contested sets at a more efficient rate, there’s no doubt they’ll start cutting down some ranked opponents.

Missouri will next head to Macomb, Ill. to compete in the Leatherneck Classic, where they will play Valparaiso and Chicago State on Sept. 19 before taking on Western Illinois on Sept. 20.

Edited by Killian Wright | [email protected]
Copy edited by Avery Copeland | [email protected]
Edited by Alex Gribb | [email protected]