Missouri volleyball left Fort Worth, Texas with a 2-1 record, as they came up short against a ranked opponent for the second time this season.
In the final match of Fight in the Fort, Missouri lost to No. 15 TCU in four sets. The Tigers were plagued by poor execution to start their sets, which led them to their second ranked loss of the season.
Slow Starts
The Tigers fell behind to start each set, but they managed to salvage the second set, where they forced extra points. They stole that set after falling behind 11-6, eventually winning 32-30. Missouri lost the three other sets by four points or less but could not pull off multiple comebacks against the talented TCU team.
Missouri’s veteran core, however, continued to show up in big-time games. Senior outside hitter Caylen Alexander led the way once again, recording her second double-double of the season with 15 kills and 14 digs. Senior libero Maya Sands also continued her All-SEC caliber start to the season with 22 digs against the Horned Frogs. The team will continue to rely on Sands and Alexander as their schedule starts to ramp up in the next few weeks.
Despite the loss to TCU, Missouri managed to pick up two wins against Wyoming and Rhode Island. Similarly to the loss to TCU, the Tigers found themselves down early in each of the first two sets to Wyoming. In the first set, Wyoming got off to a 4-0 lead, but Missouri responded with eight straight points and took the set 25-14, which was its largest margin of victory so far this year.
Although the Tigers’ slow starts are becoming concerning, the team’s ability to bounce back and battle to make the sets competitive shows the kind of mental toughness this team has played with.
Role Players Need to Step Up
So far this year, Missouri has struggled at times to find big-time contributors outside of Alexander and Sands in its more competitive matchups. Redshirt senior middle blocker Tyrah Ariail has been an exception. Against TCU, Ariail tallied 16 kills and two blocks. Ariail is currently second on the team in kills with 74.
Even with how well Alexander and Sands have played, if Missouri wants to compete with the top teams in the Southeastern Conference and the country, they will need players like Ariail and others to step into bigger roles.
Edited by Colin Simmons l [email protected]
Copy edited by Hannah Halterman and Avery Copeland | [email protected]
Edited by Alex Gribb | [email protected]
