Sullivan and Sands Earn SEC Volleyball Awards, Three Tigers Named All-SEC

COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri Volleyball Head Coach Dawn Sullivan and sophomore libero Maya Sands were both awarded 2023 SEC Volleyball Awards while three Tiger student-athletes earned All-SEC honors, the league announced Sunday.

Sullivan was named SEC Coach of the Year with Jason Watson of Arkansas, Craig Skinner of Kentucky, and Eve Rackham Watt of Tennessee. Sands was tabbed the 2023 Libero of the Year.

Sands along with rightside hitter Jordan Iliff were selected to the All-SEC Team while setter Sierra Dudley was listed on the seven-member All-Freshman Team.

Missouri last had three All-SEC players in 2020 with Anna Dixon, Kylie Deberg and Andrea Fuentes earning all-conference honors. 

Dawn Sullivan 

Sullivan has guided the Tigers to a 17-12 mark including a .500 (9-9) record in SEC play in her first season at the helm of the program. 

Selected to finish 12th in the SEC preseason poll, Mizzou surpassed both the 2022 (two wins) and 2021 (two wins) conference win totals.

In SEC play, Missouri has went on both three-match and four-match win streaks this season. The Tigers have picked up 2-0 series sweeps of Texas A&M and Auburn, along with wins over South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi State, Georgia and Ole Miss. 

Sullivan and her staff have engineered an eight-win overall improvement from 2022 (nine wins), which is tied for 12th nationally and ranks second among Power Five institutions. 

Missouri is also one of eight schools in the country that have surpassed their combined win total from the past two seasons (nine in 2022, five in 2021). The Tigers three-win improvement ranks second in the nation behind Manhattan.

Mizzou has also picked up five wins over top-50 AVCA (based on KPI, Pablo, and RPI rankings) teams and nine wins over top-100 AVCA teams including two ranked wins over Auburn (#23 and #24, Oct. 20 & Nov. 12). 

Missouri is currently ranked 32nd in RPI (Rating Percentage Index) and on the verge of returning to the postseason for the first time since 2020. Mizzou has surpassed its overall win total from that 2020 campaign (16-8, 15-7 SEC), when the Tigers last made an NCAA Tournament appearance.

Sullivan is the third Missouri Volleyball Coach to earn the award after Wayne Kreklow earned the distinction in 2013 and 2016. 

The coach of the year honor is the third in…