COLUMBIA, Mo. – The University of Missouri volleyball team (1-0) opened its 2023 campaign Friday night at the Hearnes Center with a 3-1 (25-23, 25-27, 25-19, 25-19) victory over Illinois State (0-1). The win marked head coach Dawn Sullivan‘s first victory with the Tigers.
Junior Jordan Iliff paced the Tigers offensively with a match-high and career-best 19 kills with seven digs, two aces and two blocks as three Missouri players had double-digit rally stoppers.
Graduate student Colleen Finney added 12 kills on a .647 hitting percentage with two digs and two blocks in her Mizzou debut. Fellow graduate student Dilara Gedikoglu just missed a double-double with 10 kills, nine digs and three aces in her first match donning the Black & Gold.
FIRST SET (Mizzou 25-23, Mizzou leads 1-0)
In the opening set, the Tigers and Redbirds traded points early, with no team holding larger than a two-point lead heading into the media timeout, with ISU leading 15-14.
Gedikoglu, a graduate transfer from Arizona, made her impact felt immediately, collecting three kills on the Tigers first six points.
Illinois State would take the set’s first lead of larger than a pair with a kill from Bella Zeman, giving the visitor an 18-15 advantage. Mizzou would then close the gap with a 4-0 run (19-18 Mizzou) before tie score lines of 19-19 and 20-20.
The Tigers and Redbirds would swap 3-0 rallies before back-to-back ISU miscues secured the set for Mizzou, 25-23.
SECOND SET (Illinois State 27-25, 1-1)
Set two would open with a 5-1 run from Illinois State, before MU quickly…
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