Volleyball Drops Four-Set Contest to #12 Tennessee

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The University of Missouri volleyball team (13-8, 5-5 SEC) fell to No. 12 Tennessee in four sets (23-25, 25-16, 16-25, 19-25) in front of a season-best crowd of 3,297 Wednesday evening at the Hearnes Center.

Both junior Jordan Iliff and sophomore Janet deMarrais logged 13 kills each to pace the Tigers offensively.

Iliff also posted a double-double, securing 11 digs Wednesday to go with three blocks, an assist, and an ace.

FIRST SET (25-23 Tennessee, Tennessee leads 1-0)

Set one would open with the Tigers and the Lady Vols trading points early, with no team drawing larger than a three-point lead heading into the media timeout.

deMarrais would put her mark on the match early, recording four kills on Mizzou’s first five points. The two squads then entered the media timeout with Tennessee holding a slim 15-13 advantage.

UT would exit the break and quickly swing momentum in their favor, going on a 5-3 run to prompt a Tigers timeout leading 19-15.

Mizzou would fend off set-point (24-19) four times, including a deMarrais service ace followed by an Iliff kill, to trim the deficit to one (24-23) before the Volunteers claimed the set.

deMarrais opened the match with five kills while Iliff added four followed by Dilara Gedikoglu (three kills) and Morgan Isenberg (two kills).

SECOND SET (25-16 Missouri, Match tied 1-1)

Missouri then posted a stellar .314 hitting percentage in the second stanza to even the match at 1-1.

With the set tied at 8-8, Mizzou utilized a 5-0 run to pull away from Tennessee, 13-8. deMarrais slammed a kill to make the…