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COLUMBIA, Mo. – The University of Missouri Volleyball team will wrap its 2024 preseason with an exhibition match against Omaha Sunday afternoon at the Hearnes Center. The tune-up match is set for noon, CT.
Admission to Sunday’s exhibition is free for all fans and no ticket is needed. Doors will open 60 minutes prior to the event.
Fans in attendance will receive posters, while supplies last, and can grab post-match autographs from the team following the scrimmage.
2024 PREVIEW
The 2024 campaign marks the second for head coach Dawn Sullivan who led the Tigers to their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2020 as she was selected SEC Coach of the Year this past fall.
Mizzou most recently was receiving votes in the 2024 AVCA/TARAFLEX Preseason poll announced on Monday (Aug. 19). The Tigers will face nine teams ranked in the preseason top-25.
Missouri opened practice for the 2024 season on Aug. 8 following a Report Day that featured new locker room reveal, new gear, a Ropes Course and then team bonding.
Mizzou returns a trio of All-SEC players from 2023 including SEC Libero of the Year Maya Sands.
Sands paced the league with 339 digs and 4.99 digs per set during SEC play, finishing with a career-high 542 (4.71 digs/set). She also ranked ninth for receiving (2.23) in the NCAA Power 4, according to 2023 VolleyMetrics data.
Sands along with right side hitter Jordan Iliff also earned AVCA Southeast All-Region recognition.
Iliff was one of 18 student-athletes named to the 2024 Preseason Volleyball All-SEC Team as Mizzou was pegged to finish sixth in the preseason poll. The St. Louis native led Missouri over her junior season in 2023 with 388 kills (3.40 kills per set), swinging at a .236 clip.
Setter Sierra Dudley ranked fifth in SEC play with 10.90 assists per set (730 assists) in 2023 for SEC All-Freshman Team honors. The Spartanburg, South Carolina, native, was the top true freshman setter in the conference in 2023, totaling 1,161 assists.
With the trio of All-SEC performers, Mizzou returns six of seven starters from 2023.
Outside hitter Janet deMarrais was second on Mizzou offensively with 357 kills (3.25 kills/set) and started in the final 20 matches.
Middle blocker Morgan Isenberg led the Tigers defensively, picking up 138 total blocks (1.23 blocks/set) in her first season as the full-time starter.
Middle blocker Colleen Finney rounds out the returning Mizzou starters, after compiling 154 kills (1.38 kills/set) and 68 blocks (0.61 blocks/set) in her first season donning the Black & Gold.
Returners for the Tigers also include setter Sarah White, right side hitter Naomi Franco, right side/middle blocker Kimani Johnson, libero Kaylen Rush and libero Tatum Longnecker.
MU also added 11 players (six freshmen, five transfers) to complete the 22-member squad. The 2024 freshman are Morgan Jones, Tia Phinezy, Vivian Parker, Aspen Maxwell, Grace Sweeney, and Claire Morrissey who ranked third nationally in the 2024 recruiting class.
Mizzou also added transfers Mychael Vernon (2023 All-Pac-12 outside hitter at Oregon State), Marina Crownover (two-time NCAA National Champion setter at Texas), Regan Haith (2022 All-Missouri Valley Conference Freshman Team middle blocker at Illinois State), Kiaraliz Perez Catala (2023 Western Athletic Conference Libero of the Year at UTRGV) and Alayna Pearson (Overland Park, Kansas, libero who spent her freshman season at Texas A&M).
LOOKING AHEAD
- Missouri will next commence the 2024 campaign Aug. 30-Sept. 1 at the Bluejay Invitational in Omaha, Nebraska.
- The Tigers will face Drake, host, #12 Creighton, and NC State over the Invitational.
FOLLOW THE TIGERS
- For all the latest information on Mizzou Volleyball, please visit MUTigers.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Tigers on X, Instagram, and Facebook.
