Missouri volleyball outlasted Tennessee in five sets on Sunday at the Hearnes Center in Columbia, using strong defense and timely attacks to take the match 21-25, 25-21, 24-26, 27-25, 15-9. It was the Lady Vols’ second straight loss to finish a winless weekend road trip.

Tennessee was again without middle blocker Chelsea Sutton, who was injured in last Sunday’s win over Vanderbilt.

First Set

The Tigers jumped on Tennessee early, finding open holes in the defense and attacking well from the pins. Paige Felder had two kills and an ace in the opening stretch, and Kennedi Rogers was charged with three early errors as Missouri built a 10-4 lead before Tennessee called timeout.

The Lady Vols tightened up defensively after the break and took a 16-15 lead on an 11-4 run. Rogers powered it with four kills in a five-point span, all set by Caroline Kerr, who recorded her 4,000th career assist.

Missouri’s last lead came at 18-17 before Tennessee closed on an 8-3 run. Jalyn Stout had three kills down the stretch, including one at set point, and Rogers and Jolene Oddo combined on a block to win it 25-21.

Second Set

Ainoah Cruz set up Missouri’s first point of the second set with a heads-up dig, a reminder of why she leads the SEC in digs. Kimani Johnson put it away, then added another kill for a 2-0 lead before Rogers answered with a big kill and Emma Frietch followed with an ace. Johnson kept swinging, piling up four kills in the set’s first six points.

Tennessee found its rhythm with hard swings from Stout, Rogers and Maggie Dostic that the Tigers couldn’t dig. Kerr kept the offense running and chipped in at the net, including a kill off a Raegan Burns set. The Lady Vols built a 12-8 lead and were first to 15 at 15-12, but back-to-back kills from Eva Smith pulled Mizzou within one. The Tigers tied it at 17 on another Johnson kill, forcing a Tennessee timeout.

Missouri got contributions across the board, but Johnson did the most damage, attacking the Lady Vols from the right side for eight kills on .538 hitting in the set. Smith added four kills on five swings. The teams traded points to 21-21 before the Tigers won a touch challenge to take a 22-21 lead.

Cruz then kept another rally alive with a dig, and Grace O’Reilly and Smith stuffed Dostic to make it 23-21. Tennessee committed attack errors on each of the final four points, and Smith’s solo block on Kerr sealed a 25-21 Missouri win to even the match.

Third Set

Tennessee won the third set in each of its last eight matches entering the day, and that streak continued. Kerr opened at the service line and the Lady Vols ran out to a 5-0 lead behind two Stout kills and a Kerr ace. Ceylin Kuyan broke the run with a kill, and Lauren Larkin followed with an ace as Mizzou started chipping away. O’Reilly kept making her mark with six kills and a solo block in the set, including back-to-back kills during a run that cut it to 11-10.

The Tigers wouldn’t go away. They tied it at 13, and after Tennessee reached 14 first, Mizzou scored the next two, the second on Larkin’s second ace, to lead 15-14. Out of the media timeout, Anni Tang answered with back-to-back kills to put Tennessee in front, and Dostic dropped an ace for a 17-15 lead.

But the Lady Vols struggled to put the Tigers away. Tennessee had five service errors in the set, and every time it went ahead, a big swing from O’Reilly, Johnson or Kuyan found the floor. The teams were tied six more times, the last at 23 on a Kuyan kill. Tang and Dostic stuffed Johnson to give Tennessee set point, and after a service error tied it again, Rogers and Tang put down kills to take the set 26-24 and a 2-1 match lead.

Fourth Set

Johnson opened the scoring with a kill, but two straight Johnson errors, the first a Tang and Dostic stuff, gave Tennessee a 2-1 lead. The Lady Vols stretched it to 4-2 before the Tigers’ front line took over. Mizzou recorded three blocks in a four-point span, with Smith in on all of them, to grab a 6-4 lead. Tennessee had to swing a little higher to clear the block. Stout answered with a kill and an ace to tie it at 6.

Mizzou then went on a 6-3 run to take a 12-9 lead, helped by two Ainoah Cruz aces. During that stretch, Smith went down with an apparent ankle injury. The Tigers reached 15 first with a 15-13 lead at the break, having already recorded four blocks in the set.

Tennessee came out of the break with three straight points, two on Felder errors and the third on a Rogers kill that deflected off Larkin’s face. Larkin went down and briefly exited but returned later in the set.

From there it went back and forth with four more ties. The longer it went, the more momentum Mizzou gained. A Larkin and Stahley block put the Tigers in front 21-20, and Felder followed with a kill for a 22-20 lead. 

Kerr answered with a kill and a Johnson error tied it at 22. Mizzou reached set point at 24-22, but Tennessee saved two set points and earned one of its own at 25-24 on back-to-back Tigers errors. Larkin then took over, scoring a kill and an ace before Tia Phinezy and Felder stuffed Stout to force a fifth set with a 27-25 win.

Larkin had four kills, an ace and two blocks in the set. Both teams hit .200, but Tennessee couldn’t hold any momentum against Mizzou’s defense and its own seven attack errors.

Fifth Set

Tia Phinezy attacked with authority to open the deciding set, scoring Mizzou’s first two points. Tennessee grabbed a 3-2 lead on a Cruz service error and a Larkin attack error, but O’Reilly answered with a big kill to tie it at 3. Johnson checked back in and the Tigers picked up steam, scoring three straight with Mandovic serving, including a Johnson kill and a Johnson and Larkin stuff, to take a 6-3 lead.

Dostic kept Tennessee within reach with three kills, but Johnson took over with two kills and a solo block during a stretch that pushed Mizzou ahead 12-7. Stout and Rogers put down kills to trim the lead to 12-9, but it was too little too late. Stahley and O’Reilly answered with kills, and the Tigers closed out their first ranked win of the season by taking the deciding set 15-9.

Leaders

Rogers led Tennessee with 20 kills, while Stout (15 kills, 12 digs) and Dostic (12 kills, 10 digs) each posted double-doubles. Kerr turned in a 51-assist, 20-dig double-double and added six kills. Raegan Burns had 19 digs, and Tang hit .538 with seven kills in three sets. Oddo led the Lady Vols with five blocks.

Johnson and O’Reilly led Missouri with 16 kills apiece. Johnson added five blocks, and O’Reilly hit .467. Stahley chipped in 11 kills, and Larkin had eight kills, three aces and four blocks. Smith recorded a match-high six blocks before exiting. Cruz led all players with 29 digs, and Zoey Matias added 21.

Mizzou outhit Tennessee .274 to .242 and outblocked the Lady Vols 14-7.

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