Dawn Sullivan’s program made its debut for Mizzou Volleyball fans this Saturday in a scrimmage against Missouri S&T. As we anticipate their official start in the Fall 2023, let’s breakdown our first look at the new Tigers.
The Game
The Tigers and Miners clashed in a strict 3-set match where Mizzou won the first two sets with scores of 25-15 and 25-18, but dropped the third set 21-25.
Hearnes Center currently serves as the home of the wrestling team, so there were no lines painted on the court. Athletic tape was used in its place. Surprisingly, there didn’t seem to be any issues throughout the match.
No officials were brought in for the scrimmage. OH Janet deMarrais did not play and served as the up ref. Assistant Coach Cullen Irons served as the only line judge, placed in Missouri’s back court. All calls were made by the teams themselves.
Missouri S&T had brought their uniforms for the match, whereas Mizzou wore practice shirts without numbers. Neither team designated a libero.
The Tigers only have eight players listed on their roster. None of them are setters. Assistant Coach Wendel Camargo filled in for the squad in the first two sets. The Tigers are still very much experimenting with their roster. Jordan Iliff and Jasmine Dulan played both sides of the pin. Morgan Isenberg played both MB and RS. Lauren Forbes got action at setter in the third set.
The Players
After spending her freshman year as a DS and a serving sub, Jasmine Dulan is being pressed into an OH role in 2023. At 5’8’’, Dulan will be one of the shortest pin hitters at the SEC level, but the team doesn’t have any other options. She boasts a strong vertical and had a lot of block touches against S&T. The Miners are a much smaller team than what they’ll see in conference play, so this doesn’t translate well against the deeper part of the schedule for Missouri. She looked strong enough on both pins and she’ll likely be a six-rotation player thanks to her passing ability.
Estella Zatchecka, the former 131st overall recruit, looks poised for a similar role she had last year where she fought for time as a DS and a serving sub. With the amount of other DSs on the roster, Zatechka is going to really need to separate herself from the rest of the pack.
Following Dawn Sullivan from UNLV, Maya Sands had a strong performance in the scrimmage against the Miners. Sands looks fantastic on defense and in receive and boasts a deadly float serve. She’s my favorite to win the libero spot for Missouri and operated out of left back for most of the match.
Jordan Iliff has a lot on her shoulders after Mizzou’s top two kill leaders transferred out. The third kill leader in 2022 looks to lead the offense in 2023. Iliff saw some sets to the outside in the scrimmage, likely to get her more opportunities to hit, but just wasn’t nearly as effective there compared to her dominant side. In the last two sets, she played all six rotations, flashing a powerful swing from the back row. Her passing wasn’t challenged much. Iliff was strictly a front row player last year, but she’s the team’s only proven weapon on offense, so she’ll be forced to play all the way around this year.
Lauren Forbes’ best role on this team is at DS. She served mainly as Iliff’s substitution in right back last year, but saw more time at middle back in the scrimmage game. However, she was placed at setter in the last frame and looked rough. Her sets ran high with slow pace and that allowed the Miners to win their only set of the day. The offense looked out of sync with her hands. It’s a very uphill battle for Forbes if the team sees her as a setter for 2023. She’ll have the rest of Spring and Summer to work on the role, but I think the team is much better off finding an actual setter elsewhere. They do have Tatum Longnecker coming in as a commit for 2023, but it’s not known if her arrival will be in the Summer or Fall. It’s not clear what’s happening with Addison Lyon, who sat out the entirety of last year. She appeared in some promotional videos for the team, but is not on the roster for 2023. Lyon has a heart condition that previously put her career in jeopardy. Skylar Buckley’s status is also unknown. She’s not confirmed to be in the portal after her sister transferred to TCU, but I’m pretty sure she’s not in Columbia this Spring.
Morgan Isenberg was my favorite player in the scrimmage. She’s been limited to the backup MB her first two seasons, but she runs at a higher pace and motor than the players ahead of her on the depth chart. She certainly showed out at the scrimmage, running effective quicks and also showed some versatility on the RS. She’s a bit undersized for the middle at 6’1’’, but her energy should get her some good looks. As of right now, I’d put her ahead of Madilyn Sell to start.
The 66th overall recruit of 2022 from Chesterfield, Missouri struggled to get things going offensively for the Tigers. Madilyn Sell has the height and length needed to hold down the middle for Mizzou, but she moves a step slow and needs to look to swing more. It was clearly a point of emphasis to get her swinging in the scrimmage but she never found a rhythm. She’ll pause when she doesn’t need to when locating the ball, an issue every middle seems to go through at some point. I have faith in her development with the coaching staff, but again I’d favor Isenberg more right now.
Janet deMarrais didn’t dress for the scrimmage against S&T. I would’ve loved to see how far she’s come along since a simply awful freshman campaign where she barely had more kills than errors. I’m hoping for a big sophomore jump similar to Kaylee Cox, but Cox had the luxury of lots of reps in her first year in 2021. deMarrais has the tools to be a dangerous OH. She has a similar build and game to Mizzou’s last All-SEC player in Anna Dixon, who won the honors in 2020. To get the most out of her though, the team will need to find an answer at setter.
The Coaches
Dawn Sullivan has a much more hands-on approach compared to her predecessor, Joshua Taylor. Sullivan was constantly around the game and more or less stopped the scrimmage a few times to coach her players. She’s patient with her players and I hear lots of great things from those who work with her in support roles. She has a lot of work to do with an incomplete roster, but she seems to be delegating recruiting to her assistants. Defense seems to be the strength right now, but if the team finds the right setter, I expect their offense to rely on speed rather than power.
Cullen Irons took a similar role to Sullivan during the scrimmage. He worked a little more with the back row than the front row.
Wendel Camargo got a lot more involved in the match by setting the first two sets. He has an emphasis with the MBs, trying to get the most out of Isenberg and Sell. When the team gets a setter figured out, I expect him to work with them closely as well.
Arielle Wilson wasn’t in attendance for the scrimmage as she’ll be attending the Red Rock Rave this weekend, hoping to drum up some more commits for the team. She and Camargo both have recruiting coordinator in their titles.
Overview
It’s tough to evaluate where this team is out with them not having a setter. That is an issue that needs to be addressed immediately. Like it or not, this is a program in disarray with only eight official players. They’ll get at least two more for the start of the season in commit Tatum Longnecker and transfer Colleen Finney, but there’s still a lot of work cut out for Dawn Sullivan’s program. Their inability to put away Missouri S&T without Wendel Camargo setting makes me fear for the rest of their spring schedule, but it’s a long way until their official debut and I have a lot of faith in the coaching staff to develop the talent they do have.