COLUMBIA, Mo. – Missouri Volleyball capped off Homecoming weekend by hosting Mississippi State on Sunday, in an entertaining matchup that saw the Tigers overcome multiple deficits to win 3-1.

In early October, Missouri returned home to Columbia 1-2 in SEC play, and questions began to rise about whether the Tigers were capable of meeting their lofty preseason expectations. Any criticisms of second-year head coach Dawn Sullivan and her team were quickly extinguished, as they scored wins against Southeast Missouri State, Alabama, and Tennessee.

Heading into Sunday’s game, the last of their October home slate, the Tigers would be against the struggling Mississippi State. Until then, the Bulldogs had gone 1-4 in SEC play and were looking for the upset to turn around their conference hopes mid-season.

The first set showed that the Bulldogs hadn’t come to roll over, as they got out to an early lead that saw the Tigers look sluggish despite the clear player advantages they had. Going into the media timeout Mississippi State led 15-10, but Missouri’s Mychael Vernon would rectify that quickly, as after the break she would score four kills in a 6-0 scoring run that would put the Tigers back in the fight. The two teams would trade scoring points until Vernon hit yet another kill, followed by a costly error from Mississippi State’s Arianna Beckham, to put the Tigers up 1-0 in sets.

The second set would be the most one-sided of the night, as Missouri would come out of the gate scoring the first seven points in the set, keeping on the gas into the media timeout, leading 15-2. Mississippi State looked stunned, barely able to keep up with the numerous threats that Missouri posed, and the rest of the set seemed arbitrary as the Tigers would go on to win 25-12, 2-0 in sets.

Heading into the third set, it seemed as if the end was coming for Mississippi State, but credit to head coach Julie Darty Dennis and her team, the Bulldogs were not ready to give in. Numerous errors from Missouri kept the third set close, but then Mississippi State would go on a seven-point scoring run that would put the Tigers back in a deficit. In a similar way to the first, Missouri would fight back until the two teams were tied 24-24, and in one of the best exchanges of the season, the two teams would trade set points 10 times, with neither team able to score the finishing blow. The end would finally come off of a rare error by Missouri’s offensive star Jordan Iliff, followed by a kill from Mississippi State’s Rebecca Walk. Mississippi State would win the entertaining set 31-29, to go to an unexpected fourth set of play against Missouri.

If anything, the end of the third set would only motivate the Tigers in the fourth, as Iliff would start the set off with a thunderous kill, setting the tone for what would be the final set of the day. Once Missouri started to lead, Mississippi State had nothing to respond with, and the Tigers would go on to win the fourth 25-18, to ultimately win the match 3-1.

It wasn’t the prettiest of Missouri’s now four straight victories at home, but once again the team’s statistics would jump off the page, yet another reminder of the talent Dawn Sullivan has at her disposal. 73 Kills came from seven different players, with 45 of which coming from the pair of Iliff and Vernon. Defensively they were even more impressive, with 77 Digs, 30 of which came from Libero Maya Stands, matching her career best.

Sunday would only get better for the Tigers as out in the southeastern conference teams would trade wins and losses, putting them fourth in the standings behind Arkansas, Kentucky, and Texas.

Now 13-5, 4-2 in conference play, Missouri hits the road once again, to start a pivotal slate of games that could redefine the pecking order at the top of the SEC.

The first of their road games will be on Friday, Oct. 25, against Arkansas in Fayetteville.

Editor’s Note: Missouri played Arkansas on Oct. 25 and won, beating Arkansas 3-1. They will next play Oklahoma on Oct. 27 and then Texas on Nov. 1.