COLUMBIA, MO – On Tuesday night, with a raucous opening night crowd at their back at the Hearnes Center, Mizzou Volleyball fell to the No. 5 ranked Stanford Cardinal in four sets.

The Tigers (3-2) faced their first-ranked opponent of the year in a primetime showing broadcast live on ESPN with a heap of national coverage as a part of the SEC/ACC Showdown at the Net. The series pits some of the best teams from what are widely regarded as two of the top college volleyball conferences in the nation. 

With that, the No. 23  Tigers were pitted against the No. 5  Cardinal in what was the first of four top-25 matchups this season. Despite the results, the Tigers were able to compete closely with Stanford for nearly the entire night, never trailing by more than five points – and that deficit came only once, late in the fourth set as Stanford began to pull away for the final time. 

“That is who they (the Tigers) are,” said head coach Dawn Sullivan. “This team is just so gritty, and that is what they’re figuring out, right? How do they finish those points? That’s always the game of volleyball. And those are the games that you want to be playing… when it’s just decided by a few points. And I think when we get in those moments, that’s when they’re gonna figure out how to take flight and take off.”

The Tigers’ grit was an attribute never in question. As Stanford slowly piled on the points in the early stages of the first set, Missouri didn’t back down, taking advantage of nearly every minute miscue the Cardinals made.

Mizzou began to add on themselves as senior transfer Caylen Alexander looked unstoppable, racking up kills to keep the Tigers close towards the end of the first set. 

Following a Janet deMarrais kill to give Mizzou the lead at 22-21, Stanford climbed back into things and pulled out a win in the first set by a tight 25-23 margin. 

Through the set, the Tigers would never trail by more than three.

Set two, however, was a whole new animal. 

The Tigers led by as many as four and maintained the advantage until Stanford drew things even at 24 and then 25. The two would go back and forth with Missouri drawing a set point on three occasions. 

Eventually, the Cardinal outlasted them. Erika Sayer knocked in an ace for Stanford, who took the set 33-31. 

“I mean, it was killer,” said deMarrais. “But like Dawn said, it’s really about pushing through the whole time. We want those close games. We are always in pressure situations and practices, so I think that’s something that we can practice a lot. Couldn’t pull it through today, but will definitely do it out in the next. I’m glad we got that experience today.”

The Tigers will hope for that experience to pay off in the long run this season. Coming off a Sweet Sixteen run, the team once again has high hopes to compete in the SEC and on the national level. 

This preseason matchup with one of the nation’s best should serve as a stepping stone for the Tigers as they move further into an ever-competitive crop of teams.

“The first thought in my head is that [Stanford] is the type of teams we’re going to see when we make it back to the Sweet Sixteen,” said deMarrais. “One of our goals this year is making it even further than that, so we’re not going to see teams any less than what they’re ranked and what they can bring to the table.”

While Missouri didn’t come away with the win against the Cardinal, they did take a set; the third set, which may have been the most convincing of the night. 

After a back-and-forth open, the Tigers pulled away to lead by as many as six, setting a pace which they maintained into the final points of the set, where Stanford began to inch their way back into things, drawing as close as to trail by just two (24-22) before a Marina Crownover kill ended things. 

Crownover then helped get things going in the fourth set, assisting Alexander on yet another kill to give Mizzou the early advantage. The Tigers took the early 3-0 lead, but Stanford caught up and began to draw away. 

They’d lead by as many as five into the heat of the set before Missouri drew near one last time. 

The Tigers brought it within two at 21-19, but Stanford went to work and grabbed two consecutive points before Jordyn Harvey closed things out for the Cardinal, who claimed the fourth set 25-21. 

“This match is huge to show tenacity,” said Sullivan. “When you can just take play after play and continue to show up and be the same team, I think that consistency is going to get us really far. I was just really impressed with the tenacity they continue to show and the way they continue to battle.”

The Tigers will continue to battle on Thursday down in Fort Worth when they take on Wyoming for an 11 a.m. first serve.