Columbia, MO. – It wasn’t the SEC debut that many expected for year three of the Dawn Sullivan experience. Down in College Station, Missouri opened up conference play with a 3-1 loss against the No. 13 Aggies, where it struggled to muster consistent offense and failed to stop Texas A&M in multiple facets.
Set One
As has been the case with previous teams under Sullivan, slow starts to sets have burdened rosters littered with talent. Wednesday’s match was no different.
To start the first set, Missouri allowed Texas A&M to open hot with five unanswered points before finally scoring one on the Aggies side of the court. The damage was done though, as the Tigers’ urgency to take the lead continued to be thwarted by error-prone play. After 10 errors, and strong offense from Logan Lednicky, Missouri quickly lost the first set, 25-15.
Set Two
The second stage offered little better. Though the Tigers managed their errors much better, once again a slow start hindered Missouri from staging any sort of a competitive effort.
Kills by the outside hitters Janet deMarrais and Caylen Alexander kept Missouri on pace with Texas A&M, but too often the Aggies found the floor before the Tigers did. Led by Lednicky and Maddie Waak, Texas A&M won the set 25-17.
Set Three
Showing life, Missouri forced Texas A&M on the backfoot in the third act. Led by deMarrais and middle blocker Regan Haith, the Tigers got off to a much quicker start. Trading the lead all the way to the final point, both Missouri and Texas A&M had their fair share of successful and error-filled moments.
It took everything for Missouri, but it got its lone set win (26-24) of the night thanks to a kill by Tyrah Ariail, and an attack error from Aggies outside hitter Emily Hellmuth.
Set Four
Now firmly in the match, Missouri seemed poised to give Texas A&M all it could handle enroute to a fifth and final set, rekindling memories of last season’s back-and-forth battle. However, that wasn’t the case, as the Aggies responded with one of the strongest set performances seen in the still young season.
Missouri managed to score only eight points, whilst Texas A&M went on streaks of six and nine, scoring at will from its plethora of talent. The life the Tigers showed in the previous set had well and truly bottomed out, and the end result was a brutal 25-8 loss that closed the match and win for the home team from College Station.
Final Score: Missouri – 1 | Texas A&M – 3
Missouri showed it still had some work to do if it wants to replicate its postseason success from the previous two seasons. Negative hitting percentages from some of Missouri’s best and brightest players won’t cut it, and 32 attack errors will put any squad in a deficit, no matter how talented they are.
The Tigers will get no rest however, as it journeys just another hour into Texas, as it is set to take on the No. 2 team in the nation, Texas, on Friday, Sept. 26.