Cats beat dogs as Missouri (6-3) cruises past Butler (6-5) in their own invitational to secure their sixth win of the season. With this game, the Missouri Tigers have surpassed the total amount of wins they had in their 2021 campaign. The Butler Bulldogs have now dropped two games in their own invitational in a poor showing for their squad. 

This matchup proved to be a game of endurance as both teams struggled to put balls away from their hitters. Neither team had a hitting percentage above .200, though Missouri fared significantly better at a .185 clip compared to Butler’s .080. In nine games, today’s matchup was only the second time Missouri was out-blocked, finishing with three less than the Bulldogs. Sophomore Middle Grace Boggess led the way for Butler with six blocks. 

Serving may have proven to be the edge the Tigers needed to secure the win in a defensive struggle. The Tigers’ aggressive serving kept the Bulldogs out-of-system, often forcing balls to the closest pin hitter. Butler struggled to get aggressive swings to put the Tigers away and it would cost them dearly. They finished with 20 less kills than the Tigers. 

For Missouri, they received another dominant outing from Sophomore Outside Kaylee Cox who racked up 24 kills. Senior Pin Hitter Anna Dixon chipped in 16 of her own to help Freshman Setter Riley Buckley pave her way to a 43 assist game. This is the 4th time Buckley has logged 40+ assists in a game for the Tigers. 

Defensively, the Tigers locked it down. They had 85 digs, a season high as a squad. Three Tigers had double-digit digs led by Senior Libero Leandra Mangual-Duran with 29. Defensive specialists Lauren Forbes and Skylar Buckley had 14 and 11, respectively. To boot, the team also had zero service return errors. 

A solid performance from the Tigers now guarantees they enter SEC play with a winning record. Before they can test their mettle with the rest of the conference, they’ll finish their last matchup of the Bulldog Brawl against Central Michigan (6-3).