COLUMBIA, Mo. – The No. 14 Tennessee Volunteers stormed into the Hearnes Center Wednesday to snap Missouri’s 3-game winning streak, handing the Tigers a 3-1 loss.
Morghan Fingall and Jenaisya Moore finished with double-digit kills for the Vols as the visitors rode dominant play at the net to an SEC road victory. Even though the Tigers improved since the Vols swept them in their SEC opener, and the home crowd stayed active throughout the night, Missouri’s efforts weren’t enough to take down the Vols.
This Missouri team played its best volleyball of the season, fresh off a three-match conference winning streak. The match also featured the SEC’s top two leaders in kills, Janet deMarrais and Morghan Fingall, respectively.
Tennessee took advantage of its dominance at the net and a flurry of Missouri serving errors to take the first set 25-23. Fingell, Keondreya Granberry, and Raevan Chase gave the Tigers all they could handle at the net. The trio combined for nine kills and six blocks in the opening frame.
Their height and athleticism were evident issues early on for Missouri. Missouri did not help its cause, as a number of unforced errors aided the Volunteers. Five unforced serving errors aided the Vols to their first-set victory.
DeMarrais had an incredibly strong first frame as the Texas native put five kills on the board for the Tigers. Missouri found itself down 24-19 and was able to rally the score to 24-23, but a Fingell kill put the final nail in the coffin as the Vols took set 1.
Missouri looked like a completely different team in set 2 as they dominated the second frame to the tune of 25-16 to tie up the score. After an error from Tennessee’s Fingall, the Tigers took a 9-8 lead and did not look back. They outscored the Vols 16-8 in the rest of the frame. Jordan Iliff announced her presence in set 2. She compiled five kills in the second frame.
Her presence alongside an active Dilara Gedikoglu, Morgan Isenberg, and a thunderous home crowd helped Missouri route Tennessee in set 2 to even up the score at 1-1.
The 14th ranked team in the country responded as the 14th ranked team in the country should, as Tennessee dominated Missouri in set 3 by a score of 25-15. The Volunteers came ready to play as they jumped out to a 6-0 lead and failed to blink for the rest of the set.
As all great teams do, the Vols looked to their best player to help them take control of the match; Fingall did just that. Fingall put on a show to the tune of six kills and three block assists to help the Vols regain control of the match.
Keondreya Granberry and Raevan Chase’s presence in the middle of the floor was a major boost to Tennessee, whose middle tandem took them to a set 3 win.
Tennessee kept the pressure on the Missouri frontline at the start of the fourth set. The Vols went right back to Granberry and Fingall, who started to dominate the play at the net. Fingall and the Vols looked in control for almost the entirety of the fourth set. Missouri closed the lead to within 2, but from there, the Vols turned it up a notch to help seal a massive road win.
Fingall led the way in the decisive fourth set with four kills and an assist to help her team over the line.
The Tigers fall to 13-8 overall and 5-5 in conference play, while the visiting Vols improve to 17-3 overall and 8-2 in the SEC. Missouri takes the court in Oxford against Ole Miss on Sunday, while Tennessee will be back on Rocky Top this Sunday to take on Texas A&M.