By Aidan Johnson

The 9th-ranked Missouri Tigers edged out SEC West opponent, and previously 4-0, Arkansas Razorbacks in volleyball on Wednesday night. Missouri won the match three sets to Arkansas’s two, taking the final set by a score of 15-6. The win moved the Tigers to a record of 3-2 this season and ended their two-game losing skid. 

Kylie Deberg, Anna Dixon, and Dariana Hollingsworth-Santana led the way for the Tigers, each having 14 or more kills. Deberg in particular had a very strong game, recording a season-high 28 kills, including a very impressive 8 serving aces.

“I was expecting 10 aces from her, so I guess 8 was okay,” Missouri head coach Joshua Taylor jokingly commented.

Andrea Fuentes also had a very strong game for the Tigers, recording 6 kills of her own but, more importantly, tying her season-high for assists with 48.

Taylor Head and Jillian Gillan were the leaders for the Razorbacks in the first of two matches between the two SEC Schools. The duo, with 17 and 16 kills respectively, helped Arkansas crawl out of an early 2-0 set deficit. Facing a 13-7 score early in the third set, the two led the charge for the seemingly lifeless Razorbacks, who came roaring back with a vengeance. In the end though, it was not enough to keep the squad at a perfect record on the season, and they will now be 4-1 heading into the second half of the double-header tomorrow night. 

The two teams will meet for a second time at Hearnes Center tomorrow night, and the Tigers will look to remain perfect against Arkansas in matches held in Mid-Missouri (9-0). Coach Taylor knows that matchup will be a much tougher one though, as Arkansas will be able to adjust to this 3-day old lineup. 

“It will be a more difficult match,” Taylor said. “They could not really have done a lot of scouting on this lineup, so they will probably be more prepared tomorrow.”

The Tigers will look to move to a record of 4-2 tomorrow night and maintain their standing in the national rankings. They take on the Razorbacks once again at 6 p.m. in the final regular season home match for Missouri this season.

Edited by Emma Moloney