By Jake Sirkus

The No. 17 Missouri Tigers defeated the LSU Tigers in five sets in the series finale at the Hearnes Center on Saturday Night. 

The Tigers showed off their resilience throughout the night, struggling for the middle parts of the game, falling behind 2-1 sets with their backs against the wall. They battled back however, winning a close fourth set and dominating the shortened, deciding fifth set.

In front of just under 800 people, the Tigers improved to 2-0 on the Spring Season and 8-2 on the full season so far, with those only two losses coming on back to back nights to the top 5 ranked Kentucky Wildcats, in heartbreaking fashion. 

It was superstar Kylie Deberg showing out once again for Missouri, continuing her all-star campaign. Deberg led Missouri with 23 kills on the night, and .239. She also shined with 11 digs, showing off an underrated part of her defensive game, and continues to be a key piece to this Missouri attack as they inch closer to postseason play. 

Jaden Newsome, continuing to start at setter for the Tigers, performed well again tonight with 41 assists. She also had six kills and zero errors to go along with her perfect passing. 

The Tigers definitely need to clean some things up if they want to compete with the best teams in the nation, as they were gifted with 15 service errors from the Purple Tigers in this match. 

For the LSU Tigers, it was Hannah Brister leading her team in Kills and hitting percentage, recording 21 and .432 respectively. 

Missouri will have about a week off before they travel down to Gainsville for an anticipated matchup between ranked opponents, as they’ll face off against the No. 11 Florida Gators on February 6 and 7. 

Edited by Emma Moloney