By Lauren Rosenberg

The no. 22 Missouri Tigers were upset at home by a red hot Ole Miss rebels squad Wednesday night.

The Rebels came to Columbia with high momentum, as they were on an 11-game winning streak and didn’t look like they were going to slow down. The Tigers just came off an exhilarating come-from-behind win against the Texas A&M Aggies on Sunday after being down two sets to nothing. 

Momentum was on the side of the Tigers as they dominated the first set, defeating the Rebels with a score of 25-18. The Rebels got the first point with a kill by Emily Stroup, but the Tigers responded quickly with a kill from Kayla Caffey followed by an ace from Leketor Member-Meneh. Missouri went on a 4-0 scoring run, with kills from Deberg, Claudia Dillon, Andrea Fuentes and an ace from Deberg. 

Ole Miss started to gain momentum as Anna Blair shortened the gap to two. Despite the Rebels’ efforts, the Tigers ran away with the first set through a 3-0 scoring run to defeat the Rebels.

Set 2 was a different story for both teams. Caffey struck first, followed by a kill by Dariana Hollingsworth-Santana. Then the Rebels woke up. Whenever the Tigers scored, the Rebels would come back with one of their own, eventually tying up the score. Missouri had the one-up in those situations in the beginning and then would allow for Ole Miss to score, again tying the set up. Nayo Warnell started the Ole Miss run with a kill to pull away from Missouri with a score of 20-18. Ole Miss went on a 4-0 run due to attack errors from Deberg, Member-Meneh and Caffey. Missouri was slowing inching their way back, but eventually dropped the set from an ace by Lauren Bars.

The beginning of set 3 was another back-and-forth scoring game. Tons of errors on both sides were the cause of the close scoring, but Ole Miss ended up pulling out of the ties when they started a 3-0 run to lead 8-4. Missouri called a timeout, but even that couldn’t help. Member-Meneh had two errors and Stroup recorded an ace to extend the Rebels’ lead. Missouri did end up pulling closer, starting with Hollingsworth-Santana’s two kills and an attack error by Blair. Hollingsworth-Santana had an opportunity to get the Tigers within one, but she had a service error which led to Ole Miss taking the third set with a score of 25-22 and an overall lead of 2-1.

Set 4 was a crucial set for the Tigers if they wanted any chance to make a miraculous comeback like they did Sunday against Texas A&M. Once again, it was another back-and-forth set and Missouri was not ready to just give up this match to Ole Miss. The Rebels went on two early 3-0 runs in the beginning and then it was back-and-forth. The Tigers responded later with a 3-0 run of their own. 

When it seemed to be going well for Ole Miss, they were leading 24-21 and were ready to take it home, Missouri bounced back behind the kills of Deberg and Member-Meneh to tie the set up at 24. It was another cat-and-mouse scoring run as Ole Miss would get the advantage, and then Mizzou for six possessions, until Stroup recorded a kill to tie it back up at 27. The Rebels earned point 28 off of an ace from Barnes and solidified their win with a kill from Mulkey to take set 4 29-27 and upset the Tigers in Columbia 3-1.

The Tigers will have a nine day break due to a bye week and will be travelling to take on the Auburn Tigers in Alabama on October 18.

Edited by Emma Moloney | ehm3gd@mail.missouri.edu