Missouri volleyball was defeated by Mississippi State for the second straight day Saturday, this time falling in straight units in Starkville, Mississippi.
Mississippi State jumped out to an early lead and expanded its lead with little resistance in a brutal sweep of the visiting Tigers of their regular-season finale. In a season coated in disappointment over the win column, the Tigers did little harm within the loss that noticed the Bulldogs run away with 25-16, 25-14, and 25-20 set victories.
Main the Tigers’ deep rotation was Jordan Iliff, who landed 13 of her 26 swings to lead the staff in kills. It was one in every of her greatest performances of the season and got here as a product of the Bulldogs’ defensive concentrate on the heavy-hitting duo of Kaylee Cox and Anna Dixon, who mixed for simply 13 kills on 51 swings. As a staff, the Tigers solely managed 35 kills whereas comitting 28 errors.
Mississippi State (15-13, 8-10 SEC) thrived on offense, utilizing a three-pronged strategy between Gabby Waden, Sania Petties and Shania Cromartie, who recorded 14, 8 and seven kills, respectively. The trio led the Bulldogs to a .305 hitting proportion, .084 factors above their season common.
The Tigers struggled with protection all afternoon, as their blocking and receiving stored their transition out of rhythm and prevented them from getting their offense in good positions for assaults. After incomes the libero jersey and a beginning spot a pair weeks in the past, Skylar Buckley led the again row’s defensive effort with 16 digs and just one receiving error. Although Missouri’s passing recreation did not look dangerous on paper, their offense suffered from the dearth of coordination between their receivers and the remainder of the offensive system.
Although she could not make up for the underwhelming offensive exhibiting, freshman Riley Buckley continued to show her potential with one other full stat line: 31 assists, a pair of kills and 7 digs. The distinct lack of blocks was the case for your complete staff, as Missouri’s blocking strategy appeared solely reverse of Mississippi’s strategy on offense. The often efficient pair of Madilyn Promote and Trista Strasser mixed for only one block, whereas the Tigers may solely stuff the online 3 times throughout all three units.
The match concludes Missouri’s 2022 season, bringing the staff to a closing document of 9-19 and an SEC-worst 2-16 convention document.