Mizzou volleyball handles Wichita State in three sets

Mizzou swept Wichita State 25-19, 25-13, 25-18 Saturday in the Mizzou Tournament at the Hearnes Center.

Fresh off her first double-digit kill match of the season, right side hitter Grace O'Reilly opened the match Saturday with a kill. O'Reilly left her mark on the match once again with nine kills, two blocks and a service ace.

Mizzou coach Dawn Sullivan was proud of the seniors effort during the match.

"She just took some big rips," Sullivan said. "(She) got an opportunity to go back there and serve and ripped it back in the service line."

But Set 1 was highlighted by an unexpected duo.

Sierra Dudley and O'Reilly have become the dynamic duo to watch for the Tigers, but Piper Batie and Kimani Johnson had an unstoppable connection early. Johnson pushed the Tigers' lead to 8-5 with back-to-back kills. She finished with five kills in the set and seven in the match.

With starting setting Nina Mandovic out, Dudley got the start and Batie received significant playing time for the second day in a row. The two setters spread the ball around and kept both pins and the middle involved to create a less predictable attack.

Mizzou pulled out to a 12-7 lead before Wichita State tied the set at 14. Sophomore Paige Felder killed the next point, allowing Mizzou to regroup during the media timeout.

From there, it was all Missouri. The Tigers went on a 6-2 run to make it 20-16. Despite Wichita State's best efforts, Felder set it over the net to get Mizzou to set point. Two points later, Felder came right back again with another to close the set. She finished with nine in the match on 23 attempts.

Set 2 was dominant once more, with O'Reilly leading the way with six kills. Mizzou opened the set on a 5-0 run after a Lauren Larkin block and a pair of O'Reilly kills. Wichita State pulled a little closer before the Tigers pushed the lead back to five.

Mizzou led 19-12 lead after O'Reilly placed a ball perfectly in the back corner for a kill. The Tigers cruised from there to a Set 2 win, finishing on a 6-1 run.

"I just have a lot of confidence, in this team," O'Reilly said. "I know that I can take big rips, and they're gonna cover me."

She then gave high praise to her libero, Ainoah Cruz, calling her the scrappiest libero in the Southeastern Conference. Cruz nearly injured herself in the first set after sliding into one of the poles that holds up the net while she was trying to keep a ball alive. Cruz ended with 13 digs in the match, putting her one away from 1,500 career digs.

After a block from Eva Smith and O'Reilly's top-spin serve landed her an ace, the Tigers jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the third set. Mizzou, for the third time in the match, got out to a 12-7 lead and coasted to the Set 3 win for the sweep.

"I thought our team played really clean tonight," Sullivan said. "It was really fun to, one, just kind of see them find their rhythm out there. I thought we played great defense. We continue to dig that ball up, and we served really tough to put a lot of pressure on their team."

Mizzou finished with 40 kills with a .368 hit percentage, 10 blocks and six aces.

Sullivan, who has been hounding her team about serving tough this season, felt her team finally took a step in that direction.

"We had multiple people go back there and serve three balls in a row and that's always something we talk a lot about," Sullivan said. "And then once you get them pressured, how do we now just keep that ball in."

The Tigers also had eight service errors.

Ceylin Kuyan and Larkin each finished with five kills, and Larkin added five blocks to her sheet. Smith also had five blocks and added three kills plus an ace.

Mizzou plays Florida Gulf Coast at noon Sunday at the Hearnes Center.