No. 2 seed Minnesota eliminates No. 15 seed Mizzou in NCAA volleyball Sweet 16

Missouri senior Carly Kan put together a spectacular Sweet Sixteen performance Friday during the NCAA Division I volleyball tournament in Minneapolis.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough for the No. 15 seed Tigers to upset No. 2 seed Minnesota, which claimed a 3-1 victory that ends MU’s season.

Kan pounded out match-high 20 kills, hitting .292 with only six errors to lead Mizzou’s attack.

She finished her career with 1,677 kills, passing Shen Danru for second place on the Tigers’ all-time career kills list.

Only Blue Springs graduate Lisa Henning, who totaled 1,794 career kills in 2010-13, ever had more kills for Missouri.

Kan finished with a double-double, adding a 10 digs in the 25-15, 21-25, 25-19, 25-14 loss.

Junior outside hitter Melanie Crow started slowly as the Golden Gophers’ block focused on her. She finished with 12 kills and nine errors.

Senior Alexa Ethridge, a Nebraska transfer and Lee’s Summit North graduate, led the Tigers with 19 digs, while junior setter Courtney Eckenrode added 11 digs and a team-high 36 assists.

Minnesota, 28-4, spotted SEC co-champion Missouri, 27-6, a small early lead then seized control by winning eight of nine points en route to a 25-15 opening-set victory.

The Tigers clawed back with a 25-21 win in the second set as sophomore Alyssa Munlyn powered two late kills to help even the match.

Munlyn finished with five kills and a match-best four blocks.

Minnesota reclaimed control by winning the third set 25-19, hitting .341 with 16 kills and only two errors compared with Missouri’s 13 kills and seven errors for a .143 hitting percentage.

The Gophers closed out the win by hitting .667 — 19 kills and only one error on 27 total attacks — in the fourth set.

Tigers senior Emily Thater capped her career with seven kills, a team-high two aces, three digs and two blocks.

Minnesota had five players reach double figures in kills — including freshman outside hitter Alexis Hart, a Truman High graduate, who had 10 kills.

The Gophers — who hit .351 overall compared to the Tigers’ .189 hitting percentage — were led by senior Sarah Wilhite’s 16 kills, while the Tapp twins, seniors Hannah and Page, added 14 kills each and junior Molly Lohman pounded out 11 kills.

This story was originally published December 9, 2016 at 9:35 PM with the headline "No. 2 seed Minnesota eliminates No. 15 seed Mizzou in NCAA volleyball Sweet 16."