Missouri reaches Sweet 16 of NCAA volleyball tourney with win over Wichita State
Mizzou volleyball has reached the Sweet 16 in the NCAA volleyball tournament for the second straight year.
The Tigers have gone through two straight teams from Kansas to get there this time around.
A night after dispatching the Kansas Jayhawks in Koch Arena in Wichita, Missouri took care of Wichita State on Saturday night.
Missouri beat Wichita State in four sets, 25-23, 25-22, 21-25, 26-24 in front of 7,258 fans at Koch Arena.
Missouri will next face top-seeded and No. 1 ranked Penn State in the third round. Missouri will play at Penn State on Friday with a chance to make the Elite Eight.
Missouri is the Sweet 16 for the fourth time in program history.
Penn State is 31-1 on the season, while Missouri improved to 22-11 with Saturday’s victory over the Shockers.
Mizzou had taken down Kansas in five sets, 25-23, 15-25, 25-15, 20-25, 15-10 on Friday. Penn State beat Howard 3 sets to 1 in the first round and knocked off Pittsburgh 3-1 in the second round.
On Saturday night, Missouri had to respond to a Wichita State rally. Sparked by a third-set victory after trailing 2-0, Wichita State carried the momentum late into the fourth set.
But the Tigers were not rattled by the Shockers’ run. They scored the final three points to end the Shockers’ season.
While forcing the Shockers to hit .158, Missouri jumped out to a 19-14 lead in the first set off two kills from Dariana Hollingswort. Wichita State went on a 4-0 scoring run, capped off by a kill from Tabitha Brown and a service ace from Emily Hiebert.
Missouri committed two attack errors that put Wichita State out in front 21-20. But Missouri gave the Shockers their first set loss since Oct. 27 on a kill by Kira Larson and an attack error by Wichit State’s Abbie Lehman.
Missouri again got off to a fast start in the second set with two straight kills by Alyssa Munlyn for a 13-9 lead. A block by Hiebert and Lehman tied the set at 20-20 before Missouri took it right back with a kill from Munlyn and a block by Melanie Crow. The Tigers finished off the second set 25-22 to take a dominating lead.
Wichita State opened the third set on a 5-0 scoring run, with the Shockers opening up a 10-7 lead off a kill from Alex Koon and a block from Mikaela Raudsepp and Brooke Smith. Another five-point run opened up the Shockers’ lead to 17-11.
Koon’s four kills fueled the Shockers to a 25-21 lead to take set three and cut the match deficit 2-1. Koon again ignited a boost for the Shockers in the fourth set, getting her 13th kill to give the Shockers a 15-14 lead.
But two errors by Wichita State gave Missouri a 19-17 lead. But a block by Koon and Smith put the Shockers out in front 21-20 before three straight points gave Missouri the victory.
This story was originally published December 2, 2017 at 9:48 PM with the headline "Missouri reaches Sweet 16 of NCAA volleyball tourney with win over Wichita State."