Mizzou Keeps SEC Championship Dream Alive With Win Over Florida

Match Stats

• No. 25 Missouri def. No. 5 Florida 3-2, (25-18, 23-25, 25-15, 21-25, 15-10)
• Mizzou moves to 23-5, 14-2 SEC, Florida falls to 24-3, 14-2 SEC
• Hosted by Missouri

With Missouri’s win over Florida, there is now a three way tie for the top spot in the SEC. If each team wins their remaining two matches, they will all share a piece of the SEC championship.

With the win, Missouri moves up three spots to No. 22, while Florida drops four spots to No. 9.

Mizzou’s Carly Kan posted a double-double with 25 kills and 21 digs, on a .328 hitting percentage. This is the second time this season that someone has posted a 20 kill-20 dig match. Melanie Crow posted 20 kills on a  hitting percentage. Setter Courtney Eckenrode recorded a double-double with 59 assists and 14 digs.

Carli Snyder recorded her eighth double-double of the season with 19 kills and 20 digs. Alex Holston added 22 kills and Caroline Knop picked up a match high 27 digs.

Press Release

Courtesy of Missouri Athletics

COLUMBIA, Mo. – No. 25 Mizzou Volleyball (23-5, 14-2 SEC) moved back atop the Southeastern Conference standings on Sunday with a thrilling 3-2 (25-18, 23-25, 25-15, 21-25, 15-10) victory over No. 5 Florida. The Tigers have now claimed three consecutive wins over a Top 10 nationally ranked Gators team at the Hearnes Center.

Sunday’s exciting triumph joins the Tigers’ wins in years past over then-No. 9 Florida on Sept. 30, 2015, and then-No. 2 Florida on Oct. 20, 2013.

Mizzou once again controls its own destiny in search of its second SEC championship in the past four seasons. With only two matches left in the regular season, the Tigers can claim a share of the conference title with wins against Georgia (Nov. 23) and Tennessee (Nov. 26) this upcoming week. Mizzou currently joins Florida and Kentucky with two SEC losses this season, but holds head-to-head tiebreakers over both programs.

The Tigers’ offense was simply outstanding Sunday afternoon in Mid-Missouri. Overall, Mizzou tallied 71 kills on .331 hitting, led by senior Carly Kan‘s (Honolulu) sensational individual match. Kan finished with a season high 25 kills on .328 hitting and season high 21 digs. Her outstanding effort marked the Tigers’ second 20 kills-20 digs match this season, joining redshirt junior Melanie Crow‘s (Wildwood, Mo.) memorable match on Sept. 3 against Miami (Ohio).

Additionally, Sunday marked Kan’s second career 20-20 match and only Mizzou Volleyball’s 21st such match in program history.

Crow was also relentless on offense for the Tigers, recording 20 kills on .341 hitting. Her standout performance against the Gators marked her team-leading fifth 20-plus kill match this year. Overall this past week (Nov. 14-20), Crow was lights out with 42 kills (consecutive 20-plus kill matches) on .352 hitting in two crucial SEC matchups for the Tigers.

All five starting Tigers hit .300 or higher against the Gators this afternoon, as senior Emily Thater (Springfield, Mo.), sophomore Alyssa Munlyn (Suwanee, Ga.) and redshirt junior Kira Larson (Fargo, N.D.) rounded out the terrific individual performances.

Thater posted seven kills on .333 hitting, Munlyn tallied eight kills on .316 hitting with nine total blocks and Larson recorded nine kills on .368 hitting and four total blocks.

Orchestrating the offense for Mizzou on Sunday was junior Courtney Eckenrode (The Woodlands, Texas). The Tiger setter finished with a career high 59 assists and 14 digs, securing her second consecutive double-double and sixth overall double-double this season.

TOP TIGERS

• Kan: 25 kills on .328 hitting, 21 digs, 3 assists, 3 total blocks, 26.5 points
• Crow: 20 kills on .341 hitting, 6 digs, 1 ace, 3 total blocks
• Munlyn: 8 kills on .316 hitting, 9 total blocks
• Eckenrode: 59 assists, 2 kills, 14 digs, 1 total block

UP NEXT

Mizzou is set for the final week of the 2016 regular season from Nov. 21-26. First, the Tigers travel to Georgia on Wednesday, Nov. 23, for a matchup against the Bulldogs. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. (CT) and the match will broadcast live on SEC Network + via WatchESPN.

The Tigers close their regular season on Saturday, Nov. 26, against Tennessee. Saturday evening will mark “Senior Night” at the Hearnes Center, as the program honors Emily Thater, Julia Towler, Carly Kan and Alexa Ethridge. First serve is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. (CT) with TV designation to be announced soon.

Visit MUTigers.com for the latest information on all things Mizzou Volleyball. You can also find the Tigers on social media by liking us on Facebook (Missouri Volleyball) and following us on Twitter and Instagram (@MizzouVB).

Press Release

Courtesy of Florida Athletics

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The No. 5 Gators saw their 12-match winning streak come to an end Sunday (Nov. 20) afternoon, as they dropped a five-set decision (18-25, 25-23, 15-25, 25-21, 10-15) to No. 25 Missouri.

The Gators were held below a .350 clip for the first time in their last eight matches, finishing with their third-lowest hitting percentage of the season (.228). UF’s defense also struggled, allowing the Tigers to post a .331 clip. It was just the second time all year the Gators’ opponent hit above .300, with the only other occurrence coming in a season-opening loss to then-No. 1 Nebraska.

Junior outside hitter Carli Snyder was one of the bright spots for UF. The Macomb, Mich. native became the first Gator since Ziva Recek (Nov. 4, 2012 vs. Tennessee) to record 20 digs in a double-double, logging a career-high 20 digs and 19 kills. Snyder is also one of only five SEC players with 20-plus digs and 15-plus kills in a match this year.

Junior All-American middle blocker Rhamat Alhassan was far and away the most efficient Gator. Alhassan hit .500 with 13 kills on 20 total attacks.

Three-time All-American right side Alex Holston tallied a season-high 22 kills, though she hit .294 on 51 total attempts.

Florida, now in a three-way tie with Missouri and Kentucky for first place in the SEC standings, can still clinch at least a share of its 22nd conference championship with wins in both of its remaining matches.

THE RECORDS
No. 5 Florida: 24-3, 14-2 SEC
No. 25 Missouri: 23-5, 14-2 SEC

NOTABLES AND TRENDS

• Florida’s all-time record against Missouri falls to 5-4, including a 1-3 mark in Columbia and an 0-2 record in five-set matches
  • The home team has won five of the last six matches in this series
• Sunday afternoon was Florida’s first five-set match of the season
• The Gators’ run of eight matches with a clip of .350 or higher was their longest streak since 2003, the last year it reached the NCAA Semifinals and made an NCAA Championship match appearance
• Carli Snyder‘s double-double was her eighth of the season, a figure that leads all Gators
• Snyder’s 21 points tied her career high, which she set earlier this season against Marshall (Sep. 17)
• Snyder’s previous career high for digs was 17, which she notched in last year’s Kentucky match (Oct. 18, 2015)
• Alex Holston‘s 22 kills marked the first time since last year’s NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinal match against Wisconsin (Dec. 11, 2015) she finished a match with 20-plus kills
  • Her season high entering today was 18, which she posted against Nebraska (Aug. 26)
• Today marked the eighth time this season and second consecutive match Rhamat Alhassan, Holston, and Snyder all finished with double-digit kills
• This afternoon was the third time this year Alhassan hit .500 when she registered at least 20 attacks
• Allie Monserez recorded 50-plus assists for the sixth time this season, tying Taylor Brauneis (2012) and Mackenzie Dagostino (2014) for the most times that’s been done by a UF player in a single campaign since Angie McGinnis did it 12 times in 2007

UP NEXT
The Gators will conclude their regular season with a pair of SEC matches this coming week. Florida faces Auburn on Wednesday (Nov. 23) night at the Gale Lemerand Center Gymnasium, then travels to Fayetteville for a Saturday (Nov. 26) afternoon matchup with Arkansas.

SEC Network will provide live television coverage for the Auburn-UF match, which is slated for to start at 8 p.m. ET. The UF-Arkansas match, scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. ET, will be streamed live via SEC Network +.

Fans can also listen to both matches on ESPN Gainesville 95.3 FM / 850 AM, with Tom Collett on the call.

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