Story from Henry Chappell, who's going to be doing some of the other sports coverage for us this year:
Missouri sweeps Kansas City in home opener
Mizzou volleyball swept Kansas City in three sets on Friday afternoon in its home opener at Hearnes Center.
A lower output of attacking errors and repeatedly overpowering the Kangaroos at the net made this smooth sailing for the Tigers.
Mizzou outhit Kansas City with a percentage of .452 to the Kangaroos .152 and Colleen Finney and Regan Haith each contributed three blocks.
Following a four set defeat against South Dakota on Sunday that was filled with attacking errors, the Tigers looked in control for almost the entire match against the Kangaroos with strong starts and ends to each set.
The Tigers (3-2) jumped out to an early 10-3 lead in the first set and didn’t look back, using their size to out-kill and continuously block the Kangaroos attacks at the net. Outside hitter Mychael Vernon and right side hitter Jordan Illif each had three kills in the Tigers 25-12 first set victory.
The second set saw more of the same offensive firepower from Mizzou, as a 10-8 lead was extended on a 6-1 run by the Tigers, pushing them to a 25-15 victory in set two. A collegiate debut for the Tigers was made by Tatum Longnecker as a serving sub.
More squad rotation was done by the Tigers in the final and third set. Sierra Dudley and Maya Sands saw little playing time in the set with the team playing later in the day against UT Martin. A Kansas City service error wrapped up the third set, a 25-18 victory and a victory at the Hearnes Center for the Tigers.
The Oregon State transfer Mychael Vernon led the way with 11 kills and a .524 hitting percentage as well as seven digs.
The Tigers will play their second game of the Tiger Invitational tournament at Hearnes Center against UT Martin at 6 p.m Friday (2-1).
