Gabe mentioned people are interested in Mizzou volleyball. So I may not be the only one? Usually I'm silent lurker but I could talk vb. I will revisit the recent past and postulate the coming season. Would love to start a conversation around the team. Please forgive my amateurish writing and shoddy journalism in advance.
To start, I will say I agree with Gabe's ranking in the Monday thoughts. There's reason for optimism with a new coach but optimism isn't high.
I think the old staff was fine. But they failed to improve and the roster saw some considerable turnover over the years. Coach Taylor's first season (2019) could be viewed as a success, finishing T3 in the SEC and receiving votes in the AVCA poll. In 2020, he followed that up with a slightly worse overall record but improved SEC record. Finishing solo-3rd place in the SEC and ranked 25th. Following that season the wheels came off. The 2020 team had a lot of departures. The 2021 season had nine new players on a roster of fourteen total. Predictably, the team fell short. They would finish 6-26 overall, 2-16 in the SEC. In 2022, we returned some of our core and had a good recruiting class. Coach Taylor landed 4 players in the top 150. Despite this, the Tigers only marginally improved. They would finish 9-19 overall and 2-16 in the SEC, keeping them last in the conference.
There's not a lot of digging done around volleyball, or any other non-revenue sport for that matter, so we may never know what went wrong. I find it hard to believe there wasn't something going on behind the scenes after 2020. Even if there wasn't, and we were just unlucky to lose that many players, it was time to move on. I will continue rooting for the Taylors. Molly Taylor (formerly Kreklow) is probably my favorite Mizzou athlete of all time and I wish her and her family nothing but success. But on to the new and shiny coach!
The new Coach is Dawn Sullivan. I don't know much about her. Everything I know is from the Mizzou athletics website. So I'll just say that it sounds like she was quite successful as head coach at UNLV. Previously very successful as an assistant then associate HC of Iowa State. If you want to know more, go
The roster for 2023 is thin. We lost some good players and I don't really know how the replacements will be. Let's dig in.
2022 players we lost (only listing those who played over 50 sets):
That's a lot of turnover. That's at least four starters and several top contributors. Not sure what Coach Sullivan's plan to replace them is but that will come into focus in time.
Players returning:
Also want to note that we played a lot of DS's in the past. That's because Coach Taylor subbed out Dixon and the opposite when they went to the back row. Based on the stats it looks like Mangal-Duran was typically the libero with plenty of others getting time. (Whether injury or just rotation? I couldn't say) Sometimes the outside will stay in to play defense (a la Kaylee Cox) so we'll see what Coach Sullivan does with our hitters.
Moving on to the new players, I want to say there's considerably less information. Only one is currently listed on the athletics website. So my list is going to be what I can find on press releases or socials. List may be incomplete or inaccurate. Sorry if it is.
Transfers in:
Recruits:
So we'll see! There's a gap in this class for sure. But not the end of the world since there's only six on the floor at a time. Coach Sullivan can almost play an entire team of transfers if she doesn't like the current talent. But there's good players coming back at least, so I would count on a mix. I'll close out roster talk with a lineup prediction since everyone loves a good prediction:
Setter: Luisa Vilaca. This is probably an open competition. Luisa has experience, albeit in juco. Sarah White has a good pedigree but hasn't backed it up at any level.
OH1: Dilara Gedikoglu. Really good resume. Can play every rotation.
OH2: Janet deMarrais. Only other OH on the roster. Will need rapid improvement on last year.
MB1: Madilyn Sell. Incumbent and performed solid but unspectacular.
MB2: Colleen Finney. This spot may be an open competition too. Finney has started at the D1 level.
Opp: Iliff. Incumbent and kills leader for returning players.
Libero: Maya Sands. She's listed as Libero where the other defensive players are DS.
DS: Zatechka and Forbes will see time at DS. Coming in the back row for Iliff and possibly deMarrais.
As far as expectations go, it's really hard to say. Florida and Kentucky are generally successful volleyball programs and usually sit atop the conference. But all the other teams can be good or bad in any given year. I think expectations should just be improving on last year. Lets just not get dead last in the conference. If we managed to sneak into the tournament, that would be an incredibly successful season. Hopefully Coach Dawn Sullivan took some notes from Coach Gates
To start, I will say I agree with Gabe's ranking in the Monday thoughts. There's reason for optimism with a new coach but optimism isn't high.
I think the old staff was fine. But they failed to improve and the roster saw some considerable turnover over the years. Coach Taylor's first season (2019) could be viewed as a success, finishing T3 in the SEC and receiving votes in the AVCA poll. In 2020, he followed that up with a slightly worse overall record but improved SEC record. Finishing solo-3rd place in the SEC and ranked 25th. Following that season the wheels came off. The 2020 team had a lot of departures. The 2021 season had nine new players on a roster of fourteen total. Predictably, the team fell short. They would finish 6-26 overall, 2-16 in the SEC. In 2022, we returned some of our core and had a good recruiting class. Coach Taylor landed 4 players in the top 150. Despite this, the Tigers only marginally improved. They would finish 9-19 overall and 2-16 in the SEC, keeping them last in the conference.
There's not a lot of digging done around volleyball, or any other non-revenue sport for that matter, so we may never know what went wrong. I find it hard to believe there wasn't something going on behind the scenes after 2020. Even if there wasn't, and we were just unlucky to lose that many players, it was time to move on. I will continue rooting for the Taylors. Molly Taylor (formerly Kreklow) is probably my favorite Mizzou athlete of all time and I wish her and her family nothing but success. But on to the new and shiny coach!
The new Coach is Dawn Sullivan. I don't know much about her. Everything I know is from the Mizzou athletics website. So I'll just say that it sounds like she was quite successful as head coach at UNLV. Previously very successful as an assistant then associate HC of Iowa State. If you want to know more, go
The roster for 2023 is thin. We lost some good players and I don't really know how the replacements will be. Let's dig in.
2022 players we lost (only listing those who played over 50 sets):
- Jasmine Dulan: Listed as an outside hitter but looks like she primarily played DS.
- Anna Dixon: Outside hitter. All-SEC in 2020. Played in every set. Second on the team in kills and third in hitting %. Went to Florida as a grad transfer
- Kaylee Cox: Arguably the best all around player on the team. First in kills and aces, second in digs, and third in blocks and assists. She transferred to Western Kentucky with at least 2 years remaining.
- Leandra Mangual-Duran: another listed OH but stats paint the picture of DS/L. She led the team in digs and was second in aces. Went to Virginia Tech with 2 years remaining, but looks like a grad transfer?
- Brynn Carlson: I'm breaking my 50 set min, as she only played 3 sets. She played a lot in 2021 so not sure what happened in 2022. Injury perhaps? Either way, she ran out of eligibility.
- Trista Strasser: Starting Middle blocker. Played every set. Led the team in blocks. Went to Grand Canyon University
- Riley Buckley: true freshman starting setter. Played every set. Led the team in assists. Third in digs. She was a considerable talent and tough loss. She'll play at TCU next year.
- Skylar Buckley: DS, Riley's older sister. 3rd on the team in digs. Can't find any transfer info or posts but she's not on the 2023 roster page.
That's a lot of turnover. That's at least four starters and several top contributors. Not sure what Coach Sullivan's plan to replace them is but that will come into focus in time.
Players returning:
- Estella Zatechka: Sophomore DS, played in 53 sets.
- Jordan Iliff: Junior Opp. Hitter, played in 95 sets. Third on the team in kills (most returning kills) Was no. 37 recruit coming out of HS.
- Lauren Forbes: Junior DS, played in 86 sets
- Morgan Isenberg: Junior MB, Only played in 7 sets but posted a very good blocks per set. (especially as considering she's only listed at six feet tall)
- Madilyn Sell: Sophomore MB, started alongside Strasser. Was second on the team in blocks. Will need to improve blocking as she was well off the pace of Strasser.
- Janet deMarrais: Sophomore Outside hitter appeared in 29 games. Very low hitting % so will need to improve there
Also want to note that we played a lot of DS's in the past. That's because Coach Taylor subbed out Dixon and the opposite when they went to the back row. Based on the stats it looks like Mangal-Duran was typically the libero with plenty of others getting time. (Whether injury or just rotation? I couldn't say) Sometimes the outside will stay in to play defense (a la Kaylee Cox) so we'll see what Coach Sullivan does with our hitters.
Moving on to the new players, I want to say there's considerably less information. Only one is currently listed on the athletics website. So my list is going to be what I can find on press releases or socials. List may be incomplete or inaccurate. Sorry if it is.
Transfers in:
- Maya Sands: Only new player on the athletics website. Listed as Sophomore at Libero. Played for Coach Sullivan at UNLV. Had 3.68 digs per set last season which would have led Mizzou.
- Sarah White: Setter from Ohio State. Top 50 recruit in HS but only ever played in two sets in her two years at Ohio State.
- Luisa Vilaca Setter from Miami Dade College. Was all conference in 2021. Across the two years she averaged 10.77 assists per . Has represented the Brazil U-21 team. 6'2" which is generally tall for a setter
- Naomi Franco: Opp. Hitter from Syracuse. Her stats look generally good but nothing special. Will presumably compete with Iliff for time.
- Colleen Finney: MB/opp. from Clemson. She led them in blocks, so presumably a MB most of the time. Also had a lot of kills for a MB, but that is strongly coach dependent it seems. With Iliff and Franco already mentioned competing at opp, I'd like to see Finney compete at MB.
- Dilara Gedikoglu: OH from Arizona. Was All-AAC and Freshman of the year at Tulsa before transferring to Arizona. She is on the shorter side (But Carly Kan is a good example that size isn't everything for OH). The press release also seems to imply Gedikoglu played professionally in Turkey before coming to the states for college? Not sure on that front. Seems odd and/or against NCAA regulations. But I don't know.
Recruits:
- TBD: I can't find an announcement or any post about any specific incoming high schoolers.. which is sad.
- I did find a post on insta that said we have the 9th best recruiting class for 2024? Post is from October, no names were included, and 2024 is another season away, so anything can happen and I wouldn't put too much stock in this.
So we'll see! There's a gap in this class for sure. But not the end of the world since there's only six on the floor at a time. Coach Sullivan can almost play an entire team of transfers if she doesn't like the current talent. But there's good players coming back at least, so I would count on a mix. I'll close out roster talk with a lineup prediction since everyone loves a good prediction:
Setter: Luisa Vilaca. This is probably an open competition. Luisa has experience, albeit in juco. Sarah White has a good pedigree but hasn't backed it up at any level.
OH1: Dilara Gedikoglu. Really good resume. Can play every rotation.
OH2: Janet deMarrais. Only other OH on the roster. Will need rapid improvement on last year.
MB1: Madilyn Sell. Incumbent and performed solid but unspectacular.
MB2: Colleen Finney. This spot may be an open competition too. Finney has started at the D1 level.
Opp: Iliff. Incumbent and kills leader for returning players.
Libero: Maya Sands. She's listed as Libero where the other defensive players are DS.
DS: Zatechka and Forbes will see time at DS. Coming in the back row for Iliff and possibly deMarrais.
As far as expectations go, it's really hard to say. Florida and Kentucky are generally successful volleyball programs and usually sit atop the conference. But all the other teams can be good or bad in any given year. I think expectations should just be improving on last year. Lets just not get dead last in the conference. If we managed to sneak into the tournament, that would be an incredibly successful season. Hopefully Coach Dawn Sullivan took some notes from Coach Gates
