Missouri wins NCAA volleyball opener, advances to meet Ohio State
Missouri’s run at the NCAA Volleyball Championship in Omaha, Nebraska got off to a good start Wednesday.
The Tigers swept South Dakota in a first-round match 25-21, 25-17, 25-15.
Mizzou (16-7) takes on Ohio State, the tournament’s No. 9 seed, at 11 a.m. Thursday in the second round.
With Wednesday’s victory, the Tigers advanced out of the first round in their last seven NCAA appearances. They reached the Sweet 16 in 2016 and 2017.
The NCAA Tournament was scaled back this year to 48 teams from 64 because of COVID-19. Missouri is one of three SEC teams in the field, joining Kentucky, the No. 2 seed, and eighth-seeded Florida.
The entire tournament is being played in Omaha, and was moved from December.
Earlier this week, three Missouri players were voted to the All-SEC team: senior Kylie Deberg, redshirt junior Andrea Fuentes and sophomore Anna Dixon.
Deberg led the SEC in kills (400), points (468.5), total aces (40), kills per set (4.71), points per set (5.51) and aces per set (0.47).
Dixon, from Louisburg, Kansas, started her career at Kansas State.
