NORMAN – The Oklahoma volleyball team dropped a tough five-set match to Missouri, 25-19, 18-25, 13-25, 26-24, 17-19, Sunday afternoon inside McCasland Field House.
With the loss the Sooners fell to 9-8 on the season and 3-6 in SEC play while the Tigers improved to 15-5, 6-2.
The Sooners fought back from a five-point deficit in the fourth to send the match to a fifth and final set. In the fifth, the teams traded multiple match points, needing more than 15 to win it. With the match tied at 17-all, Mizzou rattled off two-straight points to take the match.
"Really proud of the team for being down 2-1 and down in the fourth set and finding a way to keep fighting and finding a way to win that set to extend the match," head coach Aaron Mansfield said. "We had some really good opportunities late in the fifth set, we talk about fighting and finishing a lot and I thought the team fought really well today. We didn't finish there in the fifth set, kind of squandered some opportunities there to kill the ball which is disappointing but at the same time we are proud of the fight."
Alexis Shelton led the way with a match-high 23 kills and added 11 digs for her sixth double-double of the season. The match was Shelton's fifth 20-kill performance of the season.
Lydia Martyn and
Kari Geissberger each reached double-digits with 10 kills apiece. Martin had just one error, hitting .562 on the night. Martyn also notched a team-high six kills.
Payton Chamberlain tallied 50 assists to go with seven digs.
Sydney Thompson recorded 11 digs for a season-high, while
Callie Kemohah chipped in 10 to go with five assists.
The Sooners jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the first set and never looked back. Missouri pulled within three at 14-11, but the OU defense recorded 4.0 blocks to keep the Tigers at bay. Shelton recorded five kills in the first frame to lead the team as the Sooners won the opening frame, 25-19.
The second set started with a much tighter battle as neither team established a commanding lead. Tied at nine, Mizzou used a 4-0 run to take a 13-9 lead. The Sooners pulled within two at 15-12, but couldn't overcome the deficit, dropping the set, 25-18.
OU kept it close early, narrowly trailing 8-7 in the third set. The Tigers used a 5-1 run to take a 13-8 lead, forcing a Sooner timeout. Missouri went on to take the set, 25-13.
In the fourth, the Sooners pulled off an incredible comeback to take the set 26-24. OU trailed by five at 22-17 and used a 6-1 run to tie the game at 23-23. The Sooners fought off Mizzou's match point before taking a 25-24 on a Tiger error. Geissberger clinched the set with a kill to force a decisive fifth set.
OU is back in action on Sunday, Nov. 3 when they face Texas in Austin for the first of two matchups in the Red River Rivalary.
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