Mandovic and Dudley record double-double performances, but Mizzou volleyball loses in 5 sets to LSU

Mandovic recorded her fourth double-double of the season and first in Southeastern Conference play. The junior recorded 26 assists and 15 digs. Sierra Dudley also earned her second double-double of the season with 22 assists and 14 digs. 

In Set 4, neither team could gain a larger than a three-point lead up to a 15-14 score going into the media timeout. The two teams were tied seven times leading up to that point. With the match on the line for Missouri, trailing 2-1, the black-and-gold needed to win the set to have any chance to stay above .500 in SEC play.

Out of the media timeout, Missouri took LSU on a 4-0 run that was capped off by a Paige Felder and Tia Phinezy block. From there, Mizzou kept the pace to a 25-20 win to force a fifth set. Grace O'Reilly recorded four kills in the set and added a dig as well. She finished with 13 kills in the match for a fifth time this season.

Set 5 started out quite similarly to Set 4, as the two teams continued the back-and-forth with eight ties through the first 16 points; neither team gained more than a one-point lead. Phinezy, who got significant playing time in each set, had two kills and a dig through the 8-8 tie. She provided a significant finish with seven kills in 13 attempts and one error throughout the match. The junior also added six block assists and a service ace.

Robinson led LSU on a 4-1 run with two kills and a block to get the purple-and-gold Tigers out in front 12-9. They held that three-point advantage and won 15-12 in Set 5 to take the match 3-2.

Missouri recorded 15 kills as it started the match off hot with a .357 hitting percentage as it dominated 25-17 in Set 1. LSU only hit for a .115 hitting percentage. This was also the most kills and highest hitting percentage that Missouri had in the match.

Kimani Johnson led Missouri through Set 1 with five kills, two blocks and a dig. Johnson scored three points in a row to cap off a 6-0 run. Johnson finished with 15 kills in the match, which led MU.

Set 2 was a struggle for Missouri. LSU flipped the script on Missouri in Set 2 on its way to a 25-22 win as it recorded eight more kills than MU. Sophomore Paige Felder couldn't get anything to land in the set, finishing with two attack errors and zero kills. Felder leads the team in kills and could only manage six in the match, though not without a lack of opportunity, as she was tied with Johnson for the most amount of attempts on the team at 33.

Johnson and Felder were joined by O'Reilly as the only Missouri players with 30-plus attempts on the team. LSU's Robinson got 57 attempts with 27 kills, and Samara Coleman and Camryn Jeffrey also notched 30 or more attempts.

Then, in a pivotal Set 3, Missouri had an even harder time finding an offense as it recorded eight errors and only hit for a .116 percentage. The Tigers slumped their way through what was actually a very competitive Set 3 as LSU also struggled to keep the ball in-bounds. But ultimately, after tying the set at 23 apiece, Robinson shut Missouri down with a block and then a kill to take a 2-1 match lead into the fourth set.

Freshman Lydia Stahley recorded 18 kills on 18 attempts, with two errors for a .444 percentage. Eva Smith remained strong at the net and recorded eight kills in 15 tries. The freshman also picked up three blocks.

Missouri finished with 62 kills on 156 attempts and had 24 attack errors. As a team, MU recorded 10 blocks and 65 digs.

Missouri (8-7, 1-2 SEC) returns home for a four-game home stretch over the next two weeks, starting with No. 7 Florida (11-1, 2-0) at 7 p.m. Friday at the Hearnes Center.