Mizzou’s fall sports preview the season ahead

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The 2025-26 Mizzou athletic calendar will kickoff on Thursday, as the Mizzou soccer team is set to host the first game of the year on MU's campus out at Audrey J. Walton Stadium at 7 p.m. Before all the action gets going, three Tiger fall sports previewed the year ahead with local media.

Mizzou soccer coach Stefanie Golan already got to see a glimpse of her team in action, before Thursday's season opener, as the Tigers hosted Kansas State for an exhibition game on Aug. 6. Coach Golan said she saw some things she liked and some others that she would like to improve upon in that 1-1 stalemate.

"Going into the game, we had focused a lot on the defending side of the ball and despite that we scored a really good goal. You know, we were able to play a lot of players. I didn't love the goal that we gave up, you know, it feel like that was a game that we could've and should've won," Golan said. "But, we got to see a lot out of a lot of people, which I think early in the year is a really, really good thing. Since that game, we've flipped over and started layering in some attacking concepts, so giving a foundation for both sides of the ball going into this first game. I think it gives us a good chance to see us focusing in on the small details right now."

You can watch the full press conference with Golan in the video player below.

Tiger soccer is hoping to have a break-through season in 2025. Over the course of Golan's four years in Columbia, Mizzou has gone 22-37-9 overall, missing out on postseason action each season. However, in 2024, the program was within striking distance of making the SEC Tournament.

Coach Golan said that being so close to taking that important next step has fired up her team and given the veterans a hunger to get the job done.

"There's definitely a sense of urgency through everyone on the team, especially this senior group," midfielder Keegan Good said. "We were Stefanie's first recruiting class and I think now that we're seniors there's a really strong hunger. Knowing that we were so close last year and right there and it came down to watching a game between Florida and Tennessee and if one team tied or lost, we were going to the tournament. We don't want to feel that feeling again. I think we've been driving it all spring and looking forward to getting started [on Thursday]."

You can watch the full press conference with Good in the video player below.

Mizzou soccer will host South Dakota State in the 2025 season opener on Thursday at 7 p.m. in Columbia.

Meanwhile, the Mizzou volleyball team will be giving their fans a glimpse of what to expect in the 2025 campaign in the annual black and gold scrimmage on Saturday. Head coach Dawn Sullivan and company are looking to sustain success in her third season at the helm.

In three seasons, the Tigers have made it to the NCAA Tournament each time and made their first run to the Sweet 16 since 2017 in the 2024 campaign.

"Part of sustaining that success is how they show up everyday," Coach Sullivan said. "How consistent can we be, is what's going to really allow us that space to take that next step. You know, we made the Sweet 16 last year and now we want to go to the Elite Eight, right. A lot of it is just little plays here and there, whether that's the serve or the pass or keeping one more ball in bounds, so it's that consistency. That's what's going to really separate us."

You can watch the full press conference with Sullivan in the video player below.

As the team looks to continue to put themselves right in the middle of the national conversation, players told media members that the team has taken up a new motto: take flight.

"It kind of just represents like keep going on this trajectory, like up and forward," two-time SEC Libero of the Year Maya Sands said. "We all want to be a whole unit and just keep going forward...and do better than we have been in the past two seasons."

You can watch the full press conference with Sands, as well as outside hitter Janet deMarrais in the video player below.

The Tigers brought on some big-time talent for the 2025 season, as they adjust to life without veterans right-side hitter Jordan Iliff, outside hitter Mychael Vernon and middle blocker Colleen Finney, who all graduated after the 2024 campaign.

As a result, players like deMarrais and Sands will taken on even more of a leadership role in the upcoming season.

"I think we've built it up over time" deMarrais said. "Obviously, being here for as long as we have, it's not like we were never in the shadows of those players, like we obviously took a lot from them and they were great people and great players, as well, so I think having our own unique, individual personalities, plus some of the other captains and leaders on the team, I think it's a really good combination for everybody. Just learning what we've already learned for ourselves, but also taking little pieces from each special and unique individual that we've gotten play with is going to take us to the next level."

Mizzou's season opener will come on the road against Omaha on Saturday, Aug. 23. First serve is slated for 2 p.m.

The Mizzou cross country team will start up practices, on Thursday, as the program prepares for an exciting year ahead.

In the 2025-26 season, the Tigers are set to host the National Championship out at the Gans Creek course in Columbia. Head coach Kyle Levermore said that honor has been like a 'north star' to his athletes.

"From a university standpoint, to bring the world to Columbia for our sport and get to show off a course that was built for this sport...I think we've been really, really fortunate in the design of this course, the maintenance of the course, that it's really a stadium for cross country. That's something that is unique, so I think for us to be able to provide a spectator experience and a competitor experience that is different than maybe what other places have been able to provide...that's something that we're excited about," Levermore said. "I'm not gonna be shy and say that we don't have goals of being there. Our goal is to have both teams there and I think we have the personnel to do it, but that doesn't take away from the fact that we have to go do it."

You can watch the full press conference with Levermore in the video player below.

Runners Kobi Walker and Drew Rogers both said that they feel this is the most talented squad that Mizzou has had in quite some time. A group that is definitely capable of reaching their goals and beyond.

When asked about their goals for the season, they both agreed that taking this team to next level is at the front of everyone's minds.

"Now we have the pieces and it feels like the team is all on the same page this year," Rogers said. "For the national stage, making it is the first step. We haven't made it, as a team, there in a while. Like, this is undoubtedly the best team we've ever had. We haven't even raced yet and I feel like we can comfortably say this is probably the best team we've had."

You can watch the full press conference with Rogers, as well as Walker in the video player below.

Mizzou cross country will open up the season on Aug. 29 in the Mizzou Opener.