No. 21 Mizzou looks to bounce back from pair of losses in SEC home opener

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

You know that old say 'there's no place like home'? It really rings true for the Mizzou volleyball team in the 2025 campaign.

Out of 28 matches, head coach Dawn Sullivan and company will only play eight at the Hearnes Center this season, which makes the occasions that the Tigers are in Columbia even more special. After eight-straight games on the road, Mizzou will return to the Hearnes for its Southeastern Conference home opener against Arkansas on Friday night. That game will be followed by another home match against Oklahoma on Sunday.

"We're fired up, to be honest. I'll tell you it's been a long road. These fans, like show up. Let's go," Sullivan said in a one-on-one conversation with ABC 17 Sports Director Nathalie Jones. "Hearnes is something special...It's just really fun to have the fans support our athletes."

You can watch the full chat with Coach Sullivan in the video player below.

Coming into Friday's game against the unranked Razorbacks, MU will be looking to bounce back from a pair of Lone Star state losses at the hands of No. 2 Texas and No. 9 Texas A&M.

Sullivan and company lost in four sets to the Aggies to open up the week, on Wednesday, but followed up that game with a tight match against the Longhorns on Friday. Although it ended up in the first sweep of the season for Mizzou, the entire match was decided by 10 total points.

The leader of MU volleyball said that's an encouraging sign, as her team continues to build their identity.

"It's huge," she said. "This team has a lot of talent and it's going to come together. They just got to stick with it. We have a lot of new in our gym and so continuing to spend every single day learning who we are."

Amidst all the newness, Sullivan does have a slew of MU veterans in her corner, including one of the top liberos in the nation. Maya Sands leads the SEC in both digs per set (4.73) and total digs (227).

It's obvious what she brings to the court for MU, but her leadership is the thing that Sullivan said has really been a game-changer.

"She's the stable piece, right. She shows up every single day and just really is consistent for us in handling the easy plays, but also the tough plays that come at you. But, then when you get stressed, she calms you down. When you're down, she pumps you up. She's a lot for this team," Coach Sullivan.

She will prove critical in the Tigers' upcoming games against both the Razorbacks and the Sooners.

When asked about her biggest takeaways from the first conference matches of the season, Sullivan said there were challenged, which is important. Overall, she wants her team to work on a few key areas. First, their serve, as they want to work on getting teams out of system. Second, the Tigers' block defense.

"We got to continue to dig balls," she said. "Then, really work hard in transition to become available. Our middles were rockstars for us and so how do we continue to use them, right, and then set some other people up in one-on-one type situations?"

Although both Oklahoma and Arkansas will come into the Hearnes Center as underdogs, Sullivan said these are going to be some tough matches for her group.

"They run it pretty fast to the outside, to the right side, they have some big arms. They'll kind of loop it in the middle and they'll find those battles. So, how do we be really good on the outside in slowing them down and then just play our game," Sullivan said. "Arkansas tends to just keep balls in play, right. They challenge you by making sure you pick up tips here, go get that ball, go get this ball. So, can we just stay calm under that and understand who we are and then transition points?"

Over the course of the next three weeks, the Tigers will host four home Southeastern Conference matches. Of course, the first against Arkansas and Oklahoma, but then against Ole Miss and LSU in a few weeks.

Coach Sullivan said it's tough being on the road so much, but she's learned a lot about the resiliency of her team through it.

"They battle and they know how to take care of themselves, they know how to battle, they know who they are. They've really come together," she said.