No. 21 Mizzou volleyball turns the page to SEC play
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The real fun is set to begin for No. 21 Mizzou volleyball on Wednesday night in the Lone Star State.
After completing an 11-game non-conference invitational slate, head coach Dawn Sullivan and company are set to turn the page to the Southeastern Conference, beginning with a pair of matchups in Texas on Wednesday and Thursday.
"I'm fired up, to be honest. I think in this conference there's a lot kind of open and ready to grab," she said. "I think we've been in it, you know. We understand, we have a couple of veterans that understand this conference and some others that are just really excited to play. I think when you have that combination you can find something really special."
The Tigers will begin with a match against No. 13 Texas A&M on Wednesday night, followed by a clash with No. 2 Texas on Friday.
Although those are a couple of the best environments in the SEC, Coach Sullivan emphasized that each and every conference meeting is critical. Mizzou is hoping the tests that this team has gotten through the non-conference slate will prove helpful, as the Tigers have met then-No. 4 Stanford and then-No. 9 TCU early on in the season.
"Stanford is huge for us," Sullivan said. "You know, we can battle with anybody, as well as all these ones the last couple of weeks and so I think all the matches have kind of continued to build who we are. I'm just really excited to see our team grow."
Overall, Coach Sullivan said the biggest thing she learned through the non-conference schedule is the amount of grit her team has. However, as always, there are thing you'd like to improve on.
"It's all kinds of little things. We got to improve our serve and our pass, just a little bit. We got to improve our offense, a little bit, and then our block defense. That's a lot of little things across the board, but how do you just get a little bit better each day?" Sullivan said.
Heading into conference action, Mizzou does have a few players returning, who have experience facing SEC opponents. That includes senior outside hitter Janet deMarrais, who Sullivan has been particularly impressed with early on in this season.
She's also been impressed with her veteran libero Maya Sands, who was named the Southeastern Conference's Co-Defensive Player of the Week, on Monday.
"Maya Sands is just steady," Sullivan said. "She works really, really hard and she gives every single day."
First serve against Texas A&M is slated for 6 p.m. in College Station on Wednesday, Sept. 24.
