Mizzou volleyball has cemented its identity in five-game winning streak
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Mizzou volleyball team is currently riding the second-longest active winning streak in the SEC.
Head coach Dawn Sullivan and her team have won five-straight games, dropping just one set across the last four victories. It's a pretty stark contrast from the 1-3 start the Tigers had to conference play, just weeks ago.
On Tuesday, ABC 17 Sports Director Nathalie Jones went one-on-one with two Tiger standouts: outside hitter Paige Felder and rightside hitter Kimani Johnson. Those two said the thing that is clicking for Mizzou right now is identity.
"I think for us, it's more about knowing who we are. I think at first we were struggling to find our identity, and I think playing a couple of games, I think it took a couple losses for us to understand like who we actually are and how we can start to battle better and harder against teams," Johnson said. "So, I think now that we're starting to find the confidence within ourselves and like within our playing styles, it's kind of like growing into like how we're forming as a team."
"We're just confident, right now. You know, we all have this energy where we're like, 'hey, we got this together.' We had some rough patches, but now when we have them we just get out of it sooner," Felder said. "We just have confidence in each other, as well as ourselves, which I think is really important."
Felder said in those rough moments to start Southeastern Conference play, she felt like the team got quite and timid, not showing the confidence that they are beaming with now. She said there was a moment it all came together for the players, where they said they couldn't go silent anymore.
"We got to show no matter what, you know, even if you're struggling, it's still giving to your teammates," she said.
So, what's the identity that this Tiger team has found?
"I think it's the heart and the drive for this team. Like, I think everyone is very bought into where we're going to go and how far we want to go. We definitely want to make as far as we can as the SEC Tournament. We want to make it into the NCAA tournament. I think we all know the goals that we have, and so knowing the goals that we have, knowing that like, you know, we got to play for the all of us like in our team. It's just really like buying into that and like going to where those goals are," Johnson said.
Up next - Mizzou will hit the road for a big test against No. 7 Kentucky at Memorial Coliseum on Friday, Oct. 30 at 6 p.m.
