Mizzou primed for top 25 showdown with Florida

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The two teams chasing Kentucky for the top spot in the SEC standings are preparing to battle on Friday night at the Hearnes Center. No. 25 Mizzou is getting set to host No. 21 Florida, seeking to extend the program's winning streak to 10 consecutive games.

MU's recent string of success has improved its overall and conference records to 18-5 and 9-2 respectively, putting the Tigers just half-a-game behind Kentucky for the No. 1 spot in the conference. It also led to head coach Dawn Sullivan's squad receiving its first ranking in the AVCA Top 25 poll on Monday. While Coach Sullivan is excited for her team to get some well-deserved national attention, she's more proud of how they responded to it.

"I don't know if it feels much different to me. I've seen it all season. I've seen this team grow and become better and better every week, week-in and week-out, just by all of that work they do when no one sees them," Sullivan said at Wednesday's press conference. "I'm really excited for this team to finally have that moment, but it's just a number. It still depends on how we're going to show up on Friday, and what are we going to do. I love that this team, they got after it again at practice yesterday, and they just keep working."

Coach Sullivan has led her program to become a top-tier team in the SEC in just her second season. Before she took over the program in 2023, Mizzou had just four combined conference wins in two years. Entering Friday's match, the Tigers have already posted 18 wins over SEC opponents in the last two seasons and have quickly matched last year's nine conference wins. On Wednesday, Coach Sullivan discussed the recipe for that immediate success under her leadership.

"Just that grit. This team really leans into those values. They love every minute of it. They care about each other tremendously, but the grit that they show day-in and day-out, if you can consistently do that every single day, I think that is what's going to get you really far," Sullivan said. "Can you be okay with your back against the wall, and it's like we're not quitting."

For MU to stay in the hunt for an SEC championship and remain in contention to host an NCAA Regional, the Tigers need to perform well against Florida. The Gators are currently ranked third in the SEC in hitting percentage and have posted the fourth-most kills in the conference this season. However, Mizzou has played great defense over its nine-game stretch of wins and have some strategies to slow down Florida's potent offense.

"Florida is great and so are we. It's going to be a really fun match. One thing that we need to do is slow down their right-side. Some ways we can do that is serving tough, getting them off the net, so that [Isabel Martin] can't just be in-system. Our serve will continue to be a very high priority for us all week. I think that is an area where we can definitely attack and get them out-of-system." Sullivan said.

First serve for Friday's game against the Gators is scheduled for 7 p.m.