The Tigers improved to 15-10 overall and 8-5 in Southeastern Conference play.
The win marks the second time in program history that Missouri has defeated a defending national champion. “I think it was just the overall energy and mindset of the team,” freshman Eva Smith said, according to sports.yahoo.com. “After that loss, everybody was pretty upset.
It was a bad loss. So we used that and it pushed us to want to be more hungry to play this game and take care of business.” The victory came two days after Missouri was swept by No. 13 Texas.
Second Win Over a Defending Champion
Missouri last defeated a defending national champion on Nov. 1, 2024, when it topped Texas, mutigers.com reported. The Tigers also beat No. 6 Tennessee on Nov. 1, marking their second victory against a ranked opponent this season.
First Ranked Sweep Since 2023
Missouri’s previous sweep of a ranked opponent came against No. 23 Auburn on Oct. 23, 2023, mutigers.com reported.
Set-by-Set Scoring
In the first set, Missouri traded points early before a kill from Johnson started a four-point run. Freshman Eva Smith’s defense at the net helped extend the lead to 10-5, and Johnson added a kill and two blocks to make it 19-11. Kills from senior Grace O’Reilly and freshman Lydia Stahley closed out the 25-20 set.
The second set opened with kills and an ace from junior Lauren Larkin, giving Missouri a 4-1 lead. The Aggies rallied to 19-18, but following a timeout from head coach Dawn Sullivan, Larkin and Johnson answered with a kill and a block for a 21-18 advantage. Felder’s kill sealed the 25-21 set.
Texas A&M built a 19-17 lead in the third set before Missouri responded. Kills from Smith and freshman Ceylin Kuyan helped the Tigers close the gap, and Johnson recorded a kill and a solo block to tie at 19, then added three straight kills for a 22-20 lead. After Texas A&M tied at 22 and a timeout, Felder delivered the final kill for the 25-23 victory.
Missouri recorded 10 blocks in the first two sets compared to Texas A&M’s two, and has won nine of its last 14 matches against the Aggies, mutigers.com reported.
Johnson’s Career Day Powers Tigers
Fifth-year Kimani Johnson led Missouri with 11 kills on 19 attempts, a .526 hitting percentage, and a career-high seven total blocks, mutigers.com reported. “We have this saying on our team, like, we’re never going to be in gazelle mode.
We’re going to be in lion mode,” Johnson said, according to sports.yahoo.com. “Nobody’s going to do our job for us. we have to go get this done ourselves, and we have to be hungry enough to go fight for what we want.”
Sophomore Paige Felder added 10 kills, her 13th double-digit performance of the season. Missouri held Texas A&M to a .214 hitting percentage, the 19th time this season the Tigers’ defense limited an opponent below .250, mutigers.com reported.
Road Trip to Oklahoma
Missouri travels to face Oklahoma on Friday at 6 p.m. CT at McCasland Field House, with the match streamed on SEC Network+, mutigers.com reported. Head coach Dawn Sullivan improved to 181-81 all-time and 72-43 at Missouri with the victory.
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