Missouri Volleyball Optimistic Despite Loss to No. 5 Stanford

The No.-23-ranked Missouri Tigers volleyball lost their home opener 3-1 to the No.-5-ranked Stanford Cardinal, moving the Tigers to 3-2 on the season.

The Tigers are in the midst of Year 3 under head coach Dawn Sullivan, and fresh off a breakout 22-9 campaign in 2024 where they reached the Sweet 16. Missouri beat No. 9 Texas and No. 10 Southern Methodist in that campaign, but the importance of either of those matchups fail to match the festivities against Stanford, regardless of the loss.

"First, just was really excited to see the crowd and the fans, how they showed up for us, it was incredible," Sullivan said. "We're just blessed to play in Columbia."

Missouri fans packed the seats of Hearnes Center to show support for the Tigers, making the most of the team's only early-season home game. The Tigers began the season with five road matchups, and will take the road for eight more matches before eventually returning home on Oct. 8.

The last time Missouri faced a top-five ranked team occurred on Dec. 2, 2023, when Nebraska swept Sullivan's debut Tigers' squad in three sets. The tale was told differently this time, as the Tigers picked up a win in the third set to prevent a sweep.

"I was really proud of the way our team showed up tonight," Sullivan said. "I think they've battled from point one all the way till the end –– they never gave up. I think there's a lot more to them, and that's what I'm so excited about for the season, to continue to see them grow and really come together as a team."

Squaring off against high-ranked opponents like Stanford isn't always easy, but it's a necessity to better the program for future post-season runs.

"Those are the types of teams we're going to see when we make it back to the Sweet Sixteen," outside hitter Janet deMarrais said. "One of our goals this year is making it even further than that, so we're not going to see teams any less than what they're ranked and what they can bring to the table. So I think it's a really good preparation, even though tournament season is so far away from now, but this is something that we can use to our advantage and look back on when we need to."

As Missouri tries to make another deep playoff run, there's plenty of new faces helping lead the charge. High-impact transfers Caylen Alexander, Tyrah Ariail and more have started off the year impressive, but the team as a whole still has some gelling to do.

"We have a very new team, and I think we are a totally different team," Sullivan said. "Give us another month and allow this team to figure out who they are together.

The Tigers entered the season as the No.-17-ranked preseason squad, moving up one spot to No. 16 in Week 1 before sliding down to No. 23 in Week 2. Missouri wasn't favored to take down the Cardinal, but the loss –– regardless of how close each set was –– could knock the Tigers out of the top 25 for the first time since Week 10 of 2024.

No. 25 North Carolina took down No. 11 Florida in a 3-0 sweep, likely moving the Tarheels above the Tigers in the rankings. No. 23 UCLA, and first-team-out Oregon will have matchups later in the week to determine potential rankings.

Despite any potential shuffling in the rankings, the Tigers are focused on bettering themselves to take on future opponents.

"I think we could just use it to our advantage," deMarrais said about the loss. "I think we're going to be a different team regardless. Shape shifting ourselves and what we want to work towards our craft. I think we can use a lot of keys from the game today."

Next on the block, the Tigers will travel to Fort Worth, Texas, for the Fight in the Fort three-part series where they square off against Wyoming, Rhode Island and Texas Christian University on Thursday and Friday.

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