NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt volleyball’s senior duo of Isabella Bareford and Jackie Moore led the way to the Commodores’ 3-2 (26-24, 25-13, 23-25, 21-25, 16-14) victory over RV Missouri at Memorial Gymnasium on Sunday.
The Commodores (6-15, 2-10 SEC) hit .301 as a team, while holding Mizzou (16-8, 7-5 SEC) to a .201 hitting efficiency. Vandy posted a season-high 14 blocks and recorded 71 kills, the most for the Dores in an SEC match this season.
Moore registered a team-high 23 kills, matching her career-high and hitting at a .528 clip. She also added five blocks and an ace to her stat line. Reese Animashaun earned her fifth double-double of the season, totaling 16 kills and 14 digs. Bareford also recorded a double-double with 40 assists and 10 digs. Taryn DeWese dished out a season-high 21 assists in the win.
Vandy’s Tennessean team members paced the defense, as Elli Kinney tallied 19 digs, and Kayla Dunlap recorded a team-high nine blocks. Mia Soerensen also contributed on both sides of the ball, registering 10 kills and five blocks. The fourth Dore with double-digit kills was Maya Witherspoon, who recorded 11. She also tallied seven digs.
Janey DeMarrais led Missouri in kills with 13. Tyrah Ariail and Asia Harvey contributed nine kills each, and Kimani Johnson added eight. Nina Mandovic recorded 36 assists and 12 digs, good for a double-double. Defensively, Ariail led Missouri’s blocking efforts with five, and Maya Sands registered a team-leading 14 digs.
Vandy played a clean first set, hitting .412, in a 26-24 set 1 win. Down 12-11, Witherspoon strung together a pair of aces to give the Dores a lead they would not give up.
The Commodores stifled the Mizzou offense in set 2, recording a 25-13 victory. It is the largest margin of victory in a set win for Vanderbilt this season. Vandy recorded 18 digs and 17 kills, hitting .455 and held Mizzou to eight kills and nine digs.
Momentum shifted in set 3 as Missouri built a 21-14 lead. The Commodores battled their way back into the set, at one point stringing together seven points in a row. Despite Vandy’s best efforts, the Tigers were able to close out the set with a 25-23 win.
Moore kicked off the fourth set with three consecutive kills as the Dores built a 6-1 advantage. Four unanswered points from Missouri brought the score within one, but Vandy was still in the lead. Despite keeping the score close, the Tigers took the lead after point 10 and did not trail for the remainder of the set. The set 4 score was 25-21, Mizzou.
The fifth set came down to the wire as Vanderbilt built a 9-5 advantage, but Missouri rallied to tie the set at 14 all. A service error from Mizzou, followed by a block from Dunlap and Soerensen sealed the Dores’ 16-14 set and 3-2 match win.
Before the match, the program honored its graduating seniors, undergraduate manager Zoe Tripp, Bareford, Sydney Conley, Moore and Soerensen.
Vanderbilt volleyball is back in action Friday for an in-state matchup vs. No. 16 Tennessee at 7 p.m. on SEC Network+.
