Mizzou volleyball defeats Vanderbilt in SEC opener

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Mizzou volleyball team started off SEC play with a bang, on Sunday afternoon.

In the conference opener, head coach Dawn Sullivan and her squad beat Vanderbilt 3-1 to start off Southeastern Conference play with a perfect mark. The victory came just days after the Tigers left Lincoln, Nebraska in need of a bounce-back performance, following the the No. 1 Cornhuskers' win in three sets.

With Sunday's victory over the Commodores, the Tigers improve to 8-5 overall and 1-0 in SEC play.

For Mizzou, the charge was led by true freshman Lydia Stahley, who had a breakout performance to start SEC play. After seeing her spark in MU's Sept. 19 win over Bowling Green, when she tallied a career-high 11 kills and four aces, she put up a team-leading performance against Vanderbilt. Stahley ended up with a team-best 18 kills on a .464 hitting percentage, grabbing 18 points for the Tigers.

Stahley's performance was followed up by sophomore Paige Felder, who ended the game second on the squad with nine kills, along with a team-high three service aces.

Up next - Mizzou will hit the road to meet Ole Miss in Oxford on Friday, Oct. 2. First serve is slated for 6 p.m. CT.