COLUMBIA, MO. • It’s taken three years, but the Missouri volleyball team earned its NCAA Tournament rematch with Purdue.
The 15th-seeded Tigers cruised past Northern Illinois in Thursday’s first-round match at the Hearnes Center to set up Friday’s showdown with the team that crushed their dreams in 2013. Three years ago, the Tigers came into the national tournament undefeated as the No. 4 seed with hopes of reaching the second week of the tournament for the first time since 2010. Instead, Mizzou’s season ended sooner than anyone expected with Purdue’s four-set upset.
The Tigers have just three players left from that 35-1 team, but memories still linger for Mizzou’s longtime head coach.