No. 13 Texas kept rolling Friday night in Columbia, stacking up another clean sweep and stretching its recent run to four straight 3-0 wins after beating Missouri, 27-25, 25-13, 25-23, at the Hearnes Center.
It was also a notable return trip for the Longhorns. Texas had not played in Missouri since 2011, and the result only added to its grip on the matchup: the Longhorns have now won 13 of the last 14 meetings and swept nine of those.
The win pushed Texas to 13-7 overall and 9-3 in SEC play. Missouri dropped to 14-10 and 7-5 in the league.
Torrey Stafford paced Texas with 12 kills, hit .294 and finished with 10 digs for her eighth double-double of the season. She has now posted double-digit kills in 16 straight matches and in 18 matches overall this year.
Cari Spears and Henley Anderson each chipped in 10 kills. Spears hit .348 and added three blocks, while Anderson also had four blocks and extended her streak of double-digit kills to 10 matches.
Senior Ella Swindle turned in a strong night in her hometown, recording her first double-double of the season with season highs of 13 assists and 13 digs. Her 13 digs led all players and included the 500th of her career. Rella Binney finished with a match-high 19 assists, Nya Bunton led all players with seven blocks, and Ramsey Gary added 12 digs and seven assists.
Texas had to claw back in the first set after Missouri built a 19-12 lead. Anderson sparked the comeback with four kills as the Longhorns trimmed the margin to 21-17.
Stafford then added a kill, and Bunton and Anderson combined on a block to make it 21-20. After Missouri briefly pulled back ahead, Texas tied it at 22-22 on an attack error, then traded points until Stafford put Texas in front 26-25.
Another Missouri attack error closed out the set, 27-25.
The second set belonged to Texas from the middle stretch on. After Missouri tied it at 4-4, the Longhorns answered with a 5-1 burst featuring two Stafford kills and an ace to move ahead 9-5.
Spears and Bunton teamed for a block to make it 14-9, and Texas kept widening the gap. Anderson and Bunton added another block for a 20-12 lead, and Texas finished strong, taking five of the last six points.
Spears delivered set point and a Missouri setting error ended it at 25-13.
The third set stayed tight, with neither side ever leading by more than three. Texas turned a 9-9 tie into a 15-12 edge with a 6-2 run that included an Anderson ace, kills from Bunton, Harvey and Stafford, and a block from Anderson and Harvey.
Missouri fought back to tie it at 18-18, but Anderson and Stafford answered with back-to-back kills to restore control. Stafford later added two more kills, including one for a 23-21 lead, before Missouri tied it again at 23-23.
Harvey put Texas at match point with a kill, and Anderson finished it off with her 10th kill of the night.
Texas wraps up its regular-season road schedule Sunday, Nov. 8, against No. 21 Vanderbilt at 1 p.m.
CT inside Memorial Gymnasium. The match will stream live on SEC Network+.
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