Missouri
Texas
No. 23 MU Takes Season Series from Longhorns
11/11/2000 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 11, 2000
Columbia, Mo. - The University of Missouri volleyball team continued its historical 2000 campaign Saturday night defeating the University of Texas Longhorns for only the second time in MU history, 15-9, 15-10, 15-9. The other win in the series came earlier this season in Austin.
Associate Head coach Wayne Kreklow said the win was exactly what the doctor called for since several of the Tigers were under the weather. "We were pleased with the way we played overall tonight," Kreklow said. "It was a gutsy performance by our kids with several of them not feeling the best. Texas is much better team then their record shows and we were happy to get a solid home win."
The Tigers scored the final seven points of game one to capture a 15-9 victory in a game that took 40 minutes. Game two witnessed two Missouri runs of seven and eight points in a 15-10 win. Mizzou erased a 3-0 Texas lead with the 7-0 run only to watch Texas go on a 7-0 run of its own to take a 10-7 lead. However, the Tigers would not be denied on their home court, scoring the final eight points of the game. In the decisive game three, the Tigers took a 12-2 lead and took the game, 15-9 and the match 3-0.
Mizzou put its balanced attack on display for the 1,195 Mizzou faithful, the third-largest crowd in school history, with four Tigers reaching double figures in kills. MU was led offensively by the outside hitter tandem of junior Naaron Branson and sophomore Lisa Morris. Branson recorded her third double-double of the season putting down 16 kills, 12 digs and three total blocks while hitting .519 for the match. Morris chalked up her eighth double-double of the season, putting down 16 kills while picking up a match-high 14 digs.
Junior Krista Johnson and sophomore Christi Myers were outstanding at the net. Johnson record three block solos and two block assists while putting down seven kills. Myers collected 12 kills and registered three blocks, putting her season total at 118 total blocks and a Big 12-leading 35 block solos. Freshman Ashlee Johns continued her solid playing, slating 11 kills on the night.
The win moves the Tigers to 21-4 overall and 12-5 in the Big 12 maintaining their third place position in the Big 12 Conference. Mizzou takes the season series from the Longhorns for the first time in school history. MU's 21 wins are the most wins by a Tiger squad since 1992 when that squad went 22-11. The Tigers go for win number 22 Monday as they take a break from Big 12 action and travel to Des Moines, Iowa, to face Drake (7-19). Mizzou then travels to Lawrence, Kan. on Wednesday to take on arch-rival Kansas. The final Tiger home match is Nov. 22 against Oklahoma. For ticket information, call 1-800-CAT PAWS.
