University of Missouri
Notre Dame
Mizzou Sweeps Irish In Home Opener
8/31/2007 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Aug. 31, 2007
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Missouri Tigers (3-1) earned a hard fought sweep in the opener of the Tiger Invitational Friday night in front of 1,383 fans, defeating the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (0-3) by scores of 31-29, 30-25, and 30-23. Senior outside hitter Na Yang had a big night for the Tigers in their 2007 home opener, scoring 22 kills on a one-error .500 hitting percentage.
Yang's (Shan Dong, China) 22 kills was the fourth-best performance all-time by a Tiger in a three-game match, just two shy of the school record.
"I was pleased with Na's performance in all facets of her game," stated Missouri head coach Wayne Kreklow. "She's playing now like she played in the last couple of games in the postseason."
In addition, sophomore Julianna Klein recorded her second career double-double with 13 kills, on a .306 hitting strike, adding 11 digs on what was an impressive defensive showing by the Tigers.
"The defense made a lot hustle plays, like a dunk in basketball, it adds a lot of momentum," said Kreklow.
Rally-saving scoops from everyone in the lineup, including Tatum Ailes with a team-leading 20 dig total gave the Irish little chance to score.
Senior Lindsay Smith, who was in the starting lineup for the second time in her career, added six digs with many of those being crowd pleasers.
Sophomore setter Lei Wang paced the Tigers with 38 assists, leading the Tiger offense to a .333 and .312 hitting percentages in games two and three, respectively.
The Irish, picked to win the BIG EAST Conference, was led by Megan Fesl's 14 kills. Notre Dame opened the season with two losses to top-10 teams.
The Tigers now lead the all-time series against the Fighting Irish 3-0.
The first game saw the Tigers and the Irish in a heated battle right from the get go, with the two teams exchanging points all the way to a 15-15 tie as part of seven total ties in the frame. The Tigers were able to pull ahead with a big 5-0 run that included two kills from Na Yang, to pull ahead 20-15. The Irish, determined not to go down easy, chipped away at the lead and eventually pulled dead even with the Tigers at 29-29. However, kills from sophomore Amanda Hantouli and senior Lindsay Smith clinched the game that saw seven ties before the Tigers were able to pull out the 31-29 victory. Yang threw down nine kills for the Tigers, who never trailed in this game.
Game two saw much of the same from these two squads early on as both squads tied the score 11 times, but the Tigers were able to take control and pull away late with a 30-25 victory. The Irish took their first lead of the match early in game two, and after a 5-0 run, held a 14-12 lead over the Tigers. Missouri, however, was not fazed, and was able to take 11 of the next 17 points to open up a 23-20 lead. Na Yang added eight more kills in this game, including five in the last 10 points scored by the Tigers to help pull away from the Irish. Freshman Caitlyn Vann helped the Tigers with four digs while sophomore Julianna Klein added six kills and six digs of her own.
The final game of the match saw an impressive display of defense by the Tigers, with senior Tatum Ailes and freshman Lindsay Smith diving all over the floor. Ailes notched six digs as Smith added five of her own in the game as the Tigers went on to beat the Irish 30-23. Missouri came out red hot, jumping out to leads of 6-1 and 12-4 early on, stifling the offensive attack from the Irish. After the Tigers jumped out to a 6-1 lead, the Irish never pulled within less than four and were down by as many as nine at one point. Klein was big again for the Tigers in the third game, adding six kills to bring her total to 13 on the night. Freshman Weiwen Wang had three kills in the final game, including the match winner.
The Tigers will close out the Tiger Invitational against Florida International on Sunday afternoon. The match is scheduled to start at 1 p.m.
###
