University of Missouri
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Kansas
MU Drops Heartbreaker at Kansas
10/29/2008 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 29, 2008
LAWRENCE, Kan. - The Missouri volleyball team (10-12, 4-8 Big 12) was down and fought back, but it wasn't enough Wednesday night as the Tigers dropped a heartbreaking five-set match at Kansas (10-11, 4-8 Big 12), 12-25, 25-18, 25-15, 13-25, 14-16. The Tigers held a 12-7 lead in the fifth set before a 9-2 KU run shut the door on the Tigers completing its comeback. Sophomore Julianna Klein led Mizzou with 12 kills, scoring a double-double in adding 10 digs along with tallying five aces.
Lei Wang also compiled a double-double with 35 assists and 10 digs. Wang also co-led the team, along with Weiwen Wang, with six blocks.
Sophomore Caitlyn Vann scooped 19 digs.
Kansas was again led by Karina Garlington's 19 kills on the night.
Against the pattern of the season, Mizzou outblocked the Jayhawks, 12-5, but was outdug 92-68.
The key to the story of set one is apparent when looking at the box score. Kansas tallied a .424 hitting percentage to Mizzou's .067 to take the opener, 25-12, scoring 18 kills to contrast the Tigers' six. Although Catie Wilson led MU with three errorless kills, MU was outdug 20-9 as KU's entire bevy of shots seemed to fall and MU's did not. The Tigers were down 9-4 before gaining a non-sideout point and Kansas ended the first set with a 10-3 run.
Although down 5-1 in the early moments of set two, the Tigers came back with a run of 6-0 to take a 16-12 lead and a 6-0 run to win the set, off the serving of Klein who added two aces in consecutive points in taking the game to a 19-18 MU advantage to a commanding victory. Klein, who had just one kill in the first frame, notched five in the second on nine errorless attempts. Lauren Nuckolls game off the bench in the set to score five crucial kills, both coming in the Tigers' six-point runs. MU improved its offensive production, hitting .289 to KU's .121.
Klein served up three aces in the third set, as that was one of the reasons KU came out unbalanced and unstable offensively - tough serving. Kansas had more kills that MU, 11-7, in the third, but ran into five Tiger blocks as part of 13 hitting errors to hit -.053 in the set. MU only hit a .129 rate with the seven kills, but big runs kept the pressure on the Jayhawks.
Remember what just happened in the third set? Well, apply all of that to the fourth set, except flip the teams. KU came out serving tough in this set, scoring three aces themselves and ending the frame on a 6-0 run to take it 25-13. Mizzou managed just seven kills - for the second-consecutive set - but, this time was held to a .000 average, as MU would commit six unforced errors. Kansas, on the other hand, hit .314. Klein again just had one kill in the set.
Everything seemed to be going the Tigers' way in the fifth set as a MU 4-0 run put the Tigers up 8-5. And a later 4-1 run by MU put the lead to five and a 12-7 score. But, Kansas stormed back, wrapping off a 9-2 run, with all scores coming off kills to take the set and match 16-14. MU's hitting percentage was reduced to .174 in the fifth as Kansas would score 14 of its 16 points off kills.
Overall, it was a memorable night in the Big 12 as Oklahoma upset No. 3 Texas in Austin in an intense five-setter and Colorado won the first two sets in its match against No. 2 Nebraska.
The Tigers will return to the Hearnes Center on Saturday when they host Texas Tech at 6:30 p.m.
WEDNESDAY IN THE BIG 12
Colorado def. (2) Nebraska, 25-19, 27-25, 18-25, 25-16
Kansas State def. Texas A&M, 23-25, 25-12, 25-21, 19-25, 15-9
Iowa State def. Baylor, 21-25, 26-24, 25-18, 26-24
(3) Texas lost to Oklahoma, 21-25, 25-9, 25-22, 23-25, 13-15
