University of Missouri
Kansas State
Volleyball Falls in Four at Kansas State
10/14/2009 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 14, 2009
MANHATTAN, Kan. -- The Mizzou volleyball team dropped a four-set match (21-25, 25-18, 20-25, 23-25) at Kansas State on Wednesday (Oct. 14) despite a career night from defensive specialist Priscilla Armendariz (Blue Springs, Mo.), who posted a career-best 24 digs. Junior Paola Ampudia (Cali, Colombia) paced the Tiger attack with 17 kills but it was not enough as Mizzou falls to 12-7 on the season and 4-4 in Big 12 play. Weiwen Wang (Nanjing, China) also pitched in a season-best eight kills on .375 hitting.
Libero Caitlyn Vann (Munice, Ind.) had a solid performance on the night in the Tiger back row, collecting 19 digs and moving into fourth-place all-time on the Mizzou career digs list with 1,179. For the first time this season, Mizzou hit a better percentage than its opponents and lost the match as they hit .200 to K-State's .191.
Julianna Klein (Keota, Iowa) posted the first two kills of the match for the Tigers, but after an attack error from Brittney Brimmage (East St. Louis, Ill.) and a Wildcat kill, Mizzou found themselves down, 4-2. Aside from Klein, the Mizzou offense struggled to get things going, totaling just a pair of kills and two errors on its first eight swings and falling behind 7-3, forcing a Mizzou timeout. The lead was extended to 9-3 until a kill from Weiwen Wang (Nanjing, China) ended the run.
Paola Ampudia (Cali, Colombia) added a kill on the very next point to cut the score to 9-5. Mizzou continued to cut into that lead as the Tiger block kept K-State from getting easy as the Wildcats committed three-straight attack errors. After hitting .571 after the first timeout, K-State saw its team hitting fall to .105 as Mizzou climbed back within one at 11-10, forcing a K-State timeout. Klein posted her third kill of the match out of the timeout as the serving of Priscilla Armendariz (Blue Springs, Mo.) kept KSU out of system, allowing Mizzou to grab its first lead of the match at 12-11. KSU took the next four points despite some long rallies until Ampudia ended the rally with a pipe-ball kill over a triple block to make the score 15-13. Although Mizzou once again closed the gap to one, K-State scored seven of the next 10 points to go ahead 22-16, putting the set out of reach as Mizzou dropped the first, 25-21. Wang led the Tigers with four kills in the first while Armendariz posted a team-high seven digs in the frame.
The Tigers went down 5-1 early in the second set, but the serving arm of Catie Wilson (Omaha, Neb.) pulled the Tigers back within one as she aced the Wildcats once and kept them out of system to pull the score to 5-4. Mizzou tied the score at six after a block from Klein and Wang and then Ampudia gave Mizzou its first lead of the match with a kill from the right side. The Tigers continued to con troll the pace as the play of Wang and Ampudia carried the Tigers to a 14-10 lead.
Ampudia and the Tigers extended their advantage to 19-12, but three-straight points from the Wildcats kept them in the set. A kill from Klein ended the Wildcat run and the Tigers coasted from their thanks to the play of Wilson and Ampudia as they claimed the second, 25-18. Ampudia led Mizzou with three kills in the frame while Wilson added three while posting three total blocks, including one solo, and pitching in a service ace. The Tigers hit .321 in the second frame after hitting just .100 in the first.
A block from Wilson and Ampudia opened the third frame and the teams traded sideouts until a broken play resulted in a Wildcat point to put them on top 4-3. Mizzou regained the lead at 6-5 as the set continued to go back-and-forth and extended it to 9-7, forcing a K-State timeout. Mizzou went up 15-11, but K-State won nine of the next 11 points to take a 20-17 lead. That lead was enough for K-State as it took the crucial third set, 25-20.
The Tigers looked determined to send the match to a decisive fifth set as they opened the fourth on a 13-7 thanks to spectacular defensive play from Armendariz and libero Caitlyn Vann (Muncie, Ind.) and a .435 hitting percentage. But just like in the previous set, K-State stormed back seven of the next 10 points as the Tigers saw their set hitting percentage drop from .435 to .290 in that span. But with all of that, the Tigers were still up by two a 16-14.
Out of a timeout, K-State took the next two points to knot the score at 16. The Wildcats rode the momentum of their home crowd from there as they built a 20-17 lead. That lead was more than enough for the Wildcats as they took the fourth, 25-21, claiming the match.
Mizzou returns to action this Saturday as they look to `Can the Huskers' and improve to 9-0 at home for the first time since the 2002 season. Fans can get in free with the donation of two canned food items as Mizzou looks to collect more than 1,000 pounds of food for the Central Missouri Food Bank. For all the latest on Mizzou volleyball, stay tuned to www.MUTigers.com.
