University of Missouri
SIU-Edwardsville
Volleyball Takes Care of SIUE in Three
10/31/2009 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 31, 2009
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Mizzou volleyball team stepped out of Big 12 conference play on Saturday night (Oct. 31) to defeat SIU-Edwardsville, 3-0 (25-16, 25-21, 25-21), at the Hearnes Center. The Tigers improved their overall record to 15-9, and finished non-league action with a record of 9-3.
Mizzou had a well-balanced attack, as eight different players recorded kills for the Tigers, led by juniors Paola Ampudia (Cali, Colombia) and Julianna Klein (Keota, Iowa), who each had nine. Junior libero Caitlyn Vann (Muncie, Ind.) led Mizzou with 11 digs to raise her total for the year to 363, passing former Tiger Chandra Hopkins for 10th on Mizzou's single-season list. Freshman Kate Harris (Lee's Summit, Mo.) saw significant action, posting 16 assists after head coach Wayne Kreklow changed setters midway through the second. The 16 assists are the most for Harris since she passed out 28 against Fairfield earlier this season.
"These matches are good for us because we get to try a lot of things and see how the team will respond," Kreklow commented after the match. "I thought that there was plenty of things that we did will and there was still a lot of room for improvement. It was nice to be able to rest a few of our regulars and gain match experience for others."
Mizzou earned its first point of the match on a Cougar error. Ampudia recorded the Tigers' first kill of the night. SIUE later tied the first set at four, but Ampudia gave Mizzou the lead again with another kill. A Tiger error knotted the set again, but Mizzou then won three straight points to open up an 8-5 lead. The Tigers won six of nine from there, including a service ace from Klein, before SIUE called timeout with Mizzou leading 14-8. Following the break, the Tigers went on an 11-8 run to close the frame, as Klein posted a kill on Mizzou's fourth set point to give the Tigers an early lead. Ampudia led Mizzou with six kills on .429 hitting in the frame, while senior setter Lei Wang-Francisco (Shanghai, China) passed out 13 assists to set up the Tiger attack. Defensively, Vann posted four digs while Ampudia and sophomore Annie Lopez (St. Louis, Mo.) each added three.
A block by senior Amanda Hantouli (Omaha, Neb.) put the Tigers ahead 5-2 early in the second set. Mizzou went on a 6-2 run from there to push its lead to seven, including a service ace from Lopez. The Cougars won 10 of 13 after that to tie the set at 14 apiece. The Tigers allowed SIUE to stay in the set, as the Cougars cut the lead to one at 21-20 before a kill from sophomore Brittney Brimmage (East St. Louis, Ill.) started a 4-1 Tiger run to give Mizzou a two-set lead heading into intermission. Klein and Brimmage led the Tigers with four kills each in the frame, while Ampudia had three and Hantouli added two.
Kreklow switched setters in the set as freshman Kate Harris (Lee's Summit, Mo.) entered the match for starter Wang-Francisco with the Tigers leading 13-8. Harris had five assists in the frame, and remained on the court for the third.
SIUE committed a hitting error to start the final set and junior Weiwen Wang (Nanjing, China) posted the Tigers' first kill of the frame on the next point. Klein later served her second ace to give Mizzou a 4-1 lead. The Cougars later tied the set at six, as Kreklow continued to rest his starters in order to give the reserves more match experience. The Tigers were not able to establish momentum in the frame until Klein broke a 9-9 tie with a kill, sparking a 6-2 run for Mizzou. Following an SIUE timeout, Hantouli recorded a block and a kill to extend the Tigers' lead to five at 17-12. The Cougars won seven of ten to pull within three at 22-19, but the Tigers then won three of five to close out the match, capped by a kill from Hantouli.
The Tigers' next match is Wednesday (Nov. 4), when they will hit the road to face Nebraska. Mizzou returns home Saturday (Nov. 7) to host Texas at 5 p.m. in the Hearnes Center. For the latest information on Tiger volleyball, please visit mutigers.com.
