University of Missouri
Baylor
Volleyball Falls in Four to Baylor
11/25/2009 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 25, 2009
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The Mizzou volleyball team dropped a four-set match (25-16, 16-25, 17-25, 19-25) to Baylor on Wednesday night (Nov. 25) at the Hearnes Center. The loss drops Mizzou to 18-13 on the season and 9-10 in the Big 12 and makes Saturday's match with Texas A&M a must-win for the Tigers if they hope to earn their ninth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last 10 seasons. Junior Paola Ampudia (Cali, Colombia) led Mizzou with 19 kills in the match and pulled in 13 digs for her fifth career double-double. Libero Caitlyn Vann (Muncie, Ind.) led the Tiger back row by corralling a match-high 17 digs.
The Tigers honored their two seniors - Lei Wang-Francisco (Shanghai, China) and Amanda Hantouli (Omaha, Neb.) - before the match. With her four sets played in the match, Wang-Francisco has now played in more sets than any other Tiger in program history with 448 and she finished the match with 37 assists, three kills and seven digs. Hantouli posted three kills and three blocks in her final match at the Hearnes Center, accounting for five total points in her first start since the opening weekend of the season.
Juniors Weiwen Wang (Nanjing, China) and Julianna Klein (Keota, Iowa) also had nice nights for Mizzou as Wang finished with six kills on a team-best .333 hitting while Klein netted nine kills on .238 hitting. As a team, Mizzou hit just .176 and allowed Baylor to hit .255. The Tigers' struggles offensively came in the second and third set as they hit .079 and .062, respectively, while tallying only 18 kills and committing 13 attack errors in those sets.
Freshman Marissa Ferri (Naperville, Ill.) also saw her most playing time in a match this season as she accounted for a career-best two digs and 10 service receptions in the match, playing in the three of the four sets. As a team, Mizzou posted eight blocks, led by five from Catie Wilson (Omaha, Neb.).
The Tigers dominated play early as they maintained a nine-point lead throughout most of the first set as Baylor had now answer for Ampudia, who finished the frame with six kills on 13 attacks with only one error. Rosa Medrano (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) finished the set with four kills while Mizzou limited Baylor to .097 hitting in the frame. Baylor pulled within five at 20-15 late in the set, but Mizzou scored five of the next six points and won the set on a kill from Wilson.
From there, the teams seemed to reverse roles as Baylor came out as the aggressor in the second set. Led by the service of setter Taylor Barnes and middle hitter Anna Breyfogle, Baylor kept Mizzou out of system throughout the set and led by as many as 12 at one point. Mizzou rallied to make the score respectable late, but Mizzou had no answer for Barnes as she anchored a Baylor attack that posted 15 kills in the set, which came from six different players. Baylor also limited Mizzou .079 hitting in the set as it went on to win, 25-16.
Coming out of intermission, Baylor continued to keep Mizzou out of system with its service as it pulled away late in the third. The teams traded blows until Mizzou found itself within one at 15-14. But from there, Baylor scored seven of eight and seized control of the set and the match. Baylor went on to win the third, 25-17, and once again limited Mizzou to poor hitting as it finished the set with a .062 clip.
Mizzou's hitting improved in the fourth as it .324, but at that point Baylor had seized control and hit .452 in the frame is it took the decisive set, 25-19.
Mizzou will conclude its regular season at Texas A&M on Saturday (Nov. 28) in a 4 p.m. match. For all the latest on Mizzou volleyball, stay tuned to www.MUTigers.com.
