University of Missouri
Oklahoma
Volleyball Falls, 3-1, at Oklahoma
9/19/2009 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 19, 2009
NORMAN, Okla. -- The Mizzou volleyball team (8-4, 1-1 Big 12) fell, 3-1 (25-21, 22-25, 23-25, 15-25), in its second match of Big 12 play at Oklahoma on Saturday (Sept. 19). Despite winning the first set convincingly, the Tigers let a late lead slip away in the third frame and could not recover. Junior outside hitter Julianna Klein (Keota, Iowa) led the Tigers with 11 kills while junior libero Caitlyn Vann (Muncie, Ind.) moved into eighth place all-time at Mizzou as she posted a season-best 21 digs in the match. Vann now has 1,050 digs in her career and now needs 17 to move into sixth all-time. Oklahoma limited Mizzou to .103 hitting in the match.
Klein started the match with a kill on the right side to open the first frame and the teams traded side outs until an attack error from Klein gave OU its first lead of the set at 4-3. After a kill from Sooner middle hitter Francie Ekwerekwu and a service ace from Danielle Alva, the Tigers fell behind 5-3 in the early stages of the set.
But a service error, attack error and a kill from Catie Wilson (Omaha, Neb.) drew the Tigers even at six. After the longest rally of the match ended in a kill from Klein, Mizzou regained the advantage at 7-6. A block from both Klein and Wilson pushed the advantage to 8-6 from there. That two-point cushion continued until Mizzou took four of the next six points to build a four-point lead at 12-8. Brittney Brimmage (East St. Louis, Ill.) posted two kills in that span, forcing an OU timeout. A string of attack errors and a service ace out of the timeout drew the Sooners even at 12. After trading side outs, a kill from Rosa Medrano (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) and a pair of Sooner attack errors gave Mizzou a 17-13 lead. That lead was all that the Tigers needed as they claimed the first frame, 25-21, after Klein's third kill of the frame.
Medrano led all attackers after finishing the set with five kills on seven attacks while hitting .571. Brimmage also added three kills on five attacks without an error while senior setter Lei Wang-Francisco (Shanghai, China) passed out 13 helpers in the set. Led by seven digs from libero Caitlyn Vann (Munice, Ind.), Mizzou collected 17 digs in the frame to out-dig the Sooners, who currently rank first in the Big 12 in that category. With the seven digs in the frame, Vann moved her career total to 1,036, ranking her in eighth place all-time at Mizzou. The Sooners - who rank second in the Big 12 in opponent hitting percentage at .123 - were unable to slow the Tiger attack as Mizzou hit .314 in the first.
Despite falling behind 2-0 to start the second set, Mizzou recovered to take a 3-2 lead, but the teams continued to side out until allowing OU gained a 14-10 lead after the Sooner service seemed to get the Tigers out of system. After a Tiger timeout, Mizzou scored on a Sooner attack error, but OU's defense picked up its pace as they built a 17-11 lead as Mizzou had just two kills in its first 11 points of the set as it hit -.017 in that span. Although the Tigers rallied to pull the score within two at 24-22, the Sooner lead was too much for Mizzou as they dropped the second, 25-22.
After hitting .314 in the first, Mizzou committed seven attack errors and posted only seven kills in the set but still managed to score 22 points. Both Klein and Wilson led the Tiger attack with two kills apiece in the second while the defense continued to play well, posting 16 digs in the frame, moving the Tigers' match total to 33 through two. Vann led the way with 12 digs through the first two sets.
Coming out of intermission, Mizzou looked determined to take the decisive third frame as the attack resembled that of the first set. In fact, the Tigers converted on their first three attacks and built a 4-2 lead. That was the largest lead for any team in the frame as it was closest from wire to wire in the match. The set featured 11 ties and three lead changes until a block by Wilson gave Mizzou a two-point edge at 22-20. A pair of attack errors from Medrano knotted the score at 23, forcing a Tiger timeout. Out of the timeout, the Sooners aced Mizzou, gaining the lead at 24-23 and a triple block from the Sooners ended the set as Miizzou led the third slip away, 25-23.
The Sooners scored five of the last six points in the set as they limited the Tigers to .139 hitting in the set. Junior Paola Ampudia (Cali, Colombia) led Mizzou with six kills in the set.
Oklahoma came out with all of the momentum in the fourth frame after rallying to win the third, building a 14-8 lead to being the set. The Tigers struggled to find their stride in the fourth as they fell down 18-11. That lead was more than enough as Mizzou dropped the final frame, 25-15.
Mizzou will continue play Wednesday (Sept. 23) as they host UMKC at the Hearnes Center. The match will begin at 6:30 p.m. For all the latest on Mizzou volleyball stay tuned to www.MUTigers.com.
