University of Missouri
Oklahoma
Tigers' Rally Falls Short at No. 22 Oklahoma
10/5/2011 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 5, 2011
NORMAN, Okla. - The Mizzou volleyball team lost its second-straight five-set match despite a rally from two sets down at No. 22 Oklahoma on Wednesday night (Oct. 5) at McCasland Fieldhouse, 3-2 (12-25, 17-25, 25-21, 25-22, 7-15). Sophomore Lisa Henning (Blue Springs, Mo.) led the way with 16 kills and seven digs while sophomore setter Molly Kreklow (Delano, Minn.) finished three kills shy of a triple-double with seven kills, 12 digs and 42 assists. The loss drops the Tigers to 14-6 overall and 1-3 in Big 12 play.
Mizzou fell behind, 2-0, early in the set and rallied to force a fifth set before Oklahoma put the match away with a 15-7 win in the fifth. Aside from Kreklow and Henning, who both had great matches, the Tiger middle hitters were unstoppable in the match. Senior Brittney Brimmage (East St. Louis, Ill.) finished with 11 kills on .529 hitting while Whitney Little (Keller, Texas) had 10 kills - just one off of a career-best - with four blocks.
Defensively, the Tigers were led by senior libero Priscilla Armendariz (Blue Springs, Mo.) who had 18 digs and was perfect on serve receive. In fact, Mizzou as a team was aced just twice in the match and its passing was very good as it made its run in the third and fourth sets. Freshman Jade Hayes (Ozark, Mo.) added eight digs while sophomore Ashton Bodenstab (Blue Springs, Mo.) added a career-best seven.
The Tigers hung with the Sooners in the early portions of the first set but OU eventually ran out to a 10-7 lead, forcing a Wayne Kreklow timeout. But that didn't stop the Sooner run as Mizzou committed three straight errors out of the timeout to give OU a 14-7 lead. From there, the Sooner hitters took advantage of the Tiger back row as they ran away with the first, 25-12. OU hit .615 with 17 kills while Mizzou had just five digs. Kreklow and Little led Mizzou with three kills in the first while Suzy Boulavsky tallied seven kills on nine swings to lead Oklahoma.
Mizzou once again struggled to slow the Sooner attack in the second as it hit .500 through two sets as Oklahoma won the second, 25-17, taking a 2-0 lead into intermission. The story of the match through two sets was the errors as Oklahoma had just four (two attack, one service and one blocking) through the first two sets while Mizzou combined for 20. Also, through two sets, Oklahoma hit .500. The bright spot for the Tigers in the second set was the improved play of the back row, which pulled in 16 digs, a vast improvement from the five that they had in the first set. Brimmage led the Tigers with five kills on seven swings in the second.
Out of intermission, the teams seemed to switch roles as it was Mizzou that forced the Sooners into plenty of errors as it took the second set, 25-21, extending the match to a fourth set. After having just four errors in the first two sets, the Sooners - due in large part to an improved Tiger block - committed seven attack errors alone in the third. Henning led the Tiger offense, which tallied 15 kills on .364 hitting, with four kills in the set.
The momentum for the Tigers carried into the fourth as Mizzou capitalized on some OU errors to take a lead midway through the set at 9-8. The Tigers continued to pull away in the set and held off a late Sooner run to take the fourth, 25-22, forcing a fifth set. The middle hitting duo of Little and Brimmage continued to lead the Tigers as through four sets they had 10 and 11 kills, respectively at that point on .395 hitting. Henning also had 14 kills through four sets.
Mizzou fell behind 9-4 early in the fifth as the Sooners began to pull away. But a kill from Henning got the Tigers back in the set but she committed a service error on the ensuing point as OU took a 10-5 lead. That was all that OU needed as it ran away with the fifth, 15-7.
Mizzou will be back in action this Saturday as it returns to road to face Baylor in Waco. That match is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start and will air live on MUTigers.tv. For all the latest on Mizzou volleyball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on twitter @MU_Volleyball.
