University of Missouri
Texas Tech
Volleyball Sweeps Texas Tech
11/26/2011 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 26, 2011
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Mizzou volleyball team defeated Texas Tech, 3-0 (25-21, 27-25, 25-22), in its final regular season match of the season on Saturday night (Nov. 26) at United Spirit Arena. The win improves the Tigers to 21-12 on the season and they finish the Big 12 campaign at 7-9. With the win, Mizzou will now have to await the NCAA Tournament Selection Show tomorrow at 5 p.m. on ESPNU as it is in search of its 10th NCAA Tournament appearance in 12 seasons.
In all, three different Tigers posted a team-high 11 kills on the day, highlighted by a career-best effort from Katie O'Brien (Dallas, Texas) who posted her career-best 11 kills on .296 hitting in her home state. Freshman Emily Wilson (Omaha, Neb.) also posted 11 kills, doing so on a match-high .526 hitting. Sophomore Lisa Henning (Blue Springs, Mo.) finished the match with 11 kills as she now has 507 on the season, becoming just the third Tiger in program history to post at least 500 kills in a single season.
Molly Kreklow (Delano, Minn.) also had a fine match, spreading 45 assists while pulling in seven digs as she now owns the Mizzou single season record for digs by a setter with 290 on the season, passing Lei Wang (284). Kreklow also pitched in six blocks as she finished just one shy of a career-best. Freshman Whitney Little (Keller, Texas) also added five blocks as she now has 133 on the season, just five shy of the single season Mizzou record (138).
In the back row, senior libero Priscilla Armendariz (Blue Springs, Mo.) led the Tigers with 12 digs while Sarah Meister (San Diego, Calif.) and Kreklow each pitched in seven. Jade Hayes (Ozark, Mo.) added six digs as well. The Tigers ran out to an early lead in the first set thanks to an efficient attack from its middle hitters as it built an 8-4 lead. Tech attempted to rally, but ultimately, the Tiger hitters were too efficient with 16 kills on 40 swings with just one error (.375 hitting) as Mizzou claimed the first, 25-21, after a two-hit violation from Tech libero Tory Vaughn.
Little led Mizzou with a well-rounded first set, tallying four kills on seven swings while O'Brien also pitched in four kills, doing so on 13 attacks. Mizzou also posted 3.5 total blocks in the first set, highlighted by three from Kreklow while the team pulled in 18 digs as Meister and Henning each had four in the frame.
Mizzou led through much of the second set, but a late run saw Texas Tech take a 24-23 lead late in the frame. But Mizzou rallied thanks to some spectacular defensive plays from Armendariz, Hayes and Kreklow to come away with a 27-25 set win, taking a 2-0 lead into intermission. On set point, Tech appeared to get a point on an attack from Amanda Dowdy, but a great dig from Armendariz and two scrambling touches from Kreklow and Hayes kept the rally alive and after a dig from Henning on another Dowdy attack, the Tigers transitioned that into a Wilson kill, clinching the set.
At intermission, O'Brien led all Tigers with eight kills while Henning and Wilson each pitched in seven. Coming out of intermission, the Tigers played very well in the early stages of the third set as things were really clicking offensively. In fact, Mizzou hit .394 with 16 kills in the third as they ran away with the final frame, 25-22.
Mizzou will await its NCAA Tournament fate as the NCAA Selection Show will air tomorrow at 5 p.m. on ESPNU. For all the latest on Mizzou volleyball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on twitter @MU_Volleyball.
