University of Missouri
Kentucky
Mizzou Hangs Tough, Falls at No. 17 Kentucky
11/9/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Emily Wilson led Mizzou with 12 kills on .500 hitting Sunday
LEXINGTON, Kent. - Mizzou volleyball suffered a 3-0 (21-25, 23-25, 22-25) setback at the hands of No. 17 Kentucky on Sunday afternoon (Nov. 9) at Memorial Coliseum. The loss drops the Tigers to 15-13 on the season and 6-7 in SEC play. Mizzou was again led by a balanced offensive attack on Sunday, highlighted by senior Emily Wilson (Omaha, Neb.), who had 12 kills on .500 hitting. The 12 kills are her most since Oct. 19 at Mississippi State. Mizzou finished with more kills (48-42) than Kentucky, but 10 service errors cost the Tigers on Sunday.
"We played really well at times today, we just made errors at key times late in games that really wound up hurting us," head coach Wayne Kreklow said. "We hung pretty tough with a ranked team on the road, so there are a lot of positives to take away and we need to focus on those and fixing the little mistakes that cost us here today."
In all, six Tiger attackers finished with at least five kills for the second consecutive match. Sophomore All-American Carly Kan (Honolulu, Hawaii) finished with nine kills and eight digs and classmate Emily Thater (Springfield, Mo.) added seven kills on .357 hitting. Her partner in the middle Whitney Little (Keller, Texas) also added seven kills and a team-high three blocks. Freshman Kasey Reuter (Sioux City, Iowa) added six kills and a career-high nine digs while Regan Peltier (Nixa, Mo.) pitched in five kills. Senior libero Sarah Meister (San Diego, Calif.) led Mizzou with 12 digs and the setting duo of Loxley Keala (Kaneohe, Hawaii) and Ali Kreklow (Columbia, Mo.) combined for 30 assists, with 20 and 19, respectively.
In set one, Mizzou opened a 6-5 lead after a big-time block by Little and Wilson, but UK countered with a 3-0 run to take an 8-6 lead. The Tigers rallied to tie the set on Thater's third kill, making it 12-12. Kentucky then ran off three of the next four points to take a 15-13 lead into the media break. UK stretched its lead to 22-17, but Mizzou rallied to pull as close as 23-21, but UK scored the final two points to win the set, 25-21.
Set two was close in the early stages as well as the attacking of Thater, Kan and Wilson was enough to overcome four early service errors in the set as the teams found themselves tied at 12-12. UK then rattled off three of the next four points to open a 15-13 lead at the media timeout, just like set one.
Mizzou then tied the set at 17-all on an ace from Thater and built a 21-19 lead after Wilson blasted a ball through the block for her sixth kill on just her eighth attempt. Kentucky picked up back-to-back blocks out of a timeout to tie the set at 21-all, forcing a Wayne Kreklow timeout. UK kept the run going out of the timeout and Mizzou got as close as 24-23, but fell 25-23 to go down, 2-0, at intermission. Mizzou hit .389 with 18 kills in the second, but the five service errors in the set proved to be costly.
The Tigers built a 13-9 lead in set three after a big-time block by Peltier and Little, but UK ran off four in a row following a timeout to tie the set at 13-all. Things stayed tied until a 2-0 run on a pair of Tiger errors gave UK a 22-20 lead late in the set, forcing a timeout from Kreklow. The Tigers then scored the next two points to tie the set, only to watch UK score the final three points to clinch the match.
Mizzou will return home next weekend for a pair of matches against Georgia and Ole Miss at the Hearnes Center Friday and Sunday. For all the latest on Mizzou volleyball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on twitter @MizzouVB.
