University of Missouri
North Texas
No. 15 Mizzou Escapes North Texas in Five Sets
8/30/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Emily Thater had career-highs in kills and blocks Saturday.
DENTON, Texas - No. 15 Mizzou volleyball escaped host North Texas in a thrilling five-set (17-25, 25-17, 31-29, 18-25, 15-12) win in the final match of the North Texas Invitational, sharing the invitational title in a three-way tie. Mizzou rallied after losing the first set and got double-digit kills from four players, including a career-high from sophomore Emily Thater (Springfield, Mo.), who also pitched in a career-high eight blocks. Sophomore Carly Kan (Honolulu, Hawaii) had a double-double with a team-high 15 kills and 12 digs. Mizzou is 2-1 and shares the UNT Invite with North Texas and Northwestern State.
"I am proud of how our kids responded, not only to losing this afternoon but responding to getting beat pretty good in sets one and four," head coach Wayne Kreklow. "We showed a lot of poise down the stretch and a lot of mental toughness. To pull away the way we did in the wild third set was huge and we did a great job finishing tonight. It was a great team effort."
Aside from Thater and Kan, Mizzou also got great performances from seniors Whitney Little (Keller, Texas) and Emily Wilson (Omaha, Neb.), who each finished with 11 kills. Little added four blocks, including a solo stuff to clinch the match. Junior Regan Peltier (Nixa, Mo.) and freshman Kasey Reuter (Sioux City, Iowa) each added four kills.
Junior libero Sarah Meister (San Diego, Calif.) was outstanding as well, pulling in 22 digs and was outstanding in serve receive. The 6-2 setting duo of Loxley Keala (Kaneohe, Hawaii) and Ali Kreklow (Columbia, Mo.) spread 43 combined assists (22 and 21, respectively) and guided Mizzou to .261 hitting.
Mizzou fell behind early in the first set, 6-2, as it committed three early attack errors. Just as they did in the first match of the day vs. Northwestern State, the Tigers rallied but never drew even. A late push from the Mean Green helped them run away from the Tigers with a 25-17 set win. Mizzou had seven attack errors in the first set.
The Tigers returned to form in the second set thanks to an offensive onslaught that saw the team hit .483 with 16 kills and just two errors. Kan paced the Tigers with six kills in the set, needing only 10 swings as she helped Mizzou flip the script with a 25-17 set win of their own.
Mizzou was in control for much of the third set, leading by as many as eight, but a 12-4 North Texas run knotted the set at 22-all until a kill from Thater ended the run. The set went wild from there as Mizzou escaped with a 31-29 win after several wild rallies. Just to give a hint of how wild the set was, Mizzou won on a bump kill from Kan as she attempted to send a free ball after it struck the ceiling after a Wilson dig as she was playing back row because Mizzou was out of subs.
Despite winning the wild third set, it was North Texas who had momentum in set four as it opened an 11-6 lead behind the play of Carnae Dillard. Kan and Reuter tallied kills out of the timeout to cut the lead to three and North Texas called a timeout and responded with a three-point run of its own. That was all the cushion UNT needed to escape with the set win, 25-18, forcing a fifth set. The match was Mizzou's first five-setter since Nov. 23, 2012, against Alabama, a span of 38 matches.
The fifth set was a back-and-forth affair, but Mizzou took a slim 8-7 advantage into the switch after Wilson's 11th kill. Mizzou pulled away by winning several long rallies and escaped with the 15-12 set win to clinch the match.
For all the latest on Mizzou volleyball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on twitter @MizzouVB.
