University of Missouri
Northwestern State
No. 15 Mizzou Falls to Northwestern State
8/30/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Carly Kan had 15 kills in the loss.
DENTON, Texas - No. 15 Mizzou volleyball lost to Northwestern State, 3-0 (19-25, 19-25, 22-25), on Saturday afternoon (Aug. 30) at the North Texas Volleyball Complex in match four of the North Texas Invite. The loss drops the Tigers to 1-1 on the young season and snaps a streak of 35 consecutive regular season matches won. It is also the Tigers' first non-conference regular season loss since 2012.
"This was a tough one for us today," head coach Wayne Kreklow said. "We have to give credit to Northwestern State, they came out and played really well and we weren't ready to go. The challenge now is how we come back against North Texas tonight in what we know will be a hostile environment."
Sophomore All-American Carly Kan (Honolulu, Hawaii) led Mizzou with 15 kills and senior All-American Whitney Little (Keller, Texas) added eight kills on .636 hitting. Mizzou struggled to slow the Lady Demons, who hit .321 and only committed 12 attack errors. Mizzou, conversely, had 22 and hit just .155.
In set one, Mizzou opened a 6-4 lead after a kill on a slide from Little, but Northwestern State ran off five consecutive points - four coming on Tiger attack errors - forcing a timeout from Wayne Kreklow. Wilson ended the run with a kill but Northwestern State kept its lead, despite the fact that Mizzou got as close as 19-18 after a kill from Kan. But the Lady Demons scored six of the next seven points to win the first set, 25-19.
Set two stayed close until a 3-0 run gave the Lady Demons a 14-11 lead midway through the set. Once again, that small run was all Northwestern State needed despite Mizzou pulling as close as 19-18 for the second consecutive set. Back-to-back blocks gave the Lady Demons a 22-19 lead. They scored the last three points and won the second, 25-19.
Mizzou ran out to a 3-0 lead in set three but Northwestern State rallied again midway through the set and opened a 16-12 lead, forcing a timeout from coach Kreklow. The run again was all the Lady Demons needed to clinch the match in the third set.
Mizzou will play North Texas tonight at 7 p.m. to round out tournament play. For all the latest on Mizzou volleyball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on twitter @MizzouVB.
