University of Missouri
Boise State
Mizzou Sweeps Boise State, Wins Second Straight in Idaho
9/12/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Emily Wilson posted 14 kills in the win.
MOSCOW, Idaho -- Senior outside hitter Emily Wilson continued her fine play as she again paced Mizzou volleyball in a 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-20) sweep of Boise State in its second match of the Idaho Nike Invitational. Wilson finished with a match-high 14 kills on .387 hitting as she has 36 kills over her last two matches on .338 hitting, averaging 4.50 per set. The win improves the Tigers to 6-4 on the season and it is their first sweep since the season-opener against Mississippi Valley State. It is also the first time this year that Mizzou has won back-to-back matches.
"This was probably our best match playing off the ball all season," head coach Wayne Kreklow said. "We came up with a lot of plays and got good swings for our hitters. Wilson did a great job again and has done a nice job of continuing to swing hard. I thought we played great defense as well and I think our defense forced Boise into a few errors. We have to turn around quickly and get ready to play a good Portland team tonight."
Aside from Wilson, sophomore All-American Carly Kan (Honolulu, Hawaii) had a great match, tallying her seventh double-double of the season with 11 kills and 17 digs, the latter of which is a three-set career high for Kan. Senior libero Sarah Meister (San Diego, Calif.) also pulled in 11 digs.
Senior Whitney Little (Keller, Texas) added seven kills on .333 hitting and tallied three blocks. She now has six in the tournament and needs just two more to set the school record for blocks in a career. She has 453 in her career, just one back of tying former All-American Christi Myers (454). Loxley Keala (Kaneohe, Hawaii) and Regan Peltier (Nixa, Mo.) each added four kills without an error as well. The setting duo of Keala and Ali Kreklow (Columbia, Mo.) combined for 32 assists and guided Mizzou to .314 hitting, its highest since the season-opener.
The first set was a back-and-forth affair until Mizzou used a 4-0 run midway through the set behind the service arm of Meister to open a 14-10 lead. But Boise responded with a 4-0 run of its own to pull even at 15-15, prompting a Wayne Kreklow timeout. But a huge solo stuff by Emily Thater (Springfield, Mo.) ended a long rally following the break and that sparked a 3-0 run as Mizzou opened an 18-15 lead, following Kan's fourth kill. That prompted another Boise State timeout and Mizzou scored the next two points out of the stoppage to go on top 20-15. In fact, Mizzou scored 10 of the final 13 points to seal the set one win, 25-18.
The Tigers and Broncos again played tight to open set two and the Tigers actually fell behind 7-3 before going on a 10-2 run, prompting a Boise timeout. That run was all the cushion that Mizzou needed to pull away in set two, 25-17. Wilson had nine kills on .444 hitting through two sets as Mizzou hit .279 as a team through the opening two frames.
Mizzou appeared to be in control early in set three, jumping out to a 6-1 lead but the Broncos appeared to find their swings on a 10-3 run and opened an 11-9 lead. The Tigers then regained their form late in the set to pull away with a 25-20 set win for their second sweep of the season. Mizzou had 18 kills in set three on .317 hitting.
Mizzou will be back in action later today at 6:30 p.m. (CT) against Portland. For all the latest on Mizzou volleyball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on twitter @MizzouVB.
