Oct. 24, 2001
Columbia, Mo.- The University of Missouri volleyball team once again gave the No. 2 Nebraska Cornhuskers all they could handle on Wednesday night in Columbia, Mo., but the Huskers proved to be too much for the Tigers as MU dropped a tough 3-1 match (30-23, 25-30, 21-30, 21-30).
In front of the second largest crowd in MU volleyball history (2,002, seven spectators shy of the record 2,009 that came to watch the same match up last season), the Tigers would take a game from the Huskers for the first time since 1998, which was a 2-3 loss to Columbia. The Game 1 triumph also marks the only the second game NU has lost a game in Big 12 competition and only their sixth game loss this season. Head Volleyball coach Susan Kreklow said the Tiger's performance was a good indicator of where the team and the program are at overall.
"This match offers a great perspective to us on where we are at as both a team and a program," Kreklow said. "We played very well in Game 1 and competed well in Game 2, but when a team like Nebraska comes to your home court, you have to be able to sustain a high level of play."
The Tigers would sustain their level of play throughout all of Game 1. Mizzou would jump out to a quick 7-4 lead on the shoulders of three of sophomore Mary Lauren Smith's eight kills and a Smith block solo. The Huskers would battle back and actually take a 15-11 lead. However, Mizzou would go on to play some of its best volleyball of the season to close out the game going on a 19-8 run to finish the Huskers, 30-23 and take a 1-0 lead in the match. Mizzou recorded a sizzling .484 hitting percentage while limiting the Huskers to a.268 mark in the game. The Tigers put down 17 kills and recorded only two errors on 31 attacks in the game.
Mizzou must have awakened the sleeping giant in taking Game 1 as the Huskers roared out to a 17-3 lead to begin Game 2. The Tigers would battle though, outscoring the defending National Champions, 22-13 the rest of the game, but Nebraska would hold off the Tigers taking Game 2, 30-25. The Game 2 loss drops the Tigers to 5-5 in Game 2s at home this season.
With the match tied at 1-1, Mizzou would once again jump out to big lead at 9-4. However, the Huskers would once again reel the Tigers back in, tying the game at 12-12. The Huskers would take over from there on the strength of a .351 hitting percentage and the strong serving of Lindsay Wischmeier, who recorded two service aces on the night, and took the game, 30-21. Senior Krista Johnson recorded five of her nine kills in the game and a team-high .400 for the match. Mizzou would take a lead once again in Game 4 at 4-2. NU would fight back once again though and lead the Tigers, 18-16. Nebraska would finish off the Tigers with a 12-5 run to end the game, 30-21, and the match, 3-1.
The Tigers were led by junior Lisa Morris, who battled her way to 15 killls, two service aces and seven digs while fellow junior Christi Myers slated her fifth double-double of the season with 10 kills, 11 digs and four of the Tigers 14 block assists. The Tigers out-blocked Nebraska, 10.0 to 8.0, the first time the Huskers had been out-stuffed in a match in 72 tilts.
Mizzou is now 16-6 overall and 6-6 in the Big 12 while the Huskers improve to 18-1 overall and 11-0 in the Big 12. The Tigers now hit the road for two straight matches traveling to Oklahoma on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. before heading to Ames, Iowa to take on the Cyclones of Iowa State next Wednesday.