Tiger Volleyball Hits the Road
10/26/2001 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 26, 2001
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Tigers Finish Up Busy Week at Oklahoma After playing matches on Monday and Wednesday of this week, the University of Missouri volleyball team travels to Norman, Okla., to take on the Sooners for the second time in 2001. Mizzou is coming off a quality showing against No. 2, and defending national champion, Nebraska on Wednesday. Mizzou took Game 1 from the Huskers, 30-25, but NU stormed back and tood the next three games-25, 21, 21 and the match 3-1. The game loss was only the sixth game the Huskers have dropped all season. The Tigers have played three teams that were ranked in the Top 20 of the AVCA/USAToday Coaches Poll (then No. 20 Colorado, No. 14 Texas A&M and No. 2 Nebraska) in their last four matches going 2-2 in that streak.
Mizzou is now 16-6 overall and 6-6 in the Big 12 as it heads into its final eight matches. Five of the remaining eight will be on the road including three of the next four as the Tigers travel to OU this weekend, Iowa State on Wednesday, and welcome Kanas on Nov. 3 before heading to Colorado on the Nov. 7. The Tigers went 6-2 against their remaining oppents during their first go around through the Big 12 and look to continue to improve their regional ranking, which is currently the sixth spot, as they make a second consecutive run for the NCAA Tounament.
A Look at the Sooners The 2001 season has been an uphill battle for the Sooners as they enter Saturday's match at 2-18 overall and 1-9 in the Big 12. OU's lone conference win came in a 3-1 victory over Kansas on Sept. 22 in Norman, 3-1. Their other season win came against Texas A&M-Corpus Christion Sept. 1. The Sooners have definitely been road warriors this season. Of their 20 matches played this season, fifteen have been either on the road or on neutral courts.
OU is led by sophomore outside hitter Logan Pierce, who is averaging 3.07 kills per game and 2.37 digs per stanza. Freshman middle blocker Candace Woods leads a strong OU blocking front averaging 0.79 blocks per game. The Sooners are averaging 2.6 blocks per game as a team , but are hitting a paltry .139 on the season.
The Tigers have won five of their last six meeting with the Sooners including a 3-1 triumph on Sept. 29 in Columbia. Junior middle blocker Christi Myer tied a season high in that match with 18 kills while picking up 12 digs. However, OU does own a 31-20 advantage over the Tigers in the all-time series.
Tigers Volleyball Changes Start Time of KU Match
The start of the University of Missouri volleyball team's match against the University of Kansas, which is set for Nov. 3, has been rescheduled, it was announced last Thursday by the MU Athletic Department. Instead of starting at 7 p.m., first serve will be at 7:30 pm in the Hearnes Center. For ticket information on all Tiger home volleyball matches, call 1-800 CAT PAWS or 884-PAWS in Columbia.
Win Game 1 and It's Done
One of the keys to the Tigers' success over the past two seasons has been establishing an early advantage over their opponents. When Mizzou wins Game 1 of a match, it is 15-3 this season and an astounding 39-3 over the last two seasons. However, when Mizzou drops the opening stanza of a match, it is a not so good 1-10. Look for Mizzou to concentrate on getting off to a good start in Game 1.
Game 2 Blues
The Tigers have been the opposite of good...bad...in Game 2 at home this season. Mizzou is 5-5 at home in the second stanza of matches and 13-9 in Game 2 overall. Besides sporting a 1-2 mark in Game 5s in 2001, that is the Tigers worst game record of the five possible games.
Game Record Winning Percentage 1 18-4 .818 2 13-9 .591 3 14-8 .636 4 8-5 .615 5 1-2 .333 54-28 .659
The Nation of Termination Junior outside hitter Lisa Morris has been the one of the Tigers' steadiest producers so far this season. Morris is averaging 4.05 kills per game overall. She has recorded 20 kills or more four times and has recorded 10 double-doubles this season. She has also reached double-figures in kills in 19 of Mizzou's 22 matches this season and ranks fifth in kills per game in the Big 12.
Morris is currently climbing the MU career kills charts faster than the new N'Sync album (which she does not like). She is currently second on the kills per game list (3.61 kpg) and jumped onto the Mizzou Top 10 kills list 923 career kills, putting her in eighth postition.
A Grand Accomplishment The fans at the MU volleyball match on Wednesday witnessed history as senior Naaron Branson put down her 1,000 career kill to give the Tigers a 15-8 lead in Game 1. After recording her 1,000 career dig in Game 1 last Saturday at Texas A&M, Branson is now only the second MU volleyball player to record 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in her career. The other Tiger in the 1,000 kill-1,000 dig club is Yvette Buhlig (1988-90, 1992) who is the all-time leader in both categories with 1,478 kills and 1,149 digs for her career.
Branson currently leads the squad in digs (239) and digs per game (3.32). She has had three huge matches the last three times out for Mizzou. A native of Fort Smith, Ark., Branson put down a personal season-best 21 kills and picked up a career-high 22 digs in the Tigers' five-game win against Texas, and tied a career-high with 22 kills in the Tigers upset win over Colorado on Wednesday.
Branson recorded her 1,000th career dig on the fifth of her 19 digs against Texas A&M while also putting down 14 kills and slating five block assists.
All-Time Kills Leaders 1. Yvette Buhlig (88-90, 92) 1,478 2. Jodi Maune (95-98) 1,147 3. Renee Rosinski (95-98) 1,049 4. Sherri Gentry (86, 88-90) 1,030 5. Naaron Branson (98- ) 1,013 6. Sharon Zaehringer (84-87) 929 7. Gwen Mullens (91-94) 927 8. Lisa Morris (99- ) 923 9. Melinda Wrye (90-92) 906 10. Margaret Yanics (84-86, 88) 902
All-Digs Leaders 1. Yvette Buhlig (88-90, 92) 1,149 2. Gwen Mullens (91-94) 1,103 3. Margaret Yanics (84-86, 88) 1,038 4. Chandra Hopkins (95-98) 1,033 4. Naaron Branson (98- ) 1,033 6. Annette Luyten (97-00) 996 7. Sherri Gentry (86, 88-90) 972 8. Cindy Atteberry (90-93) 920 9. Stacy Harris (84-87) 859 10. Melinda Wrye (90-92) 845
Business is Starting to Pick Up
The Tigers are one of the most efficient teams in the Big 12. After seeing its team hitting percentage drop to .250 following the Baylor match. Mizzou used two +.400 efforts (.433 against Iowa State and .403 against UMKC) to raise the percentage to .263 after the UMKC match. After hitting a solid .296 against the Saluki's of Southern Illinois on Monday, the Tigers currently sport a mark of .254, still good enough for second in the Big 12.
Tracking the Tigers
Last Time Out... Mizzou Volleyball Comes Up Short Against Huskers 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.
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.
