University of Missouri
Texas
Tigers Top Texas in Another Instant Classic
11/10/2001 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 10, 2001
Columbia, Mo.- The University of Missouri volleyball team kept its NCAA tournament aspirations alive and screaming on Saturday night as they defeated the University of Texas Longhorns, 3-2 (32-24, 30-19, 24-30, 30-22, 19-17). The win moves the Tigers to 19-8 overall and 9-8 in the Big 12 conference with just three matches left to play in the regular season. In what proved to be a classic Big 12 volleyball match, Mizzou would fight of match point three times in game five and take the final stanza, 19-17 and the match. This is the second time in 2001 that the Tigers fought off the Longhorns in five games, the other being on Oct. 13 in Austin. Head coach Susan Kreklow said that she was very please with the amount of effort and heart the Tigers displayed in the match and also with the way several members of the squad stepped up.
"We played our most complete match of the year tonight," Kreklow said. "We played well under pressure and showed poise when things got tough. We played well as a team and the whole squad did what it had to do to win "
From the opening serve, there was a feeling amongst the 1.402 Tiger faithful in attendance (the seventh largest crowd ever) that this was going to be a closely contested match. The two squads would be tied thirteen times in the opening stanza and the Tigers would lead by as many as two at 28-26, but UT would outlast the Tigers taking the game 34-32. With the loss of Game 1, the Tigers seemed to be in for a long night. The Tigers had been 15-11 in Games 2s this season going into tonight's match. However, the Tigers came out on fire in the game hitting .333 and took the game, 30-19. The two squads would once again battle in Game 3 and were tied 12 times all the way to 20-20. However, Texas would go on a 10-4 run the rest of the way out on the strength of UT freshman Mira Topic's six Game 3 kills. Topic would finish the match with match-high 29 kills. Topic recorded unbelievable 51 kills in the two matches against the Tigers. Trailing 2-1, Mizzou would once again roar back as three Tigers put down five kills in the 30-22 game win. Mizzou would run out to a 10-6 lead in the fifth stanza prompting a UT time out. The Longhorns would battle back to 10-10 on the shoulders of three Katia Lara service aces. The Tigers would fight off match point three times the rest of the way out and the Tigers would battle to gain their own opportunity for match point at 18-17. Ashlee Johns' 25th kill of the evening, which was blocked out by the Longhorns, ended the epic battle.
Tiger sophomores Mary Lauren Smith and Johns both had career nights for the Tigers as Johns put down a team-high 25 kills while Smith terminated 23 opportunities on the evening, both of which are career bests for the two. Senior Naaron Branson also continued to shine as she recorded her sixth double-double of the season putting down 13 kills and picking up an incredible 21 digs. Branson had 22 digs the last time the two squads faced off in Austin. Christi Myers also had a good match as she also recorded a double-double with 15 kills and twelve digs while stuffing four Texas attacks. Sophomore Chrissy Elder had her best match of the season against the Longhorns handing out a career-high 73 assists, slated a career-best five service aces while picking up 15 digs. Senior Krista Johnson equaled a season-high with 11 kills and recorded a .348 hitting percentage on the evening.
The Tigers now travel to Texas Tech on Wednesday night to take on Texas Tech in Lubbock. The Tigers defeated the Red Raiders, 3-1 earlier this season in Columbia
