"Kansas came out and battled and really played strong, especially after Game 1," Kreklow said. "We didn't do the little things well tonight and really lacked focus and emotion. This is a disappointing loss, but we will rebound and hopefully play well the rest of the season."
The Tigers were outstanding in Game 1 hitting .405 as a team and blew by KU, 30-23. Juniors Christi Myers and Lisa Morris paced the Tigers, as Myers would put down six of her match-high 22 kills while Morris also pitched in with six kills. In Game 2, KU would take leads of as large as 10 at 20-10 and would hold off a late, frenzied charge by Mizzou and take the game, 30-28. The Jayhawks would go have the Tigers on their heels the rest of the way and would sweep the next two games 30-24 and 30-23 and the match, 3-1.
Three Tigers would go on to record double-doubles in the match but the could only manage a .203 team hitting percentage. The Tigers out-killed (67-64), out-blocked (11.0-10.0) and out-dug (77-61) the Jayhawks but could not overcome poor passing and a solid all-around match by Sarah Rome and Molly Scavuzzo, who put down 17 and 15 kills respectively. The Tigers all recorded 30 attack errors, the second highest total of the season, in the four-game loss.
The road does not get any less bumpy for the Tigers as they travel to Boulder, Colorado on Wednesday to take on the No. 22 Colorado Buffaloes and then welcomes a tough Texas team to the Hearnes Center on Saturday. However, Mizzou did have success against their next two opponents in the first trip though the Big 12 taking a 3-2 match from Texas in Austin on Oct. 13 and a 3-1 win from Colorado in Columbia on Oct. 17. For ticket information on Saturday's match with Texas, call 1-800 CAT PAWS or 884-PAWS in Columbia.