Sept. 26, 2003
COLLEGE STATION, Texas-- - Mizzou volleyball faced its first ranked opponents of the season on Friday as it traveled to College Station, Texas to face No. 25 Texas A&M. The Aggies handed the Tigers their first Big 12 Conference loss of the season, taking a 3-1 (30-21, 30-25, 25-30, 30-22) win.
MU snaps a five-game winning streak with the loss and has still never won in College Station, Texas in eight attempts.
Shen Danru led Missouri as she recorded her sixth double-double of the season. She had 20 kills and 17 digs and has recorded a double-double in three of the Tigers' four Big 12 matches. Mary Lauren Smith added 19 kills and Nicole Wilson had eight as she made her first career start for the Tigers. Sara Parks had 14 digs and Lindsey Hunter had 57 assists in the match.
Missouri fell behind in game one, trailing by as many as seven at 12-5. MU cut the Aggie lead to two with a 6-1 run. However, Texas A&M was able to build the lead back and go on to the opening-game win.
Hitting errors and service errors hurt the Tigers in game one. Nine attack errors and a .098 hitting percentage, along with four service errors by MU, helped A&M to the 30-21 win in game one.
Texas A&M took a 2-0 lead into the intermission by winning game two by a 30-25 score. The Aggies jumped out to another early lead, taking an 11-7 advantage. Missouri again came back, tying the score at 14. The game remained close and was tied at 20 before A&M closed on a 10-5 run.
Once again, it was service errors that struck the Tigers, as they committed five more in game two. Mizzou also could only manage a .160 hitting percentage in the game, while A&M hit .238.
MU was the one to take the lead to start game three, building an early 10-7 lead. Missouri expanded the lead to as many as five and was able to hang on for the 30-25 win, forcing a fourth game. The Tigers were able to prevent the errors in game three, as they had just four hitting errors, hit .381 and had only one service error.
Texas A&M held a commanding lead for most of the fourth game and took the match victory with a 30-22 game four win. The Tigers again struggled at the net, hitting .179 in the fourth game. MU finished with a .203 hitting percentage for the match.
The Tigers are now 10-3 on the year and 3-1 in the Big 12. They return home on Wednesday to face Kansas at 7 p.m. in the Hearnes Center.