Oct. 1, 2003
Missouri volleyball won its third straight match over Kansas and has won six of the last seven meetings after defeating Kansas 3-2 (30-16, 31-33, 30-28, 26-30, 15-12). Three Tigers had double-doubles and Mary Lauren Smith had a season-high 24 kills to lead MU.
The Tigers took a dominating win in the opening game, finishing the game on a 7-2 run. Mizzou faced four game points in game two before the Jayhawks finally took the victory, 33-31. The Jayhawks took lead in the third game before MU rallied back. The Tigers took the lead at 24-23 and held on for the victory. Kansas forced a game five by coming from behind to win the fourth game.
In game five, Kansas jumped out to a 6-1 lead. However, Mizzou followed with a 5-1 run to get back into the game and took its first lead at 9-8. MU then closed out the match with a 6-2 run to take the game-five win.
Smith's 24 kills led the team as Mizzou hit .306 on the night. Shen Danru had her seventh double-double of the season with 17 kills and a career-high 20 digs. She has had a double-double in four of the Tigers five Big 12 Conference matches. Lindsey Hunter had her first double-double of the year and the 11th of her career with a season-high 64 assists to go along with a career-high 17 digs. Jessica Vander Kooi had her first career double-double and was just one assists away from a triple-double with 12 kills, 16 digs and 9 assists.
Missouri moves to 11-3 on the year and 4-1 in the Big 12 with the win, while Kansas falls to 10-5 overall and 2-2 in the conference.
The Tigers are on on the road for their next two matches. They travel to Iowa State on Saturday at 2 p.m. before facing Kansas State next Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Manhattan, Kan. The next home match for Mizzou is Oct. 11 against Texas. The start time for the match has been set for 2 p.m.