Sept. 2, 2005

Box Score |  Notes |  Photo Gallery

COLUMBIA, Mo. - The No. 21 Missouri volleyball team opened its season in grand fashion Friday night, defeating Utah, 3-0, at the Hearnes Center in the first match of the Tiger Invitational. The Tigers' efficient sweep of the Utes led to the team's sixth-straight season-opening match win.

Missouri (1-0) took the match over Utah (2-1) from the Mountain West Conference 30-28, 30-22, and 30-21. Utah entered the contest receiving votes on the CSTV/AVCA Top 25 Coaches' Poll and are defending champions of their conference.

Sophomore Na Yang was one of three Tigers to record a double-digit kill total, ending the night with 11 kills on a .476 hitting percentage. Junior Jessica Vander Kooi accumulated 13 kills in addition to seven digs. Senior Shen Danru had 10 kills in the match. Overall, the Tigers out-hit the Utes .256 to .116.

Junior Abbie Booth had a match-high 10 digs with sophomore Tatum Ailes adding nine.

For the 80th game of her career senior Lindsey Hunter recorded over 40 assists (45).

Game one was the closest of the night as the Tigers had the Utes tied at 26 late in the game. After Vander Kooi landed her third kill of the game to make the score 27-26, junior Nicole Wilson recorded two-consecutive service aces to give the Tigers a 29-26 advantage. Utah answered with two kills before Vander Kooi once again slammed home the point to give the Tigers the 30-28 game one victory.

In game two, the Tigers went on a 7-2 run that brought the score to 18-12, helped by a two-point double-block party, initiated by senior Lisa Boyd, grabbing two of her four match-total of blocks.

Junior Nicole Wilson stole the headlines in game three, hitting an errorless 4-for-5, grabbing a solo and assisting block, scoring 5½ team points.

The Tigers will continue with their second match of the season on Sunday, hosting No. 9 Tennessee at the Hearnes Center at 2:00 p.m., in the Tiger Invitational finale. Utah will face the Lady Vols tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. Live video from the match Sunday is available on mutigers.com in the Mizzou All-Access package. Audio can be heard on KCOU 88.1 FM in Columbia, or via kcou.mu.org.

For complete information on the tournament and Mizzou Volleyball, visit mutigers.com.

Photo Gallery:
by: Kyle Coburn/MU Athletics

Photos cannot be used without permission from MU Athletics Media Relations office.