Oct. 22, 2005
AMES, Iowa - The No. 10 Missouri women's volleyball team (15-2, 9-2) defeated Iowa State in Big 12 play Saturday night in a four-game hit-fest, 30-23, 23-30, 30-12, and 30-23. Lindsey Hunter nearly recorded a triple-double, having 54 assists, 10 digs, and eight kills on errorless hitting. In addition, Mizzou had four hitters in double digits in kills, and Jessica Vander Kooi had a 11 kill-14 dig double-double in her home state. Junior Nicole Wilson recorded nine of the Tigers' 14 team blocks.
Missouri played a very even keeled match, with hiccups coming only in game two. With an overall hitting percentage of .329, the Tigers only recorded seven combined hitting errors in games one, three, and four.
"I think the girls did a nice job of coming back in games three and four, after playing badly in game two," said Head Coach Wayne Kreklow. "Being able to focus and concentrate on the road helped us pick up our level of play in the latter part of the match. In games three and four, we served tougher, and I thought that helped contribute to our win."
Hunter (Papillion, Neb.) went errorless in attack errors on the night, recording a career-high eight kills off several setter dumps and joust wins. In addition, Hunter scored on two blocks and two service aces while digging 10 Cyclone attacks and spread 54 assists on the teams' 67 kills and .329 hitting.
Four Tigers recorded double digits in kills, sophomore Na Yang led with 14 kills, followed by senior Lisa Boyd with 13, junior Nicole Wilson with 12, and Vander Kooi with 11. Vander Kooi (Hinton, Iowa) recorded her seventh double-double of her career, adding 14 digs. Sophomore Tatum Ailes, who leads the Big 12 in digs, recorded 19 on the night, and had 15 serve receptions without an error. Wilson, with nine blocks and 12 kills nearly recorded her first double-double of her career.
In the first frame, the Cyclones jumped to the lead first, grabbing a 9-6 advantage quickly. With Hunter at serve, the Tigers rattled off five-consecutive points to lead 11-9 after a Hunter ace. The Cyclones responded with a 5-3 run to tie the score at 14-14. Mizzou then scored eight for three, to lead 22-17 following another Hunter ace. Iowa State scored three on a run to come within two once again at 23-21. After a Tiger timeout, Mizzou scored seven of the next nine points to take the game, 30-23.
In a hard-hitting game one, Mizzou outhit ISU .447-.302, on the graces of 19 kills on only two errors. Shen Danru and Yang gave Mizzou five kills apiece in the frame, combining for 10-of-16 hitting, recording no errors.
In game two, the Cyclones attacked quicker than before, jumping to an 8-5 lead after a 5-0 run. Mizzou tried to counter with two kills after a timeout, but Iowa State got the better, scoring on the next seven-of-nine to go up 15-9. The teams traded score for score until ISU lead 24-16. Wilson laid down two kills in a row, forcing the Cyclones to take a timeout, closing the lead to seven at 25-18. But, it was too little too late for Tigers in the frame, who fought back by scoring three straight on two Boyd kills and a Boyd-Hunter double-block, but couldn't hold off ISU who won, 30-23. ISU outhit Mizzou in the stanza .283-.149, blocking five of the Tigers' attacks.
The Tigers came out of the break ready to shoot the lights out at Hilton Coliseum. To start the third game, Mizzou, off the serve of Tatum Ailes, scored eight straight, two off Yang-Wilson double-blocks, four off two kills apiece by Yang and Wilson, and two off Hunter's dump for a kill and joust win. The Tigers continued to throw everything at the Cyclones, leading 21-7 before Iowa State's second timeout. Another scored put the Tigers up 22-8, their biggest lead of the game, and closed out the frame with a Danru ace, winning 30-12. Mizzou hit .533 in the stanza on 17-of-30 hitting, recording just one hitting error. In addition, ISU was held to a -.049 swing percentage.
In game four, Mizzou went up big again, leading 10-3 after a two kill and block assist, three-point run by Vander Kooi. The teams traded scores from there with Mizzou having a four-point mini-run that gave Mizzou 19-8 lead before putting the game away at 30-23.
The Tigers will continue their two-match road trip Wednesday by visiting Manhattan, Kan., to take on No. 23 Kansas State at 6:30 p.m. The match will be aired on Fox Sports Midwest, on a tape-delay basis, on Sunday, October 30, at 1:30 p.m.