Oct. 28, 2005

COLUMBIA, Mo.--It will only take one dollar for Missouri Tiger fans to see their No. 8 nationally-ranked women's volleyball team on Saturday night, as the 16-2 Mizzou team will face Colorado at 6:30 p.m., in the Hearnes Center. Mizzou has won four straight, coming off an amazing comeback at Kansas State Wednesday night, and is currently tied for second in the Big 12. Colorado is on a four-match winning run of their own, and are currently tied for fourth in the conference.

 

Scouting Colorado...

The Buffaloes have been on a roll as of late, winning the their last four-of-five after dropping their first five-of-six of the Big 12 season to land at their current position, tied for fourth in the conference at 6-6. As of late they've swept Oklahoma and Iowa State at home in the previous two matches, and defeated ranked teams in then-No. 20 Kansas State and then-No. 24 Texas A&M, in five games, to post a current four-match winning streak.

 

The Buffaloes have played in, and are 5-2, in five-game matches this season, playing in five in a row(!) in their first five matches in October

 

Crazy Eights

The last time Colorado and Missouri met was on September 21, and at that point, the Tigers were ranked eighth in the country. Once again, the situation presents itself as Mizzou is once again No. 8 in the nation.

 

Watch, Listen, Cheer: TV, Radio, and the Web

 

There are several ways for fans to watch, listen, and cheer for their respective teams from literally anywhere in the world.

 

LIVE Broadcasts (6:30 p.m.):

* Live video - Mizzou All-Access, mutigers.com

* Live audio - KCOU 88.1 FM in Columbia ... kcou.mu.org

* GameTracker, live stats - mutigers.com

 

All-Time Series

xxx

 

Last Time Out ... A Thrilla in Manilla, ... Kansas

Ok, it was Manhattan, Kansas, but close enough. It was a volleyball match that resembled a Rocky movie on Wednesday night, as the No. 8 Tigers won in Manhattan over No. 24 K-State for the first time since 1993, coming back, from two games down to win the match.

 

Not to mention game five, when each team went "punch"-for-"punch", like the Round 11 montage in Rocky IV, tying the score a match-high eight times in frame, ultimately tying for the last time at 11-11. That's when the "Eye of the Tiger", in this case, junior Jessica Vander Kooi stepped in. After throwing down a kill off a block, giving the Tigers a side-out and the 12-11 lead, Vander Kooi proceed to build a wall at the net that lasted the remainder of the match. Wildcat Sandy Werner, who had 16 kills up-to-that-point, tried to bust through the wall on three successive rallies, and was stopped each time by Vander Kooi in a block assist or solo block.

 

Here's point-by-point how the end of Wednesday night's match went:

Score: 11-11

K-State serve (Rita Lilliom), kill by Vander Kooi (assist by Lindsey Hunter) ... score MU 12-11, MU side-out

MU serve (Nicole Wilson), block by Lisa Boyd and Jessica Vander Kooi (attack error by Sandy Werner) ... score MU 13-11

TIMEOUT K-STATE

MU serve (Nicole Wilson), solo block by Vander Kooi (attack error by Sandy Werner)  ... score MU 14-11, Mizzou match point

MU serve (Nicole Wilson), block by Lisa Boyd and Vander Kooi (attack error by Sandy Werner) ... score MU 15-11 ... Mizzou wins match

 

It took every ounce of energy possible on Wednesday night for the No. 8 Missouri women's volleyball team to beat the No. 24 Wildcats of Kansas State (15-7, 6-6), but did so down two games, to win 28-30, 26-30, 30-23, 30-25, 15-11. The Tigers (16-2, 10-2 Big 12) won their first match in Manhattan since 1993, also winning their team-record fifth win over a ranked opponent this year, and the fifth all-time against a ranked opponent on the road. The Tigers clinched the match in game five up 12-11 with three-consecutive blocks, all of which shared or alone by junior Jessica Vander Kooi.

 

For only the second time this season the Tigers have been pushed to a five-game match, and for the second time this season, had to come back from two games down to win. The other came on October 1 in a gut-clincher at Texas Tech.

 

Tonight's match will be aired on a tape-delay basis on Sunday, October 30, at 1:30 p.m., on Fox Sports Midwest.

 

Sophomore Na Yang led the Tigers in scoring with a tied career-high of 21 kills.

 

Next in line was senior Shen Danru (Shanghai, China) who exploded with 17 kills on .326 hitting (17-3-43), three service aces, 19 digs, and four blocks, tallying her 57th double-double of her career, playing in her 400th game as a Tiger in game five. Danru recored a team-high three kills in game five alone.

 

Vander Kooi (Hinton, Iowa) grabbed her eighth double-double of the season, and her fourth over a ranked opponent, notching 14 kills and 21 digs, adding nine total blocks (three on the final three points alone) to tie a career-high in the category.

 

Senior Lindsey Hunter (Papillion, Neb.) also scored a double-double with 60 assists and 12 digs, adding four kills on errorless hitting. For the 20th time of her career, Hunter hit the 60-assist mark. In addition, the Tigers had four Tigers with double-digit kill totals with 74 total kills on the night.

 

Sophomore Tatum Ailes (Bellevue, Neb.) notched a career-high of 25 digs, part of the conference season-high 102 digs by the Tiger team.

 

In addition, the Tigers recorded 17 blocks in the match, six coming in the winning of game three. Senior Lisa Boyd tallied seven of the blocks, while junior Nicole Wilson added five.

 

K-State put up a tough serving-and-defensive front in the match, throwing the Tigers off guard in several instances, especially in the first two games alone.

 

The Tigers started game one sluggishly, losing the first five points as result of hitting into two K-State blocks and overpasses that resulted in quick Wildcat kills. But a Tiger timeout spurred a small, but effective, 9-6 run that put the Tigers within two at 11-9. Mizzou scored three straight to take their first lead of the game at 12-11. The teams battled back-and-forth, with Mizzou eventually pulling a three-point advantage after a solo block by Jessica Vander Kooi, to lead 23-20. K-State responded by hitting a 7-2 run on six kills to take a 27-25 lead, forcing a Mizzou timeout. Danru scored twice more on two kills to tie the score at 27-27, but the Wildcats scored three-of-four to win 30-28, terminating the game on an ace. Danru led the Tigers in game one with four kills, and Mizzou actually out-hit K-State .231-.224 in a game dominated by defense. KSU scored on five blocks in the frame while Mizzou tallied four.

 

Game two started as a hitfest as nine of the first points of the game were scored on kills with Mizzou taking a small 5-4 advantage. K-State scored on the next five-of-seven points to take a 9-7 lead. Once again side-outs were abundant as neither team could gain a foothold. After going down four at 24-20, the Tigers tried to settle in scoring three straight kills, two from Danru, to close within one at 24-23. K-State hit on two more blocks to go up 26-23, and wouldn't look back winning on a triple-block, 30-26, to close a 3-0 run. The Tigers were blocked six time by the Wildcats in the frame, resulting in a .143 hitting percentage for the Tigers, while K-State hit .327 in the stanza.

 

The Tigers came out of the locker room with another powerful game three. After K-State jumped on the board with a 5-2 run and a three-point run to start the game, the Tigers scored on six straight with Abbie Booth at serve. The run included two-consecutive Tiger double-blocks. After a K-State side-out, Mizzou would score six more straight to lead 14-6. The Tigers would extend the lead after two solo blocks by Danru (her firsts of the year), to lead 23-13. Mizzou would win the stanza, recording six blocks and holding the `Cats to -.038 hitting.

 

In game five, Mizzou and K-State traded score-for-score to tie at 11-11. Then the Tigers' Vander Kooi put one down for a kill and followed with a Vander Kooi-Boyd double block, a Vander Kooi solo block, and a another Vander Kooi-Boyd double-block to put away the `Cats, 15-11. Mizzou hit seven kills in the frame on .273 hitting.

 

Flashback ... The Last Time Versus Colorado

Colorado was struggling in the beginning of the year, but maybe that was because when the `Buffs played Missouri, it was their third-consecutive match against a ranked team (and now the top three teams in the conference). But, here's a recount of the earlier in the season when the two schools met ...

 

The No. 8 Missouri women's volleyball team defeated Colorado (4-4, 0-3) in a 3-0 sweep Wednesday night in Boulder, Colo. Mizzou advances to 9-0 on the season and 3-0 to start Big 12 play, being one of only nine teams in the country to remain undefeated. The Tigers had 18 total blocks on the night, the most by an MU team in a match in three years. In addition, the Tigers hit an errorless .654 in the final frame.

 

The Tigers won in a sweep, 30-25, 30-24, and 30-11.

 

Three Tigers, senior Lindsey Hunter, senior Lisa Boyd, and junior Nicole Wilson, were part of eight blocks apiece to bring the Tigers to their three-year match high of 18 total blocks. Hunter created a new career high with her blocking; Wilson tied her old career best. In addition, Hunter added 47 assists as part of the Tigers 52 total kills, matching their NCAA-leading 18 kills per game average. Junior Jessica Vander Kooi was the team leader in kills with 14. Hunter's big defensive night was added to with a team-high and season-high 12 digs.

 

In game one, the two teams started out by mirroring each other, trading kill for kill for the first eight points to tie at 4-4. A Tiger block party ensued as junior Nicole Wilson was part of four blocks by the time the score was tied at 9-9. The score remained tied at 11 before Mizzou went on a 4-0 run to start the separation. The teams would continue to trade scores for the remainder of the game and Mizzou's lead would not waiver between three and five points. In Mizzou's 30-25 game win, Wilson would go on to grab six of the Tigers eight total team blocks. The teams had a difficult time offensively in the opening frame, as the Tigers managed a .185 hitting percentage to the Buffs .053. Vander Kooi, however, did score six kills in the frame.

 

Colorado jumped off to a fast start to begin game two, grabbing an early 6-2 lead. The Tigers would manage to tie Colorado at 12-12 in the middle of a 4-0 run, marked by two solo blocks by Lindsey Hunter. Later, a 17-17 tie spurred the Tigers to score 10 of the next 13 points, rushing to a 27-20 lead before a CU timeout. In a more traditional hard-hitting game for Mizzou, the Tigers tabbed 21 total kills on .450 hitting in their 30-25 game win. The Tigers added five more team blocks to equal 13 by the end of game two.

 

A 5-1 run started the Tiger scoring in game three, leading to an 11-7 initial lead for the Tigers. With junior Abbie Booth at serve, Mizzou scored seven consecutive points to go up 18-7, which included a Booth ace, marking her fourth consecutive match with an ace. Missouri would go on to score 12 of the next 16 points to win 30-11.

 

Columbia, Lovin' The Volleyball ... Mizzou Seventh Nationally in Attendance

By the looks of the Hearnes Center on October 5th versus Nebraska, with the Tiger crowd of 7,298 roaring to its loudest volume seen at a volleyball match, Columbia, Mo. - the middle-sized town in the middle of the middle-west, may well become a volleyball town in the near future. With a steady increase of average attendance since the Kreklows' arrival in 2000, the 2005 crowd average may well skyrocket. Earlier in the season, Mizzou hosted K-State and 2,438 fans watched that match, the then-second largest crowd in team history.

 

The 7,298 crowd nearly tripled Mizzou's previous attendance record of 2,638 set last year in a win over Texas A&M. In fact, Mizzou's total attendance through five home matches prior to the Nebraska match was around 6,208. The October 5 crowd overly doubled that figure.

 

The Tigers now are averaging 2,378 fans per home contest, ranking seventh in the country.

 

In 2004, Mizzou reached its highest national-attendance ranking before '05, ranking 19th in the country with a 1,460 average.

 

On the Rise Again

The Tigers moved up two spots to No. 8 in the country on the latest AVCA/CSTV Top 25 Coaches' Poll as announced Monday. Mizzou was ranked as high as No. 7 earlier in the year before losing to then-No. 18 Texas in Austin on October 12, dropping the Tigers to No. 10. Their seventh-place ranking was the team's all-time best standing in the poll.

 

 

The Monkey Off Thy Back

While wins over Texas A&M in College Station and an early-conference-season sweep over Kansas State may have seemed like normal occurrences in the Tigers' fast start to the season, they actually were victories that were a long-time coming. Mizzou had never won in College Station in nine previous tries before the Tigers four-game win over Texas A&M. Kansas State had the Tigers' number previous to their meeting on September 24, as K-State had won nine straight over Mizzou before the three-game Tiger sweep. Another monkey was thrown from the train when the Tigers defeated K-State for the second time this season in a five-game thriller in Manhattan. The win was the Tigers first in the "Little Apple" since 1993.

 

The stubborn monkey of the bunch is of the Cornhusker variety. Mizzou has lost 49 of the last 50 meetings with Nebraska dating back to 1982. Mizzou's lone win in the stretch came in 2003 when the Tigers stunned then-No. 8 NU in Lincoln, winning in a five-game thriller after losing games one and two.

 

Big 12's Second Half ... NOW!

The second meeting of Iowa State and Missouri on October 22, marked the beginning of the second-half of the Big 12 Conference season. Mizzou went 8-2 in the first half of `05, matching last year's start. In 2004, Mizzou went 6-4 in the second half.

 

The RPI in the RKPI ... Mizzou No. 5 in the Country in Index

The RichKern.com RKPI is a lot like the RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) used in men's and women's basketball (among others) to measure all of the nation's teams based on their winning percentage, strength of schedule, and road- and quality-wins. The formula, among other things, is used by the NCAA Women's Volleyball committee in formulating the 64-team post-season NCAA Championship Tournament field. By on the way, volleyball's "Selection Sunday" is November 27, aired on ESPNews.

 

Missouri currently ranks fifth in the RKPI, the highest in school history.

 

Oh, Yes, They CallED It the Streak ... Hoogity-boogity

No more streaking ... Nebraska put a stop to that on October 5, but Mizzou started the season 12-0, their best start since 1982 in which the team went 19-0 to start the season.

 

Mizzou also set a new team record when defeating Texas Tech, winning their sixth-consecutive conference match at the time.

 

The Tiger loss to No. 18 Texas stopped a five-match road-winning streak.  That streak tied the school's record from 1982.

 

Those Third Games

Sometimes the Tigers can be just deadly in game threes. No teams have seen that more than Kansas, Colorado, and Iowa State. Against Kansas, Mizzou hit .485 in the 30-11 game three, holding Kansas to a -.071 percentage. In addition, the Tigers recorded six blocks in the stanza, and recorded 18 kills on only two errors. Kansas was held to four kills and six errors.

 

At Colorado, Mizzou closed the book on the Buffs with a 30-11 game three. Mizzou in that frame went errorless, hitting .654 with 17 kills on 26 attempts. Along with three service aces and five blocks, the Tigers were virtually unstoppable at that point in Boulder. Colorado was held to a .091 hitting percentage on 10 kills and no blocks (part of a blockless match for CU).

 

While the third game at Iowa State was not the Tigers' third game-win of the match, it was a moral clincher to the set. After losing game two 30-23, the Tigers came out like gangbusters in the set, scoring the first eight points off Tatum Ailes' serving. Then the Tigers extended the leads to 10-1, then 13-2, then 16-4, then 22-7. The 30-12 game victory was due in large part to the Tigers' 17-1-30 hitting (.533) and holding Iowa State to -.049 hitting.

 

Ailes Out-Digging The Conference

Through 11 matches of the Big 12 season, sophomore Tiger Tatum Ailes is leading the league with 4.45 digs per conference game. That's over 10 percent better than second place Angie Lastra of Kansas State (4.00). Ailes, who set Mizzou's season records in digs and digs per game her freshman year, has 141 digs in 31 conference games.

 

After having a successful career at Bellevue West High School in Bellevue, Nebraska, Tatum Ailes has brought that success to Mizzou. Last year as a freshman, she not only set school records for digs in a season with 432 and digs per game in a season with 4.19 but also set the mark for digs per game in a career. The latter record broke the old record by over 15 percent proving her dominance defensively last season. Ailes also had at least two aces three times in a game including her personal-best six aces against Kansas.

 

Whatcha Servin'?

Well for Missouri, the batch is a tough one to muster for Tiger opponents. The Tigers once again lead the Big 12 in league matches in service aces per game with 1.82 per game. The Tigers have proven deadly in several rotations as junior Jessica Vander Kooi leads the team in Big 12 matches with 0.45 aces per game, ranked second in the conference. Tied for fifth in the conference is Shen Danru and Lindsey Hunter, who have added 14 aces in 38 games this Big 12 season (0.37 per game).

 

In 2004, the Tigers finished sixth in the league in aces per game with 1.32.