Sept. 2, 2006
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The No. 13 Missouri (6-1) volleyball Tigers won their fifth-consecutive match Saturday night, taking down the No. 21 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (3-1) in an emotional, very close five-game match 28-30, 30-28, 27-30, 30-26, 15-13 and taking the title of the Shamrock Invite. Several Tigers gave career-best performances including senior Jessica Vander Kooi who blew away the Irish with 30 kills and 25 digs, adding eight blocks. Freshman Julianna Klein produced big numbers as well, scoring a career-best 19 kills. The match will be aired at 5 p.m. (CT) on CSTV Sunday in a tape-delay broadcast.
Mizzou's win was their second all-time against ranked non-conference teams on the road. The Tigers also extended their September winning streak to 15.
In addition to the amazing offensive stats, junior Tatum Ailes topped her career-high in digs for the second-consecutive match (both occurring on the same day), producing 33 digs tonight. Freshman Lei Wang dished 69 assists adding 14 digs as four Tigers scored in double-digit kill totals.
Senior Nicole Wilson had a stunning evening, scoring a season-high 16 kills on .353 hitting, adding four blocks. Junior Na Yang had her first double-double in two years, scoring 10 kills on 13 digs. Freshman Amanda Hantouli had the second-highest block total for the Tigers adding five with five kills.
Notre Dame's Christina Kaelin paced the Irish with a team-high 24 kills.
Vander Kooi was named as the tournament MVP, scoring 4.58 kills per game, 3.92 digs per game, adding 1.42 blocks per game. Ailes and Lei Wang was also named to the all-tournament team. Ailes had an amazing 6.83 digs per game, 83 total in the weekend. Wang spread 12.92 assists per game, adding 2.42 digs per game.
The Tigers will travel to one more tournament before beginning conference play. Late next week, Mizzou will compete in the Time Warner Cable Texas Invitational in Austin, Texas, playing Thursday and Friday against No. 2 Penn State and No. 6 Santa Clara, respectively, before beginning conference play at Colorado on Wednesday, September 13.