Sept. 13, 2006
BOULDER, Colo. - The No. 17 Missouri volleyball team (6-4, 0-1) fell to Colorado (5-3, 1-0) in five games Wednesday night in Boulder. The loss snapped Mizzou's 11-match road winning streak against non-ranked conference foes and the Tigers lost their first match at Colorado since 2003. Senior Jessica Vander Kooi scored 22 kills on .304 hitting, adding 13 digs and eight blocks.
Junior Na Yang scored 12 kills on 16 digs while Nicole Wilson added 10 kills adding five blocks.
Colorado junior Amber Sutherland paced the Buffs with a career-high 35 kills, recording the highest kill total for a CU player since 1997.
Mizzou freshman Brittney Herzog (Boonville, Mo.) played in her first game as a Tiger, playing in the third frame.
The Buffaloes served to a 5-0 lead without blinking to start game one. Mizzou tried chewed at CU's lead with a three-point run when down 10-4 with a solo block by Klein and a Wilson-Wang double-block. The Tigers would again find themselves down six, but thanks to a 5-1 MU run that included a Wilson ace, a Hantouli solo block and a big kill by Yang to close a super-long rally, Mizzou's deficit was only two at 16-14. Starting at 21-20, Colorado scored the next three and then six of the next 10 to take the game. Mizzou marked only nine kills in the frame and was outhit .318 to .075.
In game two, Mizzou was up as much as four, leading at 11-7 before CU staged a comeback, scoring a 5-1 run soon after to tie the score at 12-12. The Tigers found themselves down at 20-18 after another Buff three-point run. After a Tiger timeout, Mizzou scored on four straight, connecting on a Vander Kooi kill followed by a Vander Kooi solo block, a Hantouli-Megan Wilson double block, and another Vander Kooi kill to seize the lead back and force a Colorado timeout. Na Yang served an ace on then next point to give MU a 23-20 advantage. CU would again pull within one after a 5-3 streak. On game point number two at 29-27, Vander Kooi used a tip that hit the ground before three-diving Buffs could reach to grab the game. The most notable stat from the frame was Mizzou's 6-0 outblocking of CU in which Vander Kooi was a part of five of the blocking scores. In addition, the Tigers' offense awoke, hitting .298 as a team in the stanza, scoring on 18 kills.
For game three, Mizzou came back from a 6-2 deficit and even led by four at 22-18. Then CU's Kristen Karlik went back to serve for the Buffs and helped Colorado score nine straight to take a 27-22 lead. Mizzou couldn't counter and fell in the frame 30-24. Colorado hit .444 in the game.
A scrappy game four ensued. Mizzou was down 14-13 before grabbing the lead and momentum behind back-to-back Yang kills and a Vander Kooi ace. CU would tied at 17-17, but Mizzou would close the book with a 7-1 run that included four Nicole Wilson kills and another Tiger block. Both teams hit under .300 in the frame.
Mizzou looked to have the momentum after a Klein solo block and kill to go up 2-0 in game five, but a Colorado seven-point streak made a comeback difficult. Despite some heroic dives and big plays, it wasn't enough as the Buffs only needed to side-out in the 15-point game to take the match.
Mizzou will host a home match for the first time since August 29 when they welcome Texas A&M to the Hearnes Center Saturday. Match time is slated for 6:30 p.m. ###