Sept. 2, 2006
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The No. 13 Missouri (5-1) volleyball team won their fourth-straight match on Saturday morning, defeating Valparaiso (3-3) in four games, 30-26, 24-30, 30-13, and 30-26 in the team's second match of the Shamrock Invitational in South Bend, Ind. Tatum Ailes earned a new career-high with 31 digs as senior Jessica Vander Kooi added another double-double with a team-high 16 kills, adding 14 digs to place her as the eighth person to reach 1,000 digs in her career. The Tigers will complete their weekend run with a match with No. 21 Notre Dame tonight at 7 p.m. (ET).
Ailes (Bellevue, Neb.), a junior, scored her 20th career match with 20 or more digs, adding two aces in what was the best statistical match of her career. Ailes' 31 digs is also the second-largest dig total for a Tiger all-time in a four-game match (33, Jodi Lucas, at Iowa State, October 28, 1990).
Four Tigers scored in the double-digit kill category as setter Lei Wang dished a career-high 51 assists on .262 team hitting, adding nine digs three kills and three blocks. Freshman Julianna Klein scored on 15 kills, Nicole Wilson added 14, and Na Yang had 12.
The Tigers showed big at the net, outblocking the Crusaders 15-6. Wilson accounted on nine of the team's blocks including two solo scores. Vander Kooi scored on six of those blocks as part of her statistic-loaded day.
In game one, the Tigers and Crusaders traded points in the early going. A Valpo service error put Mizzou and the Crusaders tied for the sixth time at 12-12. That point started a 4-0 Tiger run that included a double-block and kills by Wilson and Yang with Vander Kooi at serve. Later a 4-1 run that included four Klein kills gave Mizzou a four-point lead. Valpo went on a 4-1 run of their own to pull within one at 23-22. Mizzou took the next six of eight points to have a comfortable 29-24 lead. After two more Valpo points, Lei Wang put the game a way with a setter dump. In all, seven Tigers earned kills in game one. Klein scored eight of the Tigers' 17 kills in the frame.
The Tigers dropped game two 30-24 after Valparaiso came out and played scrappy defense, similarly to what they did to No. 21 Notre Dame the night before in taking that match's game two, causing Mizzou and the Irish to make some mistakes. In addition, Valpo used some punchy style and unorthodox attacks to throw off the Tigers. After being down 17-14 early, the Tigers rattled off three points and after a long rally and the second-consecutive kill by Nicole Wilson, the scored was tied at 17. Valpo took five of the next seven to pull out again to a three-point lead. The Tigers scored the next point after a timeout, but Valpo scored eight of the next 12 to take the game. After hitting .333 in game one, Mizzou hit just .176 in the second frame. In contrast, Valpo hit .163 in game one and compiled a .320 percentage in game two. Nicole Wilson led Mizzou in the stanza with seven kills.
After jumping to a 11-4 lead in game three after consecutive Wilson-Wang double blocks, Mizzou didn't stop going on a 15-1 run starting at 14-11 to take the game quickly. Mizzou used six blocks, five from Nicole Wilson to dethrone the Crusaders in quick haste. Within the run, Ailes served 11-consecutive points, contributing an ace. The Tigers held Valpo to an amazing -.314 (4-15-35) hitting percentage in the stanza.
In game four, Mizzou was up four at 13-9, but Valpo kept chewing at the lead. Using a 4-0 run, the Crusaders took their first lead in the stanza at 21-20. Mizzou used a kill by Klein and Yang and a double-block to take a one-point lead at 23-22. Two more points for Valpo gave the Crusaders a 24-23 lead again. Mizzou scored three-straight with two kills from Klein and one from Vander Kooi to go up two at 26-24. Valpo took two of the next three, but Mizzou used a kill by Yang and a back-handed, backwards kill by Vander Kooi to take the game and the match. Offensively, game four was the best for both squads as Mizzou outhit Valpo .400 to .260.
The Tigers won their 14th-straight match in the month of September and their 10th-straight over Mid-Continent Conference teams.
Mizzou will play again today, facing No. 21 Notre Dame this evening at 7 p.m. (ET). The Tigers are looking for their second-ever win against a non-conference ranked opponent on the road. CSTV will air tape-delayed coverage of the match beginning at 5 p.m. (CT) on Sunday.
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