Sept. 20, 2006
MANHATTAN, Kan.--The No. 22 nationally-ranked Missouri volleyball team (8-4, 2-1) defeated Kansas State (8-4, 0-2) Wednesday evening in Manhattan, Kan., 30-22, 30-27, 29-31, 30-25. The win gave Mizzou head coach Wayne Kreklow his 300th victory as a collegiate women's head coach. In addition, Mizzou won their third-consecutive over the Wildcats and, for the first time since 1986-87, their second-straight in Manhattan. Senior Jessica Vander Kooi scored on 27 kills, recording the highest total for a Tiger in a four-game match since 2002.
Vander Kooi (Hinton, Iowa) continued to increase her poise and confidence as the match progressed, scoring her 27 kills on a fantastic .327 hitting percentage. Vander Kooi also just missed her second 20-20 performance of the season, scooping 19 digs, adding two blocks.
After a solid game one win, Mizzou came back in game two, down five to win, recording their largest come back in a game this season.
Redshirt freshman Lei Wang (Shanghai, China) recorded 60 assists on the evening, the first of her career with a 15-assist per game average. Wang also will be credited with a 20-20 as she added a career high 20 digs, four kills, a block, and a service ace. Wang paced the offence that swung for a .264 average with four Tigers in double-figure kill totals.
Na Yang added 16 kills in the Tiger cause. Nicole Wilson and Julianna Klein contributed 15 and 11 kills, respectively.
Tatum Ailes scooped 21 digs as part of Mizzou's out-digging of the Wildcats 87-73.
The Tigers seemed in control throughout game one as Mizzou was paced by an outstanding .400 hitting percentage to win the frame 30-22. The Tigers took their first substantial lead after a three-point run that saw only Tiger freshmen score. Starting at 8-8, Amanda Hantouli and Wang were part of a double-block which was followed by a Wang setter-dump kill followed by a Hantouli kill to put Mizzou up 11-8. But K-State would tie the score at 15-15 and take the lead briefly, never having more than a one-point cushion. Thanks to another Tatum Ailes serving run, Mizzou would score six in-a-row to go ahead 25-19 and make the conclusion academic. Na Yang had a fantastic frame, scoring six kills on .300 hitting.
The start of game two was a different story. Mizzou ran into three blocks in the opening five rallies to quickly fall into a 5-0 hole before calling a timeout. The Tigers would start to threaten K-State's lead but MU was still set back five at 12-7 before a Tiger four-point run that included three kills by Klein put the score within one at 12-11 and force a KSU timeout. The `Cats responded by scoring four of the next five to spread the lead to four and eventually back to five at 22-17. Mizzou fought back with five of the next six points going the way of the Tiger to close within one, again, and force another K-State timeout. Two-consecutive scores by the Wildcats, exclaimed by a Lastra ace that no Tiger touched seemed to put the momentum in stone for K-State. But, Lastra sided-out with a service error on the next point to give the serve to Mizzou's Vander Kooi. The Tigers would tie the score at 25-25 after a Vander Kooi ace and would then take their first lead of the frame on the next point on a Yang kill. With the score 28-27 in favor of Mizzou, Klein hit a crucial cross-court tip that found the sideline. Nicole Wilson went back to serve the game-clincher, an ace that found the baseline, stunning the Wildcats and giving Mizzou the 30-27 comeback win.
The Wildcats shook off what would have been Mizzou's first sweep in Manhattan since 1993 with a comeback of their own in game three. Down 29-26 and facing five match points, K-State's senior Sandy Werner revived the `Cats with three kills and two blocks in a five-point run that gave KSU the 31-29 game and the momentum. Mizzou had a four-point lead at 24-20 and was paced by Vander Kooi's nine kills in the frame. However, K-State outblocked Mizzou 7-3 in the stanza and was the driving force in the K-State run.
The Tigers wasted no time in game four, jumping to a 10-5 lead that later ballooned to a 20-11 lead. Mizzou found contributors everywhere as exampled by Brittney Herzog who would get a profound kill at 15-9 and was part of a double block early on. Wang used a beautiful setter dump as well that caught everyone by surprise. And the play of Na Yang continued to look consistent. Mizzou would lead by as much as 10 at 22-12. K-State tried to mount a comeback, going on a 5-1 run, that later expanded to a 11-5 run, but it was too little, too late.
The Tigers will next host No. 5 Texas (8-2, 3-0) in the Hearnes Center on Saturday at 6:30 p.m., starting a stretch of three home contests out of four for Mizzou.
WEDNESDAY IN THE BIG 12:
#22 Missouri def. KANSAS STATE, 30-22, 30-27, 29-31
Colorado lost to #5 TEXAS, 17-30, 19-30, 21-30
Iowa State lost to #1 NEBRASKA, 29-31, 20-30, 17-30
Texas A&M lost to KANSAS, 30-28, 26-30, 28-30, 31-29, 15-17
Texas Tech lost to BAYLOR, 30-28, 23-30, 27-30, 30-17, 13-15
Oklahoma, idle
Home teams listed last and in CAPS
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