Sept. 4, 2006
COLUMBIA, Mo.--(DALLAS) Senior OH Jessica Vander Kooi of the No. 13 Missouri Tigers (6-1) was tabbed Big 12 Conference Volleyball Player of the Week for the matches of Aug. 28-Sept. 3, the league office announced. It is the first weekly conference accolade of Vander Kooi's career. Vander Kooi performed phenomenally in the Tigers' four-match week. In defeating UALR, Idaho, Valparaiso, and No. 21 Notre Dame, Vander Kooi scored an average of 6.00 points per game (90 total) on 5.00 kills per game (75 total), 0.87 aces per game (13 total), and 1.33 blocks per game (20 total), adding 4.40 digs per game (66 total) in what was one of the best all-around individual week-long performances in Mizzou history.
In addition, Vander Kooi (Hinton, Iowa/Hinton HS) became the eighth player in Tiger volleyball history to tackle the 1,000-career dig milestone, doing so in the Valparaiso match. Vander Kooi is now only the fourth Tiger to accumulate over 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in her career. The others are Shen Danru, Yvette Buhlig, and Naaron Branson. Starting the week at eighth on the all-time list (1,074), Vander Kooi also moved to fourth all-time at Mizzou in kills now standing at 1,149. Also, Vander Kooi became only the fifth Tiger to eclipse the 300-block mark for a career, now sitting at 305 after the Notre Dame match.
Vander Kooi, a 2005 AVCA honorable mention All-American, was named MVP of the Shamrock Invitational, held in South Bend, Ind., with her outstanding play in helping the Tigers to a tournament championship.
In what was the eventual championship match with the No. 21 Irish, Vander Kooi captured the third 20-20 of her career with 30 kills and 25 digs, both career bests in their respective categories. Her 30 kills, the third-highest single-match kill total for a Tiger all-time and the most by a Tiger since 1996, came on a career-high 71 attempts and equaled a .254 hitting percentage. In addition, Vander Kooi scored on eight blocks against the Irish and added a service ace to produce 34.5 points in the match, the second-highest scoring total for a Tiger in school history (35, Yvette Buhlig, October 1, 1992). Statistically, there has been only one other performance in Mizzou history, Yvette Buhlig's 34 kill, 30 dig match against Washington in 1989, that produced more kills and digs than what Vander Kooi posted against the Irish.
Earlier in the week, Vander Kooi nearly became the first Tiger to earn a 20-20 in only three games, scoring 20 kills and adding 19 digs to an awe-inspiring performance against UALR.
The Tigers next travel to Austin, Texas, for the Thursday-Friday Time Warner Cable Invitational. In Austin, Mizzou will face No. 2 Penn State and No. 6 Santa Clara to wrap a heavily-competitive non-conference schedule.
NOTE: Later today the latest AVCA Coaches' Poll will be released and will affect the teams' rankings.
2006 BIG 12 VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Aug. 28: Michelle Moriarty, Texas
Sept. 4: Jessica Vander Kooi, Missouri
More from the Past Week ...
A lot of other records, milestones, and career performances were captured by more Tigers other than Vander Kooi in a busy four-match week. Let's look at them:
* Tatum Ailes (Jr., L): In the four-match stretch, Ailes racked an unfathomable 105 digs, that's 7.00 digs per game! As a result of the statistically-stacked week, Ailes became the ninth player at Mizzou (Vander Kooi the eighth, above) to tabulate over 1,000 digs in a career (now at 1,005) ... initially, Ailes smashed her previous career-high of 26 digs, set at last season's NCAA Regional semifinal over Hawaii, with a 31-dig effort against Valpo ... later in the same day, Ailes topped that mark with a 33-dig effort against No. 21 Notre Dame ... also in the Irish match, Ailes successfully fielded 44 of 45 serve receptions ... Ailes was also named to the Shamrock Invitational All-Tournament team.
* Lei Wang (RS Fr., S): In the Shamrock Invitational Championship match, Wang paced Mizzou by dishing a career-high 69 assists, a performance that will go into the top-10 single-match performances in Mizzou's history, leading an offense that saw four Tigers with double-digit kill total ... Wang also grabbed 12 kills for the Tigers in the week, an impressive total for a setter ... also against the Irish, Wang grabbed the first double-double of her career, scooping 14 digs ... Wang was also named to the Shamrock Invitational All-Tournament team.
* Julianna Klein (RS Fr., OH): Klein's performance has improved with every match played ... against the Irish, she scored on a career-high 19 kills, tabulating a .280 hitting percentage ... her maturity continued to blossom as the five-game match against Notre Dame unrolled ... for example, by scoring the first point of game five on a big kill against the Irish, she continues to show her ability to not be intimidated by the opponent on the other side of the net.
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