Nov. 11, 2006
AUSTIN, Texas - The Texas Longhorns are happy they don't have to play Missouri in volleyball any more in 2006. After the Tigers swept then-No. 5 Texas on September 23 in Columbia, everyone knew the rematch would be interesting. No. 25 Missouri (15-10, 9-7) came back from five points down to take game one from No. 8 Texas (19-5, 14-3) on Saturday on the Horns' Court in Austin, but fell in the end, 31-29, 23-30, 27-30, 12-30. Senior Nicole Wilson led Mizzou with 17 kills.
Wilson was joined by Na Yang (11) and freshman Amanda Hantouli (10) with double-digit kill totals. Hantouli scored her third-consecutive match with 10 or more kills and added five blocks on the evening.
Junior Tatum Ailes (Bellevue, Neb.) tallied 25 digs on the night and is now one short of her own single-season record in the category. Freshman Lei Wang spread 42 assists, adding 18 digs and three blocks.
Senior Jessica Vander Kooi had an off night, scoring six kills on a -.047 hitting percentage. Vander Kooi did co-lead the Tigers with five blocks on the night.
Mizzou's scrappy play trumped their poor .109 hitting percentage on the night to keep them in rallies and games. However in game four, Texas' well-oiled machine was too much for the Tigers. While Texas hit only .274 the evening, they produced a .450 hitting clip in game four, scoring on 20 kills while Mizzou was held to only 8 kills in the final frame.
Texas outblocked Mizzou 18.5 to 12 on the night. The Longhorns scored 6.5 blocks in game four alone. UT also had to overcome 13 service errors.
UT was lead by freshman Ashley Engle who scored on 24 kills, adding 19 digs and four blocks. However, Engle's six service errors kept Mizzou alive in games one and three.
Mizzou came back from a 9-4 deficit to win game one 31-29. A five-point run early for Texas setup the Longhorn lead, but Mizzou slowly chewed at the spread and an Abbie Booth ace ended a 6-2 Tiger run to put the score at 17-15, leaving the Tigers just two points within UT. The Longhorns followed with a 4-2 run to put the spread back to four at 21-17. Mizzou then proceed to score five-straight off the serving of Megan Wilson. Big back-to-back-to-back kills by Hantouli, Vander Kooi, and Yang, put the Tigers and Longhorns tied at 21 and the then gave MU a 22-21 lead. The teams traded scores to 25-25 before a Wilson-Wang double-block followed by a Wang joust win and another Wilson-Wang double-block gave Mizzou a three-point lead. Texas would respond with a 4-0 run to tie again at 29. A Longhorn service error followed by a Vander Kooi solo block gave Mizzou the game.
What had started as a heavily-offensive game for UT turned sour for the Longhorns. Texas with four service errors and three block errors in the opening frame was thwarted by a .175 hitting percentage. Mizzou overcame their .158 hitting percentage to score 17 kills and five blocks in the frame.
Texas captured the lead again to start game two, but this time the Longhorns held to their opening play. Mizzou had to call a timeout after falling behind four at 11-7. With the score 20-16, Texas went on a three-point run to put the game out of reach, and the Tigers fell in the frame. The real bright spot for the Tigers in game two came in the play of freshman Amanda Hantouli who scored four kills in the frame to end some long and vital rallies.
Game three started as a battle, but Texas slowly and methodically took the lead at 24-20. Mizzou had a chance to pul within two at 27-25, but a would-be ace by Nicole Wilson was saved by Texas, and on the free ball the Tigers were blocked and went down four. Mizzou employed a Wilson-Vander Kooi double block to pull within two at 28-26 and nearly grabbed another block on the 29-27 game point, but Texas' was able to save an improbable ball again and went on to win 30-27.
In game four, Texas grabbed points quickly on the net and from the outside, and led 13-5 to put the game, in theory out of reach.
The Tigers will face their second-consecutive top-25 opponent on Wednesday, hosting No. 15 Oklahoma at 6:30 p.m., in the Hearnes Center. The first 500 fans in attendance will receive a free 2006 Missouri Volleyball Yearbook Media Guide.
###