Nov. 15, 2006 Box Score

COLUMBIA, Mo. - After falling out of the top-25 for the first time since Nov. 15, 2005, the Missouri Tigers faced No. 14 Oklahoma in hopes of avenging their earlier 3-0 loss and to climb back into the rankings. Despite a valiant effort by Mizzou (15-11, 9-8), the Tigers could not put the Sooners (23-5, 14-3) away as they dropped the match 25-30, 30-27, 30-32, 30-20, 19-17.

Head Coach Wayne Kreklow was proud of his team despite the loss and will look to build on the loss.

"I was very proud of the way our players competed," Kreklow said. "Tatum was phenomenal, she was all over the place. That was just a great collegiate volleyball match. You couldn't ask for anything else, other than a win. We want to focus more on how we're playing down the stretch, not on wins and losses."

Missouri is now 1-8 on the season when dropping the first game of a match. Oklahoma snapped an eight-match losing streak to Missouri in Columbia, Mo., where they have not won since 1997.

Na Yang (Shan Dong, China) recorded a double-double with 22 kills and 13 digs while also adding three blocks. The double-double gives Yang 12 in her career and was her eighth of the season. Nicole Wilson (Lincoln, Neb.) had 20 kills on the night along with six digs and five blocks. Jessica Vander Kooi (Hinton, Iowa) rebounded from a disappointing game against No. 8 Texas and recorded her 66th career double-double and 17th of the season with 16 kills and 17 digs. Julianna Klein (Keota, Iowa) had 17 kills and five digs while Amanda Hantouli (Omaha, Neb.) had eight kills while also adding six blocks. Lei Wang (Shanghai, China) had 75 assists, a career high and was the third best performance in Mizzou history.

Tatum Ailes (Bellevue, Neb.) broke her own single-season digs record that she set last year. Ailes, who needed only two to top her record of 436, had 29 on the night, giving her 465 digs this season and 1334 for her career. Ailes trails all-time digs record holder Shen Danru by 38 digs.

Klein said the team hoped to beat Oklahoma because of their loss to them earlier in the season.

"We just came out and played with heart," Klein said. "We played really well and we had nothing to lose."

Joanna Schmitt led Oklahoma with a double-double with 26 kills and 24 kills. Bridget Laplante also had a double-double with 16 kills and 11 digs. Elaine Santos had 21 kills and Rachel Jackson had 77 assists on the night.

Missouri hit .236 while allowing Oklahoma to hit .257. Oklahoma outblocked the Tigers 17-13 but committed 13 service errors compared to Missouri's six.

Backed behind a spirited crowd, the Tigers took an early lead in game one. Mizzou got two kills each from Vander Kooi and Klein to take an 8-4 lead. Oklahoma would score six of the next eight to tie the game at ten, and then took a 13-11 lead, forcing a Missouri timeout. The Sooners would hold a three point lead at 18-15 but scored the next two points to extend their lead to five. The Tigers cut the Oklahoma lead to one three times but the Sooners responded with a point each time. With Oklahoma leading 25-23, Missouri cut the lead again to one point before the Sooners scored two in a row to lead 27-24. Oklahoma scored three of the next five to take game one 30-26. Klein led Mizzou with five kills and Vander Kooi had three. The Tigers struggled offensively, hitting only .182 while allowing the Sooners to hit .348.

The Sooners would take another early 6-3 lead in game two and would hold onto a three point lead as they held a 12-9 lead over the Tigers. Oklahoma would hold onto their slim margin, leading 18-15. Vander Kooi helped the Tigers keep the game close with seven kills as Missouri trailed 21-19. Mizzou cut the Oklahoma lead to one at 23-22 and again at 24-23 before they could finally tie the game at 24. With the crowd back in it, Missouri kept the game close, tying the score at 25 and 26 before finally taking their first lead of the game, 27-26. Missouri scored two of the next three to take a 29-27 and took game two 30-27 with a kill from Yang. Vander Kooi led the Tigers with seven kills and six digs. Wilson added six kills and Yang had four kills. Wang had 19 assists in the game. The Tigers were much better offensively in the game, hitting .333 while holding the Sooners to .265.

After trailing again in the early going of game three, Missouri would regroup and take the lead 9-8. Oklahoma would regain the lead only to lose it a few points later as Missouri had 14-13 lead. The Tigers scored four of the next six to take an 18-15 lead. Oklahoma would close the deficit to one at 21-20, but Missouri would score four of the next five to take a 25-21 lead. The Sooners tied the game at 26 before Missouri took a 29-27 lead. The Tigers couldn't keep a hold of the game point advantage and allowed Oklahoma to squeak out a 32-30 victory. Wilson led Missouri with six kills and three blocks while Klein, Hantouli and Yang each added five. Both teams did well offensively as Mizzou hit .340 and Oklahoma hit .409.

Missouri started off strong in game four, taking an 8-6 lead but Oklahoma tied the game at eight. The teams traded points before the Tigers took a 17-15 lead. Oklahoma scored two in a row to tie the game at 17, but Missouri would reel off four straight to take a 21-17 lead that forced a Sooner timeout. The Tigers extended their lead to seven at 25-18. Oklahoma would not get closer than six and Missouri evened the match at 2-2 as they won game four 30-20 on a 13-3 run. Yang had seven kills and Wilson had five. Wang added 18 assists and Vander Kooi had three kills and seven digs.

Both teams exchanged points to start off game five before Missouri scored three in a row to take a 6-3 lead. Oklahoma responded with their own run to take a 7-6 lead. Wilson tied the game at eight and a kill by Vander Kooi gave the Tigers the lead again. The teams exchanged points before Missouri gained a crucial point to take a 13-11 lead. A service error by Oklahoma gave Mizzou a 14-12 lead but the Sooners kept the game alive with a kill to cut the deficit to one. Oklahoma tied the game at 14 but a service error by Oklahoma gave the Tigers a 15-14 lead. The Sooners scored two straight to take a 16-15 lead but Missouri responded with a kill by Wilson to take 17-16 lead. Oklahoma would tie the game again at 17 and another kill by the Sooners gave them an 18-17 lead that they took advantage of to defeat the Tigers 19-17 in game five to take the match 3-2. Yang had four kills to lead the Tigers while Vander Kooi added three. Hantouli had three blocks in the game. Missouri struggled in the game, only hitting .051 while allowing the Sooners to hit .206.

Missouri travels to Lawrence, Kan., on Saturday to take on the Kansas Jayhawks at 7:00 p.m. Missouri swept the Jayhawks 3-0 earlier in the season.

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