University of Missouri
Texas Tech
Missouri Tigers Sweep Texas Tech in Dominate Season Finale
11/24/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 24, 2006
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The night began on an emotional note for the Missouri volleyball Tigers as the three outgoing seniors were recognized by the crowd of 2,024. Once Lei Wang took the first serve though, it was all business as Missouri (17-12, 11-9) dominated Texas Tech (12-17, 5-15) in the first game on their way to a sweep 30-15, 30-28, 30-25.
In game one, Mizzou was dominate, outhitting Tech .625 to -.031. The Tigers broke a rally-scoring school record in committing only one error in the game in scoring 16 kills in the frame.
Head Coach Wayne Kreklow saw a lot of positives compared to the loss on Wednesday night at Texas A&M.
"It was a lot better than Wednesday night," Kreklow said. "We told them before we came out that this is the time of the year you never know what you are going to get. You have to go out on a good note, no one in this league is going to give you anything. We have to stay focused all the time. You have to play all the way through the rallies, matches and games."
Jessica Vander Kooi (Hinton, Iowa) led Mizzou with 12 kills and three service aces and five blocks. Vander Kooi has now recorded 10 kills or more in 110 of 118 matches in her career. Na Yang (Shan Dong, China) had 11 kills on .417 hitting, and five blocks on the night. Nicole Wilson (Lincoln, Neb.) had nine kills and three blocks. Julianna Klein (Keota, Iowa) had 11 kills on the evening and Lei Wang (Shanghai, China) had 37 assists. Abbie Booth (Kansas City, Mo.) had seven digs, two assists and one service ace in her final home game.
"It was great to win after having a tough couple weeks," Booth said. "We came out happy with the win."
Kreklow was thankful for all the seniors have brought to the team and was happy they were able to get a win on senior night.
"Those three have meant a great deal to the program, not only on the court, but also leadership-wise," Kreklow said. "They did a great job on campus representing the university, and it's going to be hard to replace them."
Philister Sang led Texas Tech with 17 kills and 10 digs.
The Tigers started off with a 5-0 run to start game one and were led by Yang who recorded one kill and two blocks during the run. After a Texas Tech timeout, the Tigers extended the run to six before the Red Raiders tallied their first point of the match. Mizzou took a 10-3 lead but Texas Tech mounted a run of their own to cut the score to 14-8. The Tigers responded with four straight to take an 18-8 lead and forced another Texas Tech timeout with the score at 21-10. Missouri was hitting exceptionally well throughout the game and hit as high as .765 during game one, compared to Tech's dismal .091 hitting percentage. Yang continued to help the Tigers as they took a 26-15 lead. Mizzou would score four straight to take game one 30-15. Yang led Mizzou with six kills and five blocks. Vander Kooi and Amanda Hantouli each added three kills. Missouri outblocked the Red Raiders 7-1.
Texas Tech took their first lead of the match in game two as they led 2-1, but the Tigers came right back to take the lead 3-2, but the Red Raiders scored three straight to hold a 5-3 lead. Texas Tech would keep a two point lead at 10-8 and later on at 14-12. A block by Wilson tied the game at 15 but the Red Raiders scored three straight to take an 18-15 lead. The Tigers tied the game again at 21 but still could not take the lead. Mizzou tied the score at 25 and took the lead at 27-26 and won game two 30-28. Klein had five kills to lead the Tigers and Wilson added four. Vander Kooi had three in game two. There were 11 ties and four lead changes in game two.
Mizzou started off game three with a 4-0 run and took a 15-10 lead. The Tigers held onto the lead, leading the Red Raiders 19-14. A kill by Wilson gave Mizzou a seven point lead at 22-15. Texas Tech would cut the Missouri lead to six at 26-20 and then cut it to four at 27-23, forcing a Tiger timeout. Vander Kooi scored two straight and Wilson's kill gave Mizzou the 30-25 victory as they took the match from Texas Tech 3-0.
The Tigers will have to wait to see if they are selected for the NCAA Tournament. Teams will be announced on Sunday, Nov. 26 at 2 p.m. on ESPNews. ###
