2005 Missouri Volleyball -- Season Recap
5/8/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
May 8, 2006
Team Accomplishments | Final Team Stats
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"It's all about the little things," said Head Coach Wayne Kreklow to the 2005 Missouri volleyball team in mid-September after they had surged their way to the national top 10 for the first time in school history. "The little things are what keep you in matches: a hustle here, a quick tip there, one deadly-accurate serve here, a good bump to a teammate there - those are the things that separate great teams from the good teams. We've done a great job of doing the little things well."
And how great was the 2005 Mizzou volleyball team? So great that an average 2,672 fans came to every home Tiger match, sixth-best in the nation. So great that the team broke over 20 team and individual school records. And, so great that schools around the country now look at Missouri as a national power, having now went to six-consecutive NCAA Tournaments, challenging the best-of-the-best in the country along the way.
A run to the NCAA Tournament's regional final - the round of eight - will get you some attention. Ending the season 25-5, the winningest in school history, the Tigers defeated perennial power Hawaii in the NCAA regional semifinal in State College, Pa., to land a spot on everyone's map. At the time, Hawaii was the sixth-ranked team in the country, and Mizzou's win over the Rainbow Wahine marked the highest-ranked team a Tiger squad had ever defeated, and, yes, gave the Tigers a chance for a birth in to the national semifinal in San Antonio.
The win over Hawaii wasn't the only big contest of the season. Mizzou set a new school record, grabbing a 7-4 record over top-25 teams, including four wins over top-10 teams. In addition, Mizzou finished third in the always tough Big 12 Conference with a 16-4 record, again, setting a school record in conference wins.
For the second-consecutive season, Mizzou hosted NCAA First and Second Rounds. Sweeping through the first matches against Missouri State and Arkansas, the Tigers hosted the largest-attended sub-regional of 16 around the country with 8,784 fans.
The wins over top-10 teams came pretty quickly to start the season. As Mizzou came into the 2005 year with a No. 21 ranking - the lowest ranking they would see all season - the Tigers began the campaign by hosting the Tiger Invitational. The lineup looked tough with defending Mountain West Champ, Utah, and SEC Co-Champ, No. 9 Tennessee coming to the Hearnes Center. The Tigers blanked the Utes in a solid opener and faced the Lady Vols two days later. After a close 30-27 game one that went to Mizzou, it looked to be a back-and-forth match.
But, that wasn't the case. The Tigers started to show what type of team they were going to be in 2005. Not afraid of anyone and caring more about the Tiger game plan than the other team on the other side of the net. Mizzou, after a few tough serves by Tatum Ailes, grabbed game two 30-23 and wiped the floor in game three with a 30-20 win. This was a sweep over a top-10 team, the first time it had ever happened for a Tiger team.
Senior Lindsey Hunter grabbed her first of many accolades, being named Big 12 Player of the Week for her 100 assist, five kill, four service-ace weekend. Hunter, the team's setter and offensive play-caller, earned All-America honors for the second time in her career in 2005, landing on the first-team, and becoming the first Tiger to do so. Hunter ended her career with 13.73 assists per game, leading the Big 12 in that category in all four years, and making the NCAA's all-time top-six in the category.
What had taken 31 years to accomplish would be repeated within a week. Montana State hosted the Holiday Inn Classic in Bozeman, Mont., for the next Mizzou challenge. On top of the ticket was No. 9 Wisconsin, a team that was an elite-eight team in '04. Offensive power is what helped the Tigers to a win over Tennessee; a sweep over Wisconsin was due to presence at the net. Mizzou recorded 13 blocks to the Badgers seven, stopping a team that had entered the contest fifth in the nation in blocking. Two top-10s down in a seven days, both by sweeps.
Mizzou had entered the Big 12 season with a perfect non-conference record, 6-0, going 18-0 in games, yes, all sweeps. In two weeks, Missouri went from No. 21 to No. 14 to No. 10 in the nation's coaches' poll.
After handedly sweeping a vastly improved Iowa State team to enter conference play, a trip to College Station, Texas, was next, a place where Mizzou had previously never won. Texas A&M came in with a No. 15 ranking and one of the loudest crowds in America. After dropping game one, 29-31, the Tigers quickly jumped back on track, winning the next three sets, exorcizing the College Station jinx by launching a heavy offensive attack, backed by tough defense, which never seemed to stop.
The Tigers obliterated Colorado in their first meeting of the season in Boulder. Winning game three 30-11, Mizzou went to 9-0 on the season after hitting .654 in the final frame. Junior Nicole Wilson scored 12 kills on 19 errorless attacks (.632), adding eight blocks.
Another demon that seemed to be hanging around the Tiger volleyball camp was Kansas State. The Wildcats had entered the season by defeating Mizzou in 21 of the teams' last 22 contests. A home meeting with No. 17 K-State did not seem easy. But, Missouri made it look easy, sweeping 30-19, 30-20, and 30-26. Hitting .343 in the match and .516 in game two was accelerated by Wilson who scored 11 kills on an errorless 13 attacks (.846), adding nine blocks.
Wilson's efforts in the Colorado and K-State matches earned her Big 12 and AVCA National Player of the Week honors as she went the two matches with 17 total blocks (over six games) adding 23 kills with no errors on .719 hitting.
A date with defending national runner-up and Big 12 Champions, No. 1 Nebraska was looming on the schedule. If the Tigers could get through road matches with Baylor and Texas Tech, a top-10 battle with the undefeated Huskers and Tigers would take place in the Hearnes Center.
Although Mizzou swept Baylor to go 11-0, one could observe the Tigers were losing some touch.
A bumpy plane ride was the beginning of a bumpy trip to Lubbock. Texas Tech opened the match taking the first two games, remember Mizzou had before only lost one game in their sweeping ways to start the season. The Tigers were plagued by service and unforced-hitting errors before turning the tide and winning the next three games in the five-game squeaker.
The following Wednesday was the match-up, 13-0, No. 1 Nebraska versus 12-0, No. 7 Missouri. The buzz around Columbia about Tiger volleyball was like none other before. A Mizzou promotion entitled "Can the Huskers" in which fans receive free admission into the match with two canned goods, assured a big crowd was going to come see the two top-10 teams.
Five-thousand fans seemed pretty likely with the steady rise of attendance, the promotion, and the quality of the teams. No one expected 7,298. The A and B sections of the Hearnes was full with 70-percent of section C being filled. The atmosphere was absolutely electric. Fans were still streaming through the gates by the middle of game two as the surge of attendance affected traffic and parking. A good problem to have and learn from indeed.
The two teams were on full tilt through the match, leading to long rallies, hard hits, and tough serves. Nebraska won game one 30-26, outhitting Mizzou .304 to .178. But, Mizzou battled back in game two, going up as much as 22-12 before hitting 30, helped by Husker mistakes, to invigorate the record crowd.
Mizzou went up early in game three, but couldn't hold as Nebraska took it 30-23. Game four was heavily offensive, as both teams found the right corners and open spaces to place attacks down for points. Again it was a back-and-forth stanza, but Nebraska took the game and match with the 30-27 win.
A week to collect and recover from a hectic 10-day period was needed for the Tigers, and was desirable to get ready for a trip to Austin to take on No. 18 Texas. A surprisingly tentative Tiger team showed up and was swept for the first time since November 27, 2004.
Missouri, having suffered two tough loses in a row, was not good for Kansas, Oklahoma, and Iowa State, the Tigers' next three opponents. Mizzou swept Kansas at home in front of another big (3,699) post-football game crowd. The Tigers went on to sweep the Sooners at home and won a four-game match on the road at Iowa State.
At Kansas State in Manhattan, again, another place where Mizzou has had troubles, not winning since 1993. K-State won the first two sets of the teams' second meeting of the season and the situation looked bleak. But, the Tigers stayed tough at the net, and caused the Wildcats to hit for a negative hitting percentage in game three, winning 30-23. Good serving by the Tigers in four put K-State in offensive disarray and Mizzou earned a game five. Up 12-11, Jessica Vander Kooi shut down the Wildcats for good, scoring on three consecutive blocks to clinch the Tiger victory and shock a lively K-State crowd. Mizzou had swept the season series with Kansas State for the first time since 1993.
Mizzou dropped a tough five-gamer with Colorado at home to close the books on October, marking the only Tiger loss to an unranked team all season.
Although the Tigers went only 5-3 in October, the November swing would prove much better and catapult Mizzou into post-season play. Mizzou went 6-1 in November, sweeping four opponents, including gained revenge on No. 10 Texas at home.
The lone loss in the month was to No. 1 Nebraska, in Lincoln. The visiting Tigers opened the match with two-consecutive game wins led by Vander Kooi who scored 15 kills adding 11 digs in the first two frames alone.
Mizzou opened game three with a 4-0 run, drawing the sold-out Husker crowd nearly silent. Nebraska saw no reason to quit, and a 9-3 run followed quickly by a 10-4 run to give NU a 19-13 lead and revive their home draw. The Huskers forced a fifth game and dominated the stanza, picking up four blocks and holding the Tigers to -.286 hitting. Vander Kooi would have the first 20/20 of the season with 23 kills and 22 digs.
After an emotional, senior-night five-game match win over Texas A&M, it was time for the Tigers to know there post-season fate.
The question wasn't "if", but "where, who, and when". In 2004, Mizzou hosted NCAA First and Second Rounds for the first time in school history and was defeated by Louisville in the second round.
This season Mizzou was again selected to host opening rounds, with Arkansas, St. Mary's of California, and Missouri State as guests. The Tigers drew Missouri State for the first round, and a diverse crowd of 6,294 came to see the in-state battle. Mizzou swept through the Bears, hitting .364 adding 15 blocks in a dominate performance.
Arkansas defeated St. Mary's in their first-round match, set to face the Tigers next. The Lady `Backs were the only team standing in the way of Missouri's first visit to a regional. Twice before, the Tigers came this far in the NCAA Tournament only to have a regional bid slip by.
In this instance, Mizzou was insistent not to let that happen again. What was a dominate performance over Missouri State became second-fiddle to the attack the Tigers put on Arkansas. Mizzou won in a sweep, 30-25, 30-16, and 30-11, hitting an unbelievable .505, adding 14 service aces. Senior Lisa Boyd had 10 kills on 14 errorless attacks to cap her career at home.
The Tigers were in the Penn State regional, meaning a trip to snowy State College, Pa., was next in the tournament run. Hawaii had defeated Texas in a second-round match in Austin preventing a third match-up between Big 12 schools.
Hawaii had been in a regional many times before, the Tigers had not. The teams traded 30-26 scores to begin the match, but Mizzou went up in game three and took the frame 30-27. In game four, the Tigers took firm control, up 12-3 quickly, winning 30-22. In a matter of course, Lindsey Hunter scored on three consecutive-aces to stifle Hawaii.
People back in Columbia were thrilled that the match was on television, as a mid-afternoon Friday turned into a party. KFVE-TV out of Honolulu produced the match from Pennsylvania and both Missouri and Hawaii worked together to get the match on-air in mid-Missouri. Adding an ESPNU appearance in the regional final, six Tiger matches made the airwaves.
Host No. 2 Penn State was upset by No. 17 Tennessee in the following match, making a rematch from early in the year between the Tigers and the Lady Vols come to realization. Tennessee lived up to their No. 9 preseason ranking in the match, as the Tigers couldn't match their mirrored strengths and weaknesses. Although the first three games were close with Mizzou taking game three, the Lady Vols had control most of the way through and dominated game four, winning 30-17, handing the Tigers their worst game loss of the season, and bringing an end to the Missouri season.
Tennessee went on to the national semifinal in San Antonio where they were swept by eventual national-champion Washington.
The Tiger seniors who would depart the program, Lindsey Hunter, Lisa Boyd, and Shen Danru accounted for a 90-33 record, laying claim to the winningest class in school history. Hunter would go on to join the USA National Training squad quickly.
Hunter directed an offense that would hit .299 for the season, a new school record, slugging a clip that was ninth in the country. In addition, the team averaged a school record 17.42 kills per game, finishing third in the country. Hunter herself was third in the nation with 14.22 assists per game.
Danru ended her Tiger career as one of the best all-around Tiger and Big 12 players of all time. Ending her career as the all-time Tiger leader in kills, attacks, aces, digs, points, and kills per game, Danru will always be recognized as a player that helped carry the team to their sixth-straight NCAA appearance.
Boyd ended her Mizzou career with a .317 hitting percentage, third all-time in Tiger history. Against Hawaii she drew eight blocks, four of them solo, in a effort that helped defeat the Rainbow Wahine.
Juniors Nicole Wilson and Jessica Vander Kooi were named AVCA All-America Honorable Mention after earning first-team placings on the AVCA All-Central Region team. Vander Kooi was named first-team All-Big 12 as well. Wilson grabbed a hitting percentage of .415, shattering the Mizzou record and placing fourth in the nation in the category.
Sophomore Tatum Ailes was tapped as the Big 12 Libero of the Year. In her second year with the Tigers, Ailes produced a league-leading 4.08 digs per game in conference matches and was a threat behind the line as well with her tough serves.
Junior Abbie Booth was a huge contribution on defense. Her serve receives placed the ball correctly for Hunter's set and was always the first step in a good Tiger rally. Booth also was productive with her serving. Against Arkansas in the NCAA second-round match, she scored on six aces as part of a nine-ace tournament.
Sophomore Na Yang was the Tigers' hard-hitting outside swinger. Improving her hitting percentage from .239 to .301, her contributions were huge to this team. Against Hawaii in the regional semifinal, she scored on 24 kills after a Mizzou-tournament, all-time high 66 attacks. In addition her blocking numbers doubled in a year.
In addition, the team earned their fifth 20-win season in six years. Technically, Wayne Kreklow was a first-year head coach at Missouri as him and his wife, Susan, switched job titles. Overall, the Kreklows are 134-51 (.724) after six years at Missouri. A team that was 0-28 in 1996 has officially turned the 180 in 10 years.
Thanks in large part, to the little things.
