University of Missouri
Alabama State
No. 13 Tigers Open Season With Sweep of Alabama State
8/25/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Aug. 25, 2006
LONG BEACH, Calif. - The No. 13 nationally-ranked Missouri (1-0) Tiger volleyball team opened their season Friday afternoon, sweeping Alabama State (0-1) 30-8, 30-9, 30-8 in first of three matches to be played by Mizzou at the Long Beach State Invitational in Long Beach, Calif.
Mizzou was ultimately helped by 15 service aces, five coming from junior Tatum Ailes and four from freshman Julianna Klein (Keota, Iowa). Senior Jessica Vander Kooi (Hinton, Iowa) led Mizzou in a balanced-offensive run with 11 kills on an errorless 14 attempts (.786). Redshirt freshman Amanda Hantouli, making her first start as a Tiger, added eight kills.
In addition to Hantouli, Mizzou started three redshirt freshmen, with Megan Wilson (Lincoln, Neb.) starting on the right side and Lei Wang (Shanghai, China) setting. Megan Wilson scored seven kills in her debut, as Wang directed the offense to a .456 hitting percentage, spreading 27 assists.
In game one, Mizzou surged to a 15-2 lead after 10-point serving run by Tatum Ailes in which scored on three aces. The Tigers went on to score on 15 of the next 17 rallies to go up 28-5, before closing the game on one of Vander Kooi's five kills in the frame. Mizzou managed a .464 hitting-strike in the stanza, picking up 16 kills adding five aces. The Tiger defense held the Hornets to a -.174 percentage in the game.
The Tigers again allowed only two side-out points in the second frame. True freshman Julianna Klein entered the match for the first time as a Tiger in the frame. Klein scored five kills on five attempts, adding a service ace. Megan Wilson picked up the first four kills of her career in the stanza.
Klein picked up her four service aces in the beginning of game three, as she scored the four aces within the first six points giving Mizzou to a 10-0 start. In all, Mizzou would score six aces in the frame.
Mizzou snapped their seven-match losing streak of matches played in the State of California with the win.
Mizzou will play again on Friday, facing Long Beach State at 9:30 p.m., central. A complete wrap-up will follow on mutigers.com.
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