 |
Magnolia Classic No. 20 Missouri Tournament Schedule
Series Matchup
|
COLUMBIA, Mo.-- Classes began this Monday on the University of Missouri campus and it just seems a little too early for a test. But, that won't be the case for the No. 20-nationally ranked Tiger volleyball team. Fresh out of the gate the Tigers will charge to Oxford, Miss., this weekend for Mississippi's Magnolia Classic for a three-match tournament. Mizzou will face a fired-up Lady Rebel team Friday night in the season opener. Ole Miss is coming off its first appearance at the NCAA Tournament a year ago and is veteran rich. On Saturday, the Tigers face Jacksonville State and Arkansas State.
Scouting Ole Miss ...
Missouri travels to Ole Miss to take on the host Rebels in the fifth annual Magnolia Classic. The Rebels return all but two starters from a team that is coming off of their first NCAA Tournament. Ole Miss will look to build on their 19-13 record last year, in which they also had a school-high ten conference victories. The twelve victory improvement earned coach head coach Joe Getzin the title of SEC Coach of the Year.
Of the returning players, senior and captain Katie Kramer looks to lead the Rebels in kills once again, as she finished eighth on the single season all-time list at Mississippi with 438 kills. Middle blocker Lauren Moffett, the team's leader in blocks last year with a total of 111, leads a deep group of middle hitters for the young Ole Miss squad.
Setter Rachel Kieckhaefer recorded the fourth-highest single season assist total at Ole Miss with 1,426 assists, but will face some tough competition from former high school All-American, redshirt freshman Jessica Dalke. Senior libero Tara Langley looks to build upon a strong season that saw her finish second on the single season digs list, as she led the Rebels with 437.
Scouting Jacksonville State ...
Jacksonville State will come into the tournament looking to build on last year's season, which was the Gamecocks' most successful season in school history, when the team finished with a 24-5 record that included a 19 match winning streak. To add to those lofty stats, Jacksonville State also swept through their Ohio Valley Conference schedule, finishing with a 16-0 record and only losing one total game in all of those 16 matches. The span of 49 straight games won was the longest in the nation last year.
The Lady Indians return three time All-OVC First team, OVC two-time reigning Offensive Player of the Year, All-American, and OVC Female Athlete of the Year Abby Breit, who enters the season with 1,398 kills, just 30 short of the all-time school record. With 82 digs, she will become only the second player in school history to record 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career. 2006 OVC Freshman of the Year, All-Newcomer Team member and All-OVC Second Team member sophomore Brittney Whitten returns to continue her successful career which saw her record 312 kills and 336 digs, each good for second on the team. Breit and Whitten both earned First Team Preseason All-Conference Honors, while OPP Rebekah Nichols earned second team honors.
Scouting Arkansas State ...
The Lady Indians come off of a season that saw them finish with a 21-14 overall record, finishing tied for second in the Sun Belt West. The team returns six players off of last year's squad, while adding five freshmen, including Kristen Catalane who participated in the Texas Girls Coaches Association All-Star game as well as classmate Christin Baker who played in the Oklahoma All-Star Volleyball game.
Second-team All Sun Belt team selection Middle Blocker Robin Aaron returns to lead the offense after a season which saw her accumulate 403 kills, which was good enough for third on the team last year. Katie Peil, a senior setter, returns after recording 1,553 assists last year, moving her up to second place on the ASU career total with 3,949. With 801 assist this year, she will stand alone atop the list. Sophomore libero Erin Neeley, the only libero on this year's squad, returns after recording a team high 418 digs.
-- Michael Wojtychiw
Milestone Watch
- Senior Na Yang has 953 kills, 47 shy of becoming the 11th Tiger in history over the 1,000-career kills mark.
- Senior Tatum Ailes already holds the Mizzou all-time record in digs with 1,434, but how high will the bar be set?
Notes to Keep in Mind ... 2006 Revisited
- The Tigers are coming off a 2006 campaign that included a seventh-consecutive birth to the NCAA Tournament. As a result, Mizzou and Nebraska are now the only programs in the Big 12 Conference to have made the post-season every year since 2000.
- Mizzou won their first-round matchup in the tournament for the third-straight year in 2006, knocking off No. 21 Santa Clara in a three-game sweep in Palo Alto, Calif. The Tigers forced eventual national runner-up Stanford to a five-game thriller in the second round on the Cardinal's home floor, coming back from a game down and 16-10 deficit in the fourth stanza to produce a fifth-game.
- Despite an 18-13 final record in 2006, the end-of-the-season surge produced a No. 21 final ranking in the AVCA Top 25, marking Mizzou's third-straight year among the nation's best. Only 15 teams have been sited on at least the last three final national polls.
Preseason Impressions
The coaches of the Big 12 picked Mizzou to finish third in the Big 12 Conference this season. Defending National and Conference Champion Nebraska was picked to win for the fourth-straight year. Texas was voted second. Truth-be-told, the voting for the third through ninth spots was incredibly close. Right on the Tigers' heels (or tail) in the voting was Texas A&M and Colorado. Iowa State and Kansas State were very close in voting as well. Oklahoma, finished second in the league last year, is picked ninth this season. It should be a very interesting season in the league.
The national impression of the league is also striking. Nebraska was the coaches' preseason pick to at national No. 1. Texas is also expected to have a big year, they ranked 4th in the preseason national poll. The Tigers had a No. 20 preseason ranking with Oklahoma, mentioned earlier that they were picked to finish ninth in the league, had a No. 22 preseason standing, ending the 2006 season with a No. 12 ranking. Texas A&M, Colorado, and Iowa State all received votes in the poll.
Senior Salute
At no time in Mizzou volleyball history have players entered the season with as much playing experience in the NCAA Tournament as seniors Tatum Ailes and Na Yang. Helping the Tigers to their seventh-postseason run in 2006, both Yang and Ailes have played eight NCAA Tournament matches in their previous three years at Mizzou which includes a run to the field's round of eight in 2005.
Both Ailes and Yang were named to this season's Preseason All-Big 12 team, and for Ailes, she became the first defensive player in league history to earn such an honor.
Ailes (Bellevue, Neb.) returns for her senior campaign fresh from an appearance on Team USA's A2-national training team this spring and returns to the team having been the Tigers' starting libero for three seasons. Meanwhile, Ailes has already made a lasting impression on the Mizzou program as the squad's all-time leader in digs and digs per game. In 2005, the coaches of the Big 12 named Ailes as Libero of the Year.
Yang (Shan Dong, China) is in her senior campaign as well and has an accomplished record from her previous three years at Mizzou. Yang has shown prowess during the regular season, but her numbers in the post-season are the outside-hitter's bread-and-butter. In eight NCAA Tournament matches, Yang has averaged 4.10 kills per game on a .304 hitting percentage.
Sophomore Surge
A very large, and important, piece of this year's puzzle is four returning Tigers in their second year of eligibility. The Class of '09 will vital in Mizzou's "Unleashing".
Setter Lei Wang is already going into her second full year of leading the Tiger offense, coming off a successful frosh season in leading the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament with a 12.46 assists per game, 2.39 digs per game, and 0.98 points per game average. During the Big 12 season, Wang averaged 12.86 assists per game, ranking fifth in the league. Wang recorded 63 assists in the five-game NCAA second-round match at Stanford and was a crucial component of the Tiger game-four comeback, as Mizzou hit nearly .500 (13-2-24) from when the Tigers were down 16-10 to when Mizzou won the frame 30-25.
Keota, Iowa, native Julianna Klein stepped up during her true freshman season, finding a starting role in 18 matches last season. Klein scored 10-or-more kills in 16 matches last season, including scoring a season-high 21 kills versus Baylor on September 27. Against Stanford in the NCAA second round, Klein carded 14 kills and six digs. In addition, Klein's serve caught several opponents off guard early in the year as she scored 18 of her 23 aces from the season in the first 11 matches. Klein racked seven aces in an early-season tournament match against Villanova.
Amanda Hantouli started 25 matches last season as a redshirt freshman, finding her first playing time since an ACL injury sidelined the Omaha, Neb., native during her senior year in high school. Now a sophomore, Hantouli contributed 10-or-more kills in four contests and five-or-more blocks in six matches last season. Her play against Stanford in the NCAA second round gave many a picture into the possible future as she scored 10 kills on 15 attempts (.533), adding three blocks.
Megan Wilson will likely see quite a bit of playing time as a right-side hitter this season. The 6-2 sophomore from Lincoln, Neb., exposed much talent as a server as well last season. Against Stanford in the NCAA second round, Wilson added three crucial aces and served many points in efforts to throw the Cardinal offense. Wilson had three matches in 2006 with two-or-more aces.
Sparkling and New
This year's incoming freshman class will get much experience, very early. Unlike the class before that had three use redshirt seasons to refine their skills, this Class of 2010 will see time immediately.
Newcomer Caitlyn Vann comes to Mizzou from Muncie, Ind., and Burris High School. Vann, along with fellow newcomer Catie Wilson, was one of 35 to be named to the inaugural AVCA High School Senior All-American list. Vann was a three-time All-State selection at Burris, earning first-team honors in her junior and senior seasons. While Vann was recruited as a libero, she played as a left-side hitter in her years in high school, tallying 442 kills and 368 digs as team captain in her recently completed senior season. Vann was also a part of USA Volleyball's Junior National Training Team in 2006 and was before a two-year member of USAV's Youth National-A2 team.
Weiwen Wang comes to Mizzou from Nanjing, China, and is the fifth Tiger to come from the country. Wang was captain of her national-champion high school team and was a member of her country's team that won the 2006 World School Volleyball Championship in Porec, Croatia. Wang was also a member of the Chinese 15 & Under Youth National team that took third.
Catie Wilson (no relation to Megan Wilson) comes to Mizzou from Omaha, Neb., and Gross High School. Wilson, along with Vann was named to the AVCA's inaugural High School Senior All-American Team. In addition, Wilson was a four-time All-State selection, earning first-team honors in her junior and senior seasons.
###