Sept. 14, 2007
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COLUMBIA, Mo.— The University of Missouri volleyball team (7-2) wants to keep the “Big 'Mo” rolling. The “Big 'Mo”? That would be momentum. Even without the team's leading scorer, the Tigers had an offensive surge against UMKC to close non-conference play, using multiple weapons to win its fourth-straight. Mizzou faces No. 7 Texas (4-3) in Austin to begin Big 12 play Saturday night, renewing what has become one of the greatest rivalries in the conference.
UMKC Revisited … Tiger Shows Fire Power
The Tigers' 200th win all-time at home and its ninth-straight over the Kangaroos of UMKC produced some sparkling numbers in the 30-19, 30-17, 30-8 sweep.
- With only five hitting errors all night against UMKC, the Tigers posted a conference-season-high .534 hitting percentage (60-5-103) … the effort was also the fourth-best performance by a Tiger team in school history and the best in a single match since 2000.
- Official school records for hitting percentage in a match for an individual are only accepted for those with 12 or more kills, Amanda Hantouli and frosh Catie Wilson were close in both cases … Wilson's .833 (10-0-12) ranks fourth all-time for a Tiger in a single match among those with 10 or more kills … Hantouli's .786 (11-0-14) is the fifth best all-time
- The Tigers had only five hitting errors in the match versus UMKC … subtract the four blocks that UMKC scored and Mizzou committed only ONE unforced offensive error in the match.
Schedule Change
The Tigers' match versus Baylor, originally scheduled for Saturday, November 3, has been moved to Friday, November 2. The match time will remain at 6:30 p.m.
Scouting Texas …
The No. 7 Texas Longhorns play host to the Missouri Tigers, hoping to bounce back after being swept in three games against the nation's top-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers. The Longhorns, who were without two of their best players in Wednesday's loss to Nebraska, fell to 0-1 in Big 12 play and 4-3 overall. Texas is undefeated at home this season in two matches.
The Longhorns are led by freshman Juliann Faucette and sophomore Destinee Hooker, both outside hitters. Hooker, the reigning Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week, is second in the conference with an average of 4.67 kills per game, but sat the Nebraska match because of a coach's decision. Faucette is averaging 4.38 kills per game, good for fifth in the conference.
These two teams hooked up twice last season, splitting the two-match series. The Tigers swept the Longhorns, who were ranked No. 5 at the game, in three games in Columbia, Mo. It was the Tigers' first win against a top-five ranked opponent in 32 tries. Later in the season, the Longhorns returned the favor on their home floor, defeating the Tigers 3-1. The Tigers have not beaten the Longhorns in Austin since the 2002 Big 12 opener, when they upset the then-No. 24 Longhorns 3-1.
The Longhorns are coming off a 16-4 conference record in 2006, good for third in the Big 12. Last year the Longhorns earned their 23rd NCAA Tournament appearance, and made it all the way to the regional finals before being knocked off by No. 2 seed Stanford. Texas returns ten letterwinners from last year's squad, including six starters and their libero.
-- Steven Keers
- Texas leads the overall series 12-10, and are 8-3 against Mizzou in Austin … the hosts of the last eight meetings, dating back to 2003, has been the winner of the match … Mizzou's last win in Austin came in 2002.
- This match will mark the first time in the last five meetings between the two squads that the Tigers have not been ranked … in addition, this is the fourth straight meeting between the two teams with Texas in the national top 10, but Mizzou has won two out of the past three meetings.
- Mizzou is 5-2 in Big 12 openers under the Kreklows.
- The Tigers are 0-6 all-time against teams ranked No. 7
- Although Mizzou is 7-61 all-time against ranked teams on the road, they are 3-7 in their last 10 tries
- Mizzou is currently on a five-match Saturday winning streak.
Julianna Klein Update
The results from an MRI test conducted Monday afternoon have come back with unsavory results for the University of Missouri volleyball team. Sophomore Julianna Klein (Keota, Iowa) was diagnosed late Monday night with a torn ACL in her left knee which was a result of the injury suffered in Friday's match versus Houston in San Marcos, Texas.
In the third of four games against Houston, with the Tigers up 20-12, Klein went to attack a ball and then came down in pain.
Klein was leading Mizzou with 4.44 kills per game, up from her 2.75 average her freshman season and stood fourth in the Big 12 in the category. In addition, Klein's defense showed much improvement as her digs-per-game shot from 0.75 her frosh campaign to 2.85 this season, resulting in the first five kill-dig double-doubles of her career. Along with leading Mizzou with 0.48 service aces per game, Klein was third in the Big 12 with 5.30 points per game, behind only 2006 National Player of the Year Sarah Pavan of Nebraska and All-American Destinee Hooker of Texas.
Despite not playing in the final match of the CenturyTel Premier against host Texas State, Klein was named the tournament's MVP, scoring 5.67 kills per game on a .342 hitting strike for the Tigers while adding 3.33 digs per game and scoring 6.67 points per game.
Klein was also named to Ole Miss' Magnolia Classic All-Tournament team, opening the season with a career-best 26 kills against the Rebels.
Kinda-Sorta Undefeated?
Well, if volleyball were scored like basketball, then Mizzou may very well be undefeated. Okay, stay with me. Think of games like quarters and you add up all of the “quarters” to come up with a final score. Well, in that case, Mizzou would be 9-0. Yes, so far Mizzou has not been outscored in matches, but have lost critical games by very small margins.
Before the Tiger Invitational last weekend, Mizzou had lost five games by a total of 11 points. The three games to Florida International on Sunday were lost by 6, 3, and 2. Making the combined average defeat 22 points in eight games (less than three points per). The Tigers lost a game apiece to Houston (by 2) and Texas State (by 5), bringing the current total to 10 games lost by 29 combined points, which is still less than three points per game.
The Tigers made unsettling school history in outscoring Ole Miss on August 24 by 14 and losing in five. It marked the largest surplus of points by a Tiger team in losing. And, couple that with Mizzou outscoring Florida International 127 to 118 this September 2nd and you have a pair of head-scratchers.
Milestone Watch
- Senior Na Yang moved into 10th place all-time at Mizzou in kills with her performance against Florida International, and since, she has landed eighth having 1,104 overall … Yang is just 52 kills from passing Nicole Wilson for fifth (1,156) and joining Shen Danru, Jessica Vander Kooi, Christi Myers, and Yvette Buhlig in the Mizzou Big-Five Club, all of which had over 1,450 kills in their careers.
- With 22.5 points over UMKC, Yang reached Mizzou's all-time top 10 in points scored and is at 1248.5 currently … Yang is now 277.5 points from Mizzou's all-time top five.
- Senior Tatum Ailes already holds the Mizzou all-time record in digs with 1,615, but how high will the bar be set?
Frosh Proving Big In the Middle (and outside and in the back row)
True freshman Weiwen Wang (Nanjing, China) had started to become quite a dominate factor in the middle for the Tiger front-line. But, with the recent injury to OH Julianna Klein, Wang has had to adjust, playing some outside hitter while adding swings and more defense in the back row.
In addition, “Wendy” has been a knock-out behind the serving line in the last five matches, scoring 10 aces within the last five matches.
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.
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