Sept. 5, 2007
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CenturyTel Premier Missouri Volleyball Tournament Schedule Friday, September 7 Saturday, September 8 Series Matchup
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COLUMBIA, Mo.— An eager Missouri Volleyball (3-2) team will look to rebound from Sunday's five-set comeback loss to Florida International this weekend at Texas State's CenturyTel Premier in San Marcos, Texas. The Tigers will take on Cal State-Fullerton and Houston on Friday, and will face the host Bobcats on Saturday. While Mizzou has scored seven points to its opponent's six and have never been outscored in a match so far this season, the Tigers have dropped eight total sets by an average of less than three.
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 5-0. 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 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 last weekend and you have a pair of head-scratchers.
Scouting Cal State-Fullerton
The Titans of Cal State-Fullerton enter the weekend 3-3, having won three of its last four. Last weekend, CSF at home defeated Bowling Green and Portland State and fell to in five to Stony Brook, who defeated Baylor earlier this season.
Junior RS/MB Brittany Moore leads CSF with 3.75 kills per game. The Titans have five who average over two kills per game and have seen a balanced amount of scoring among its starters. Senior S Julie Geissert has 12.00 assists per game and is a seasoned veteran at the position. Frosh MB Erin Saddler leads the team with 1.00 blocks per game.
CSF went 17-12 overall with a 6-8 Big West Conference record, taking sixth, in 2006.
- The Tigers have never defeated a Big West Conference opponent in five tries, having lost to Long Beach State last season, to UC-Irvine in the NCAA Second Round in 2003, UC-Santa Barbara in 1995, and Cal Poly and Fullerton in 1991.
Scouting Houston …
Houston opened the season 1-3, having had to play two top-25 Big 12 teams in the process. The Cougars opened the season in sweeping UT-Arlington in convincing style before having to play at Kansas State on August 28 and Texas on August 31. On Sunday, Houston dropped their third-straight, losing to New Mexico State in four.
Before playing this weekend, Houston will play Cal State-Bakersfield on Wednesday and UT-San Antonio on Thursday and could very well be .500 by the time they arrive in San Marcos.
The Cougars are led in scoring by junior OH Justine Farmer, an All-Conference USA First Team member a year ago, with 4.92 kills per game. The Cougars started the season with junior Kelsey King at setter, but frosh Robin Fitzgerald has played the position in the last few matches. At the net, watch for sophomore MB Erin Rice who has 1.33 blocks per game.
Houston finished 2006 with a 19-17 overall and 8-8 conference record, finishing the season 7th in the C-USA.
- Mizzou hasn't played a team from Conference USA since defeating East Carolina in 1999 and last met Houston in 1985, beating the Cougars in four in Houston.
Scouting Texas State …
Texas State has also had a schedule that is chalked full of Big 12 foes. Although the Bobcats are 2-3, they took a game from both Baylor, on the road, and Texas A&M on Tuesday night. TSU has recorded wins over North Texas and UMKC.
Junior MB Emily Jones, who has her own featured-diary section on txstatebobcats.com, leads Texas State with 3.47 kills per game, on an impressive .353 hitting strike and leads the squad with 1.53 blocks per game.
The Bobcats, the 2005 Southland Conference champs, had a home-opening attendance against Texas A&M of 1,611.
- Mizzou is 3-1 against teams from the Southland Conference, having played McNeese State in 2002, Lamar in 1983 and UT-Arlington twice.
Milestone Watch
- Senior Na Yang moved into 10th place all-time at Mizzou in kills with her performance against Florida International having 1,038 overall … Yang is just 118 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.
- Yang is also just 66 points away from passing Sherri Gentry (1986-90) and joining the Mizzou all-time top 10 in points, having scored 1,178 in her career.
- Senior Tatum Ailes already holds the Mizzou all-time record in digs with 1,552, but how high will the bar be set?
Klein Pouring On the Defense (and Offense)
Guess? Next to Mizzou L Tatum Ailes, who has the most digs per game on the team? Actually, it's a tie. But, I guess the title may tip you off. Sophomore OH Julianna Klein is actually tied for second on the team with frosh DS Caitlyn Vann with 2.71 digs per game. Last year, Klein's efforts on the back row were usually reserved for just serving. Now, Klein has started to perfect her all-around game. Klein already has three kill-dig double-doubles this season including a 19 kill-18 dig effort against Florida International.
Klein's dig average is up from 0.75 a year ago. Most impressively is Klein's jump to 4.10 kills per game versus 2.75 kpg a year ago. Klein has also been red-hot from the serving line, scoring at least one ace in each of the five Tiger matches this season.
Frosh Proving Big In the Middle
True freshman OH Weiwen Wang (Nanjing, China) leads all Tigers so far this season with a .324 hitting percentage. Her 2.67 kills per game lead all in the middle-blocking position. Wang has also added 0.86 blocks per game in five matches and started the season with six- and eight-block performances at Mississippi and against Jacksonville State respectively. Wang has also racked a career-best three aces against Notre Dame.
Big 12 Report
The second week of the season provided mixed results for the Big 12 teams. Some teams struggled, while others showed how strong their teams will be in the upcoming season.
No. 1 Nebraska hosted its own tournament over the Labor Day Weekend. Coming off of its AVCA Showcase Championship which included a 3-1 win over No. 5 UCLA, the Huskers hosted No. 3 Penn State, Creighton and No. 17 Cal Poly. The Huskers won the tournament, going 3-0, not dropping a single game against any of the teams. So far, only UCLA has taken a game from Nebraska. After hosting Duke this weekend, the first showdown of the Big 12 season looms when No. 7 Texas comes to Lincoln for a Sept. 12th matchup.
After losing their first two matches of the season against No. 3 Penn State, No. 7 Texas won the Houston Tournament by beating Houston and New Mexico St., both by 3-0 scores. The Longhorns played both matches without standout Ashley Engle, who is out with an injury. Texas hosts Cal State Bakersfield and Pepperdine this weekend before starting conference play.
Baylor hosted Mississippi State, Stephen F. Austin and Oregon in their own tournament this past weekend. After beating Stephen F. Austin in the opener, the Bears dropped matches to Mississippi State and eventual tournament champion Oregon. The Bears head to Dallas this weekend to take on Mississippi, SMU and Sam Houston State in the SMU Radisson Invitational.
After shockingly dropping both matches in the Tulane Tournament, the Colorado Buffs came home to host their own Invitational and pulling off a shocker of their own. After dispatching Central Florida and UNC-Wilmington in straight sets, the Buffs swept No. 15 Cal. The loss was the first for the Bears on the young season. Colorado goes to rival Colorado State to participate in the Rams' home Invitational, which features, CSU, Miami (Ohio) and Winthrop.
Over the Labor Day Weekend, Iowa State traveled to Tempe, Ariz., to participate in the Arizona State Classic. The Cyclones left with a 2-2 tournament record after defeating Northern Arizona and Long Island, but dropping matches to New Mexico and the host Sun Devils. Iowa State travels to Drake this weekend to participate in the Drake Classic against No. 21 LSU and instate rivals Iowa and Drake.
After starting their season with a 2-1 record, the Kansas Jayhawks traveled to East Lansing, Mich., to take on the host Spartans, Florida State and Missouri State in the Spartan Invitational. After starting the weekend with a loss to Michigan State, Kansas wasn't able to overcome the power of Florida State, losing three games to one. The Jayhawks did salvage one victory, however, when they defeated Missouri State in the tournament finale. After Hosting UMKC, KU will host their own tournament as it welcomes Wyoming, Morehead State and St. Peters to Lawrence.
After starting the season 3-0 and earning a No. 22 national ranking, the Kansas State Wildcats traveled off the mainland to participate in the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Classic against Hawaii, Louisville, and UCLA. The Wildcats dropped their first game against the host No. 16 Wahine. After dropping the match against Hawaii, Kansas State was able to recover nicely, knocking off the Cardinals of Louisville. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, No. 5 UCLA was waiting for them in their third match and the Bruins took care of KSU 3-1. KSU hosts its Varney's Kansas State Invitational this weekend, welcoming Fresno State, Arkansas and Northern Iowa to Manhattan, Kansas.
After a 2-1 start to the season, the Missouri Tigers traveled back to Columbia to host the Tiger Invitational, with Notre Dame and Florida International being the other teams in the field. After sweeping the Irish in the first game of the tournament, the Tigers were set to face off against Florida International. After building a 2-0 lead against FIU, the Golden Panthers staged a comeback to take down Missouri in 5. Missouri travels to San Marcos Texas this weekend to take part in the Century Premier Tournament hosted by Texas State. Along with facing the hosts, the Tigers will square off with the Houston Cougars.
After winning their own Sooner Invitational, the Oklahoma Sooners traveled to Moscow, Idaho, to try to take care of business in the Idaho Tournament. There, the Sooners would open with Middle Tennessee State, who would jump into the Top 25 this week. The Blue Raiders swept Oklahoma 3-0. Oklahoma ended up taking second after defeating an improved Oregon State squad and the host Vandals. The last weekend of the preseason sees Oklahoma traveling to sunny San Diego to participate in the San Diego Tournament. There the team will face off with three quality opponents, Virginia, UC Santa Barbra and No. 18 San Diego.
Texas A&M is off to a sizzling 6-0 start after winning the Montana State Holiday Inn Classic this past weekend. The Aggies swept all of their opponents, Montana State, Washington State and Utah State. Before conference play begins, A&M will participate in the University of Texas-San Antonio Classic when it faces UTSA, Auburn and Louisiana Tech.
Texas Tech, fresh off a 2-1 finish in their home tournament, travels to Syracuse to participate in the Syracuse Tournament this weekend. In their own home tourney, the Red Raiders defeated Villanova and Lamar before dropping the tournament's final contest to SMU. While in Syracuse, Tech will face the host Orange, Fordham and Princeton.
-- Michael Wojtychiw
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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