Oct. 9, 2007
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COLUMBIA, Mo.— Two volleyball programs that have seen much success in the last several years will take the court Wednesday night as Missouri hosts Texas A&M in the Hearnes Center, starting at 6:30. The Tigers, 3-4 in the Big 12, have sixth-place in the conference, just a half-match ahead of Texas A&M who stands 3-5 in the Big 12. While Mizzou looks for its fourth-straight win, both teams look for a win that will help in the long-term chasing of the conference's top five.
“Wendy” Wang Earns Big 12 Acclaim
The Big 12 Conference announced Monday afternoon that Missouri freshman Weiwen Wang won the conference's Offensive Player of the Week award. Wang (Nanjing, China) led the Tigers to a 2-0 record last week, which is part of a three-match winning streak and included a five-game victory at Colorado and a sweep of Texas Tech, which allowed Mizzou to move from ninth to sixth place in the conference race. She averaged 5.62 points, 4.00 kills and 2.00 blocks while compiling a .527 hitting percentage and 1.38 digs per contest.
For the record, Weiwen's Tiger teammates call her “Wendy”.
At Colorado, Wang broke school records in blocks (13) and most kills without an error (19). Wang tallied a season-high 28 points in addition to recording the second-best attack clip (.559) in Mizzou history. The Nanjing, China native also contributed six digs and two aces to the Tigers' effort.
Against the Red Raiders, Wang posted 13 kills on a .476 hitting percentage with five digs, three blocks and two aces.
Wang is the first Tiger to win the honor since Jessica Vander Kooi's second career nod on September 25, 2006. In addition, she is the sixth person from Mizzou to win the honor in the last six years and the first Tiger freshman to win the award since Shen Danru did on September 9, 2002.
Ironically, this is the second time in the last two years that when Mizzou quarterback Chase Daniel wins the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week honor in football, Mizzou volleyball also has a player win praise. Both Daniel and Vander Kooi won the honor on September 4, 2006.
Colorado's Callie Webster won the conference's Defensive Player of the Week Award.
Mizzou Made Quick Work of Tech to Win Third-Straight
The Missouri Tiger volleyball team (10-6, 3-4 Big 12) recorded their first conference sweep of the season Saturday with a three-set win (30-23, 31-29, 30-16) over the Texas Tech Red Raiders. The win improved the Tigers' Big 12 conference record to 3-4 and gave them their first three-match winning streak since early September, after beginning conference play 0-4.
“I feel like we really had a great team effort from everyone across the board,” said Head Coach Wayne Kreklow. “Blocking, digging, I thought we did a nice job of everyone being responsible for their own job.”
The Tigers were very efficient on offense, hitting at a .387 clip. As a result, three Tigers scored double-digit kill totals with senior Na Yang on top of the board with 15 kills, notching a .419 hitting strike while also adding three aces, eight digs and three blocks. Freshman Weiwen Wang continued a strong week, scoring on 13 kills and three blocks. Sophomore Megan Wilson had 12 kills, committing only one error for a .524 hitting percentage, to go with three blocks.
Mizzou was again strong at the net, scoring on 13 team blocks to Texas Tech's five. Amanda Hantouli led all with five blokcs on the day.
Texas Tech (7-10, 1-7 Big 12) was led by Michelle Flores' 11 kills. Mizzou recorded its tenth-straight win over the Red Raiders.
Last Time We Met … Missouri-Texas A&M
November 22, 2006
The Missouri volleyball team (then 16-12, 10-9) found another bump in the road along the Big 12 highway Wednesday night, falling to Texas A&M (then 12-16, 5-15) in a sweep, 30-24, 30-20, 30-27, in a Thanksgiving-eve meeting that just was not gravy. On a bright note, junior libero Tatum Ailes (Bellevue, Neb.) snagged 18 digs on that night to tie Shen Danru on the all-time Mizzou leaderboard with 1,372 digs.
Senior Nicole Wilson (Lincoln, Neb.) led Mizzou with 13 kills, committing only one error on 27 attempts, hitting at a .444 clip. Wilson added two blocks and six digs. Senior Jessica Vander Kooi (Hinton, Iowa) was next in the kills category with 10, adding 12 digs as part of a double-double night.
Texas A&M was led by freshman Mary Batis with 15 kills, adding 14 digs and an ace. Senior Christi Hahn, playing in the last match of her career scored 14 kills, committing only one error, adding four blocks and an ace.
Mizzou was outblocked 11 to 4.5, outhit .259 to .151 and outaced 5 to 1.
Mizzou was down as much as 23-11 in game 1 before fighting back to make the final margin 30-24. In game two, A&M scored on 20 kills, employing an unstoppable .354 hitting percentage. In a scrappy game three, the teams tied 20 times on the way to a 30-27 final.
Klein's ACL is a Sideliner
The results from an MRI test conducted on September 10 came back with unsavory results as Mizzou OH sophomore Julianna Klein (Keota, Iowa) was diagnosed with a torn ACL in her left knee which was a result of an injury suffered in a September 8 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.
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.
Television For Iowa State's Visit to Columbia
The November 14 volleyball match in the Hearnes Center between the Missouri Tigers and the Iowa State Cyclones will be televised on the Mizzou Sports Network. FSN Midwest will air the match live in Mid-Missouri and St. Louis while those in Kansas City can catch live action on MetroSports.
The Wednesday match is slated for a 6:30 p.m., start, and will be the third televised match of the season.
FSN Midwest and FSN Rocky Mountain will air live coverage of Mizzou's match at Colorado on October 3 while CSTV will air live coverage of the Tigers' visit to Nebraska on October 31.
Big 12 Report
After a 0-4 start in conference play, the Missouri Tigers have rebounded to win three matches in a row. The Tigers won both their matches last week, holding off a pesky Colorado squad, winning in five games (after Missouri led 2-0) and swept Texas Tech at home. The Colorado game, broadcast live on FSN, was not only the second Big 12 win for Missouri, but also their fourth match out of their last five that had gone the full five games. The Tigers host Texas A&M on Wednesday before traveling to Waco, Texas to play the host Baylor Bears.
Baylor played one match last week and won it in convincing fashion, defeating Texas Tech 3-1. The win gave Baylor their second conference win and ninth overall. After starting 7-3, the Bears have stumbled out of the gates, losing five of their seven Big 12 matches. Before hosting Missouri, Baylor will travel to in-state rival Texas, the number seven team in the nation.
After dropping a heartbreaking match to Missouri, Colorado had the daunting task of playing the defending national champions, and current number one team in the nation, Nebraska. Unlike many of the Buffs' previous matches, however, the match wasn't to be decided in five games, as the team was swept by the Cornhuskers in three. After playing their last two matches at home, Colorado goes on the road for three of their next four matches, starting with road games at Kansas and Texas A&M this week.
By starting conference play with four wins in their first five matches, the Iowa State Cyclones had some confidence coming into their match against Kansas. They rode this confidence to a 3-0 sweep against the Jayhawks. They were, however, unable to defeat Oklahoma in their next conference tilt, losing in five close games to the Sooners. The Cyclones' schedule doesn't get any easier, as they travel to No. 1 Nebraska, before hosting No. 16 Kansas State.
After losing their last match to Nebraska, the Kansas Jayhawks were looking to bounce back against Iowa State and Texas A&M. Unfortunately, for the Jayhawks, this didn't come true, as they were swept by both teams. Kansas hosts rival Colorado this Wednesday, before traveling to Austin, to face the Texas Longhorns.
Despite being swept by Nebraska, and losing a five game heartbreaker to Texas, the Kansas State Wildcats moved up in the rankings from No. 17 to No. 16. After an open date on Wednesday, the Wildcats will look to rebound against Iowa State.
As has been said before, Nebraska just keeps plowing through all of their opponents. The # 1 Huskers, yet again, swept both of last week's opponents, Kansas State and Colorado. They defeated both teams with ease. Nebraska will be up against some stiff competition when it squares off against Iowa State and Oklahoma this week. Nebraska continues its streak of sweeps, as the number has now reached 13.
After dropping their first conference match to Missouri, Oklahoma had the Wednesday off in conference, so they decided to schedule TCU for a nonconference match. The Sooners made the treck to Fort Worth Texas, and promptly squeezed out a 3-2 victory over the Horned Frogs. The next Saturday, Oklahoma welcomed Iowa State to Norman, and once again went the full five games, also winning this match 3-2. The Sooners travel to Texas Tech before hosting Nebraska. With last week's two wins, the Sooners moved back into the Top 25, at # 25.
After losing its conference opener to Nebraska, Texas has reeled off six six consecutive Big 12 wins, including last weeks' wins over rival Texas A&M and Kansas State. The game against the Aggies was broadcast live on ESPNU. This week, the Longhorns host to instate rival Baylor, before welcoming Kansas to Austin.
After starting the season 10-0, the Texas A&M Aggies have struggled to start off conference play, as they have started with a 3-5 record. Last week, A&M split their matches, losing in three to Texas, before sweeping Kansas. The Aggies will look to build some momentum this week, as they travel to Missouri and host Colorado.
Texas Tech has now lost seven matches in a row, after being swept by Missouri and losing to Baylor in four. The Red Raiders will look to reverse that trend when they host Oklahoma this upcoming week.
-- Mike 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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