Oct. 17, 2007
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Missouri Tiger volleyball squad (12-7, 5-5 Big 12) saw their longest winning streak of the year come to an end at five matches after being swept by the nation's top-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers (17-0, 10-0 Big 12), 29-31, 18-30, 14-30. The Tigers just narrowly missed becoming the first Big 12 team to win a set against the No. 1 Cornhuskers this season, as a late 29-28 lead slipped away from Missouri in front of a jam-packed Hearnes Center crowd of 6,059, the third-largest in program history. The Tigers were never able to recover from the devastating game one loss, as the Cornhuskers went on to earn their 16th sweep of the season.
"I was obviously pleased with the first game," said Head Coach Wayne Kreklow. "I thought we played with a lot of energy. I thought we played with a lot of tempo. We were doing a lot of things pretty well. Slowly after that, we started to dissolve.
"It was a great start and I was happy with some of the things we did early. Obviously, it was a disappointing finish. But, it certainly pointed out some areas that we have to continue to work on to get better."
Weiwen Wang (Nanjing, China) and Megan Wilson (Lincoln, Neb.) were the high scorers on the night for Missouri, landing 11 kills apiece. Wang tallied an impressive .529 hitting percentage.
"At this level, everyone knows what they are doing. You look for weak spots and you look for people that are struggling a little bit. You zero in on them and you go after them. They've got enough talent on that team, and they can do enough things well that they can zero in like that," Coach Kreklow said.
The Tigers fought back and forth with the Cornhuskers in game one, going point-for-point down to the wire before the game slipped through the hands of Missouri. In a game that saw a Mizzou season-high 16 tie scores and six lead changes, the Tigers were able to fend off a quick start by Nebraska and battle toe-to-toe with the top ranked team in the nation. With the game tied at 12 apiece, Nebraska went on a 5-1 run that was immediately answered by the Tigers. Missouri rallied off five straight of their own and seven of the next nine to take their first lead of the night at 20-19. The two teams traded points back and forth to a 28-28 tie, before the Tigers got a big kill by Megan Wilson to take over game point. The Cornhuskers, however, showed why they are the No. 1 team in the nation, tying the game with an impressive tip point from sophomore Kori Cooper. The Cornhuskers took a 30-29 lead with a block before senior Sarah Pavan threw down a kill to end the game, 31-29. Weiwen Wang led the way for Missouri with six kills, while Megan Wilson added four. Wang and Catie Wilson (Omaha, Neb.) each had two blocks, a game high for Missouri. Both teams notched an impressive .400 hitting percentage in the opening frame.
"I thought in the first game we passed well, and that was an area that we really gave them a lot of trouble. They had trouble stopping the middle," Kreklow stated. "Obviously, passing in games two and three went downhill."
The Cornhuskers took the momentum from their come-from-behind victory in game one and used it to handily defeat the Tigers in game two. Nebraska was able to take advantage of a combination of physical and mental errors committed by Missouri and quieted the Hearnes Center crowd as they beat up on the Tigers, 30-18. After committing just two errors in game one, the Tigers committed six in this contest, including a handful of mental mistakes that led to three service errors in the game for Nebraska. Missouri had an early 5-3 lead in the game, but it was quickly erased by an impressive 12-1 run by Nebraska to go up 15-6. The Cornhuskers lead grew to 24-14, before they finished off the Tigers to go up 2-0 in the match. Weiwen Wang and Megan Wilson led the way for the Tigers again with each scoring four kills. Amanda Hantouli (Omaha, Neb.) scored three. Tatum Ailes (Bellevue, Neb.) was the game leader in digs with four. The Tigers hit just .206 in the game.
Game three was more of the same from Nebraska, as they continued to dominate and completed the sweep of the Tigers. The Cornhuskers rode a 9-2 run to open the game and never looked back, defeating the Tigers by a lopsided score of 30-14. Missouri was able to hang close early cutting the lead to 10-5, but the Cornhuskers scored 20 of the next 29 points en route to a sweep of the Tigers. Megan Wilson had three kills in the game, while Na Yang (Shan Dong, China) contributed with two kills and three digs. Shayli Meyer (Sioux City, Iowa) came in off the bench and helped defensively with three digs of her own. The team committed five errors, and notched a hitting percentage of only .062 in the contest.
Despite the tough loss, the team isn't worried about a setback for the rest of the conference season.
"I don't think it was a setback, as not many people expected us to win anyway," senior Tatum Ailes said. "I think a lot of people will use it as fuel for the next game and remember how bad this hurt. Tomorrow we'll come back and get ready to go for Texas."
The Tigers will look to rebound from tonight's loss this Saturday, as they take on the No. 6 Longhorns at home, their second ranked opponent in as many games. The game is scheduled to start approximately one hour after the conclusion of the Missouri-Texas Tech football game.
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