Oct. 30, 2007
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COLUMBIA, Mo.— The Mizzou volleyball team (13-9, 6-7 Big 12) will travel to No. 2 Nebraska (19-1, 11-1 Big 12) to take on the Huskers on Halloween night. With a 7 p.m., start, the match will be aired live on CSTV. The Tigers are coming off a heart-stopping win at Kansas Saturday while Nebraska is fresh off a bye but reeling after a straight-set loss to now-No. 3 Texas last Wednesday. Mizzou is currently tied for sixth in the Big 12.
Tricks and Treats – Tigers on Halloween
Mizzou is 4-6 all time on October 31, better known as Halloween. The Tigers last played on the date in 2002, sweeping Southeast Missouri State in Cape Girardeau. The Kreklows are officially 2-0 on Halloween, having also swept Iowa State in 2001.
Mizzou has played Nebraska twice on Halloween, last meeting on the date in 1992 in Lincoln. The then-No. 5 Huskers swept the Tigers 15-1, 15-3, 15-7. The Huskers were led by Eileen Shannon and Allison Weston on the night with 10 kills apiece. Mizzou's single-season kill leader, Yvette Buhlig was held to a team-high nine kills on that night. In game one, Nebraska outhit the Tigers .526 (12-2-19) to -.042 (6-7-24). Frightening!
It's Just A Thriller! … Tigers Brew Jayhawk Stew in Saturday's Crazy Match
Missouri Tiger volleyball squad (13-9, 6-7 Big 12) pulled off a classic Border Showdown match with Kansas (10-13, 3-10 Big 12) Saturday in Lawrence, winning 30-32, 30-22, 33-31, 26-30, 15-12, in one of the longest matches in Mizzou history. Senior Tatum Ailes (Bellevue, Neb.), playing in her 111th career match, became the first Tiger in Mizzou history to record 100 career matches with 10-or-more digs, nabbing a season-high 32 to lead the Tigers on the afternoon. Ailes also had two aces and an improbable pancake dig in the fifth set that stymied a Kansas run.
As a result of this weekend's point gains by the Tiger cross country and women's swimming teams, with the volleyball win, Mizzou takes a 5-1.5 advantage in the 2007-08 Border Showdown with Kansas.
Sophomore Lei Wang (Shanghai, China) recorded her second career triple-double, scoring 10 kills while adding 45 assists, 11 digs and six blocks.
Offensively, the Tigers were again led by senior Na Yang (Shan Dong, China) who scored 22 kills on .310 hitting, tallying a season-high 16 digs and five blocks for her fifth double-double of the season and the 18th of her career. In total, six Tigers scored double-digit kill totals with freshman Weiwen Wang notching 15 and Amanda Hantouli and Catie Wilson contributing 12. Megan Wilson and Lei Wang also added 10 on the day.
Hantouli also had a career-high eight blocks on the afternoon as the Tigers scored on 19 team blocks.
Mizzou dropped the first frame, 32-30, nearly coming back from an eight-point deficit and a scoring error that had the teams change benches prematurely.
CANDY CORN: (More from the KU match)
- The 261 combined points in the match ties a Missouri program record, previously occurring in the 2003 NCAA Tournament versus UC-Irvine in Los Angeles. That final score, 27-30, 33-31, 30-25, 28-30, 12-15, but the Tigers were on the lower part of the game five score.
- Mizzou set a season-high in kills (81).
- It was Mizzou's first five set match since October 3rd and was the squad's eighth of the season, tied now for the third-most ever in a Tiger season (1984, 1-7). The Mizzou school record for fivers in a season is 10, set in 1985.
Na's Ghost (Record) Busters
Senior OH Na Yang (Shan Dong, China) is having a career-best season, having recorded 369 kills on the 2007 season and has already surpassed her 2006 total (351). Yang with her 11 kills versus Kansas State reached 1,300 kills for her career, becoming the fifth Tiger to do so. Yang is also just 154 kills from taking the fourth spot all-time on the career kills list from Christi Myers.
Yang has also positioned herself, with 4.39 kills per game this season, as having the third-best KPG total in a Tiger season. Yang is just behind Lisa Morris' 4.40 KPG, recorded in 2000 and still a far way from the school record set by Yvette Buhlig in 1992.
Haunting (Scouting) Nebraska …
Nebraska is coming off their first loss in nearly a year after being swept by Texas Wednesday in Austin, Texas. The loss snapped the Cornhuskers' 29-match win streak dating back to last season and was the first time Nebraska has been swept since 1997, which was also at the hands of the Longhorns.
Also snapped was Nebraska's 59-set winning streak. The Cornhuskers had only dropped six sets since their last loss and only one this season.
Senior RS Sarah Pavan led a struggling offense for Nebraska with 17 kills, but the Huskers failed to find rhythm offensively. They managed a season-low .145 hitting percentage, nearly .200 points below their season average. No Husker finished with a hitting percentage over .300 and Pavan was the only who recorded double-digit kills. Their 20 points in the third set were a season-low.
The Cornhuskers' struggles were not, however, limited to the offense. They allowed Texas to hit .371, a season high against Nebraska, including .438 in the last set. Three Longhorns finished with hitting percentages over the .450 mark. Nebraska also tallied only seven total blocks, fewer than Texas had in the first set alone.
After dropping their only match to Colorado last year, the Huskers swept their four remaining Big 12 matches en route to a national championship.
The Huskers and Tigers met earlier this year in Columbia, Mo. Missouri was primed to hand Nebraska their first set loss in conference play after going up 29-28 in the first set. The Huskers, however, would battle back for the set win en route to a sweep of the Tigers.
Senior MB Tracy Stalls recorded 15 kills on her way to a whopping .737 hitting percentage for the match while also recording a season-high six blocks in their triumph over the Tigers. Sophomore S Rachel Holloway also had a career-high 55 blocks.
Missouri's last win in Lincoln came in an upset victory in 2003, but Nebraska owns the all-time series. The Huskers have won 64 of 67 all-time, with 51 of those victories coming as sweeps of the Tigers.
-- Blair “Count Dracula” Miller
Klein's ACL is a Black Cat (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.
Ailes, Big 12's Defensive Player of the Week – October 15
The Big 12 Conference announced Monday afternoon that Missouri senior Tatum Ailes won the conference's Defensive Player of the Week award. Ailes (Bellevue, Neb.) proved once again last week to be a defensive force in leading the Tigers to sweeps over Texas A&M and Baylor, helping Mizzou (12-6, 5-4 Big 12) to its fifth-straight victory. Ailes tallied 6.67 digs per game, 40 total, in the two matches and maintained a .951 serve-reception percentage in cleanly fielding 39-of-41 serve attempts coming her way last week.
Mizzou now has back-to-back conference award winners for the first time in program history as freshman Weiwen Wang won the Big 12's Offensive Player of the Week award last Monday. This award is also Ailes' first weekly award from the conference. Ailes won Big 12 Libero of the Year honors in 2005.
In Wednesday's match versus Texas A&M, Ailes notched 19 digs while fielding 23-of-24 serve receptions. At Baylor on Saturday, Ailes had 21 digs to go with 15-of-16 serve receiving attempts. In addition, Ailes added two aces in a row in game one to give Mizzou the game one lead over the Bears.
Mizzou has now won five straight on the way to a fifth-place tie with Iowa State in the Big 12 standings and will host No. 1 Nebraska Wednesday and No. 7 Texas on Saturday.
“Wendy” Wang Earns Big 12 Acclaim – October 8
The Big 12 Conference announced on October 8 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 on the week, which was part of a three-match winning streak at the time 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 was 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
The Scarecrow's Big 12 Report
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-- Mike “Monster Mash” Wojtychiw
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.
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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