Nov. 10, 2007
LUBBOCK, Texas - The Missouri Tiger volleyball squad (15-10, 8-8 Big 12) moves to a lone spot at sixth-place in the Big 12 after sweeping Texas Tech (7-15, 1-16 Big 12) on Saturday, 30-28, 30-26, 30-26. Sophomore Amanda Hantouli had a career-best 16 kills, on zero errors, as senior Na Yang added a match-best 17 kills in the Tiger victory.
Freshman Catie Wilson scored on seven of the Tigers' 14 blocks on the night. Sophomore Megan Wilson also added 10 kills as the Tigers hit .338 as a team on the night.
The Tigers fought a back-and-forth battle in game one with the Red Raiders, leading by as much as five several times only to see Tech battle back within a single point. A 9-2 run via service runs by Weiwen Wang and Caitlyn Vann allowed the Tigers some breathing room in leading 13-8, forcing a TTU timeout. However, Tech battled back to a 20-20 tie through several mini-runs of two or three points, countered only by a single side-out point by the Tigers. Catie Wilson with a solo block and an ace helped Mizzou to a 26-22 lead, but a two-point swing by Tech would put the score agains within two at 26-24 to force a Mizzou timeout. Although Mizzou scored the next two, Tech scored on the next four to tie at 28-28. A Hantouli kill, her fifth of the game and a Tech error allowed Mizzou to take the first stanza, 30-28.
A four-point Tiger run that included three blocks and ace led to a 20-13 Mizzou lead in game two. Although Tech fought back to within four, Mizzou took control in their 30-26 set win.
The Tigers and the Red Raiders were tied at 20-20 late in game three before the Tigers block party showed. Blocks by Weiwen Wang, Catie Wilson, Megan Wilson, and Na Yang fueled Mizzou to finish, defeating Tech in the finale 30-26.
With only four regular-season matches remaining, Mizzou will now look to Wednesday and its matchup at home against Iowa State. The night, termed "Storm the Cyclones", will allow fans entry into the match for $1 admission. The match will also be televised live on FSN Midwest, MetroSports in Kansas City, and KZOU-TV in Columbia.