Nov. 22, 2007
COLUMBIA, Mo. -
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COLUMBIA, Mo.— The Missouri volleyball squad (16-12, 9-10 Big 12) will conclude the regular season on Saturday, hosting Colorado in a 1 p.m., start. Preceding the match, Tiger seniors, Tatum Ailes, Na Yang, Lindsay Smith, and Luiza Jarocka will be honored in a pre-match ceremony. Admission is FREE.
Senior Day Match with Colorado Set for 1 p.m. Saturday
Start time of the season finale, Missouri taking on Colorado, in the Hearnes Center will begin at 1 p.m., Saturday, adjusting to accommodate for Mizzou's 7 p.m. football kickoff with Kansas. Before the match, Tiger seniors, Tatum Ailes, Na Yang, Lindsay Smith, and Luiza Jarocka will be honored.
The Tiger Seniors
#14 Luiza Jarocka
Coming to Mizzou for the first time this season, this Tiger was a national junior-college AVCA All-American at Missouri State of West Plains. This season, she has proved valuable in Mizzou's installation of the 6-2 offense. Three times this season she has scored double-doubles by tallying 10-or-more digs and assists in the same contest.
#12 Lindsay Smith
This Tiger has spent two years on the Mizzou squad, adding much depth in a defensive specialist role. She initially started on the university's club team before joining the team late last season. This year, she's played a valuable role in the 17 matches in which she has appeared. At No. 2 Nebraska in the Tigers' five-game standoff, she notched nine digs, adding an ace. She also earned Academic All-Big 12 honors this season.
#10 Na Yang
This Tiger will play in her 116th career match Saturday, having compiled one of the best Mizzou offensive resumes of all time. Entering this afternoon, she within 29 kills of breaking Mizzou's single-season kills record, and earlier this season, broke a Mizzou record in having 10 matches this season with 20-or-more kills, including a career-best 29 versus Baylor earlier this month.
Along with being named to the Preseason All-Big 12 team this season, she was named to the all-tournament team at the Tiger Invitational and CenturyTel Premier.
She has also led Mizzou in offensive production in three of the eight NCAA Tournament matches in which she has played, compiling a 4.10 Kills-per-game average in tournament play over three seasons. She will end her Tiger career in the all-time top five in kills, kills-per-game, attacks, solo blocks, and points scored. Also, she is a three-time Academic All-Big 12 student-athlete.
#9 Tatum Ailes
She will end her Tiger career as the best defensive player in Mizzou history. This 2005 Big 12 Libero of the Year stands second all-time in the Big 12 in digs and is the Mizzou all-time leader in the category, being just 31 shy of 2,000 total. She is also Mizzou's all-time leader in digs per game and has had 13 matches with 25-or-more digs, 38 matches with 20-or-more digs, 67 matches with 15-or-more digs, and 104 matches with 10-or-more digs.
In addition to being named the Magnolia Classic Tournament's Defensive MVP, earlier this year, she became the first defensive player to be named to the preseason All-Big 12 team. She was also named to the Academic All-Big 12 team this season.
Last Time We Met
The Missouri volleyball team (9-6, 2-4 Big 12) won another five game thriller on October 3, taking the match over Colorado in Boulder, 30-20, 30-19, 26-30, 28-30, 15-9. Freshman Weiwen Wang (Nanjing, China) was nearly unstoppable on the night, recording school records in blocks in a match (13) and most kills without an error (19). In addition, Weiwen added two service aces and six digs.
Weiwen also recorded the second-highest hitting percentage (.559, 19-0-34) all-time in a Tiger five-game match.
Four Tigers Named to Academic All-Big 12 Team
The Big 12 office announced that Mizzou's Tatum Ailes, Lindsay Smith, Lei Wang, and Na Yang were named to the conference's Academic All-Big 12 First Team. Yang, a senior business major from Shan Dong, China, made the list the third-consecutive year. Ailes, a senior business major from Bellevue, Neb., is making her first appearance on the team. Smith, a senior nursing major from Hermann, Mo., is also a first-time member of the academic team. And, Lei Wang, a business major from Shanghai, China, made her first appearance to the list.
The Tigers have had at least four named to the Academic All-Big 12 team for each of the last five years.
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.
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.
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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