Tigers Face No. 6 Washington In NCAA's First Round
11/27/2007 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 27, 2007
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NCAA First/Second Rounds Friday, November 30 - First Round
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COLUMBIA, Mo.-- The Missouri volleyball team (17-12) will once again continue its year, playing in its eighth-straight NCAA Tournament starting Friday in Seattle. Mizzou drew sixth-seeded and No. 6 nationally-ranked Washington (26-3) for its opener, having to play the Huskies on their home court. The Tigers are one of only 16 teams across the nation to make each NCAA Tournament since 2000. Should the Tigers become the first team ever to knock off a seeded team in the first round, they would play either Ole Miss or BYU in the second round.
Tigers Making Eighth-Straight Appearance In NCAA Tournament
- The Tigers are among good company in being one of only 16 teams to make each NCAA Tournament this decade, they include: Stanford, Santa Clara, Minnesota, UCLA, USC, Long Beach State, Florida, Florida A&M, Penn State, Colorado State, Hawaii, Louisville, Wisconsin, San Diego, Nebraska and Missouri.
- Mizzou enters the tournament with the exact overall record, 17-12, which they used last year to advance to the second round after defeating Santa Clara in the first round. In the second round, the Tigers scared eventual national runner-up Stanford, pushing the Cardinal to five games on its home floor in Palo Alto.
- This will mark Mizzou's third trip west for opening round play. In 2003, the Tigers lost to UC-Irvine in opening rounds in Los Angeles (at UCLA). Last year, the Tigers travel to Palo Alto, Calif., to visit Stanford.
- The Tigers have made the second-round of the NCAA Tournament in each of the last three years including a run in 2005 to the round of eight after upsetting Hawaii in the regional semifinal in State College, Pa.
- This will be Mizzou's first trip to Seattle and the State of Washington.
- History has not been kind to those who have to play a nationally-seeded team (only 16 teams in the entire field of 64 are seeded) in the first-round. The non-seeded teams are 0-112 all-time in the presence of a seeded-team in the first round. Seeding of the field began in 2000.
2007 ... Quickly
- The Tigers went 7-2 in non-conference play, losing only to Ole Miss in five games (but outscored the Lady Rebels) and Florida International in five games
- On September 8, leading-scorer-at-the-time sophomore OH Julianna Klein tore her ACL in game three against Houston. More details below.
- As a result of trying to find the best lineup to compensate the injury, the Tigers started Big 12 play 0-4.
- Since, the Tigers went 10-6 to close league play, losing to only one unranked team, Texas A&M in College Station.
- Within the stretch, the Tigers took No. 2 Nebraska to five games in Lincoln on October 31, becoming the first team since themselves in 2005 to push the Huskers that far on their home floor. The Tigers dropped that match 19-30, 34-32, 11-30, 30-22, 10-15.
Big 12 Recognition
The Big 12 Conference announced Monday afternoon the conference's year-end volleyball awards. Tiger senior outside hitter Na Yang (Shan Dong, China) earned honorable mention in regards to the All-Big 12 team while freshman middle-blocker Weiwen Wang (Nanjing, China) was named to the league's inaugural All-Freshman Team.
Yang led the Tigers with 4.47 kills per game this season posting a 4.54 average during conference play to finish fifth in the league. In addition, Yang tallied a school-record 10 matches with 20-or-more kills in totaling 496 in the regular season. Yang sits second all-time in the single-season kill category, just 20 from eclipsing Yvette Buhlig's 515 total set in 1992. Yang also set a single-season school record this season with 1,265 attacks.
Yang will finish her Tiger career in the all-time Mizzou top five in kills, kills-per-game, attacks, solo blocks, and points. Yang enters NCAA Tournament play with eight career matches in the post season and has posted a 4.10 kill average on a suburb .304 hitting strike during those contests.
Weiwen Wang was named to the league's All-Freshman team after a great frosh season. Overall, Wang scored on 2.96 kills per game and 0.88 blocks per game in her middle-blocking position. Wang has currently scored 15-or-more kills in eight contests this season and has added eight contests with five-or-more blocks. In addition, Wang finished eighth in the league with 0.25 aces per game during conference play.
At Colorado on October 3rd, Wang scored a school-record 13 blocks while adding a school-record 19 kills without an error to earn Big 12 Player of the Week honors on October 8. Against Colorado at home on November 24, Wang again had 19 kills without an error to tie her own accord.
Tiger Tales
- Senior OH Na Yang: Has played in eight NCAA Tournament matches, having a 4.10 kpg average on .304 hitting ... is second on Mizzou's single-season kills list with 496 entering play this weekend, 19 shy of Yvette Buhlig's 515 school-record total set in 1992 ... Yang is leading the team with 4.47 kpg this season, also second all-time on the single-season charts, up from her 3.11 total a year ago ... set Mizzou record with 10 matches this year with 20+ kills ... finished fifth in the Big 12 with 4.54 kpg in league matches this year ... broke Mizzou record with 1,265 attacks this season ... season and career best 29 kills against Baylor at home on November 2 ... honorable mention All-Big 12.
- Senior L Tatum Ailes: All-time Tiger leader in digs (19 and digs per game ... second all-time in Big 12 history, standing 12 digs from active senior Kansas State L Angie Lastra (K-State plays Tulsa in the first round of play Friday) ... 2005 Big 12 Libero of the Year (as a sophomore) ... has 106 matches with 10+ digs, 38 with 20+ and 13 matches with 25+ ... will be playing in ninth NCAA Tournament match, having 4.90 digs per game in her post-season career ... younger sister, Gabi, is the starting libero for top-seeded Stanford.
- Sophomore S Lei Wang: Averaged 12.46 assists per game a year ago to place fifth in the Big 12 ... numbers suffered this year as Mizzou installed the 6-2 offense to accommodate the injury to Julianna Klein ... Wang also became a right-side hitter when rotated into the front row, scoring 10+ kills in three contests, including scoring a duo of triple-doubles in the kill-assist-dig categories.
- Freshman MB Weiwen Wang: Named to the Big 12's All-Freshman Team, averaging 2.96 kpg and 0.88 bpg this season ... was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week on October 8 after setting single-match Tiger records in blocks (13) and kills without an error (19) in Mizzou win at Colorado ... on November 24, tied her own record by scoring 19 more kills without an error in the rematch with CU in Columbia, scoring on her career-high hitting percentage of .704 (19-0-27).
Scouting Washington ...
The No. 6 Washington Huskies are making their sixth straight NCAA Tournament appearance and their eighth overall. The Huskies, who won a national championship in 2005, have made three straight NCAA Final Four appearances and look to make it a fourth in 2007.
Washington, who finished second in the Pac-10 this season, a match behind Stanford, finished the regular season at 26-3 (15-3), and lost only three matches this year, all in five games. The Huskies' losses all came in Pac 10 play.
Washington is led by senior OH Christal Morrison, who leads the Huskies in several offensive categories, including kills (396), kills per game (4.12), and service aces (32). Morrison is the reigning Pac 10 Player of the Year and first team All-American.
Also contributing greatly to the outstanding Washington attack has been senior OH Stevie Mussie, who ranks second among the Huskies in kills with 348 on the season, and redshirt freshman OH Becky Perry, who ranks third on the team in hitting percentage at .366 and third in kills and kills per game. Junior MB Jessica Swarbrick finished second in the Pac 10 this season in hitting percentage at .397.
The Huskies are known for turning their play up another notch in the postseason. Morrison was named the NCAA Championship's Most Outstanding Player as a sophomore in 2005, and last season, Mussie was named the Seattle Regional's Most Outstanding Player en route to a second straight Final Four appearance. Sophomore S/L Tamari Miyashiro was also named to the Seattle Regional All-Tournament team.
The Tigers and Huskies will square off for the first time ever when they meet Friday in Seattle. Washington is hosting the first and second rounds of the tournament for the first time in three years. The Huskies have lost only once on their home floor this season, a 3-2 defeat at the hands of top-seeded Stanford.
-- Blair Miller
Scouting BYU ...
The Cougars of Brigham Young earned their 24th NCAA berth after finishing the season 21-7 (12-4), good for third place in the Mountain West Conference behind fellow tournament teams Colorado State and UNLV. The at-large bid keeps the Cougars among the leaders in all-time national tournament berths, having missed only three NCAA's all-time.
BYU finished the season on quite the hot streak, as they won eight of their last nine matches, their only loss coming in a 3-2 defeat at the hands of eventual champions UNLV in the Mountain West Conference Tournament.
BYU finished the season in the top five in every major statistical category in the MWC. The Cougars are led by junior MB Rachel Dyer, who leads the team with a .415 hitting percentage, tops in the MWC, and senior OH Chelsea Goodman, who leads the team with 451 kills and 4.42 kills per game, and finished third in the MWC in total points.
Defensively, the Cougars are just as balanced as they are on the offensive side of the net. They ranked third in the MWC in blocks and fifth in digs, and posted seven shut outs in conference play.
A so-called "battle of the cats" has yet to take place, as Missouri and Brigham Young have yet to ever play each other. Should each team win Friday, however, they will face off Saturday for the first time with a NCAA sweet-sixteen appearance on the line.
-- Blair Miller
Scouting Ole Miss ...
Ole Miss is coming off of its most successful regular season in school history, while earning their second consecutive NCAA berth. Ole Miss finished the regular-season third in the Southeastern Conference overall standings and second in the SEC Western Division. The 14 wins in league play set the school record for SEC wins and locked up the program's first-ever winning conference record. The 25 wins marks the most wins in a season for the Rebels since the 1989 season and is only the second winning season for the Rebels since the 1994 season.
Several Rebels were honored by the league coaches for their performances on the year as junior setter Rachel Kieckhaefer was named an All-SEC second team selection and outside hitter Jackie Jones was named to the All-Freshman team. Head Coach Joe Getzin was named SEC Co-Coach of the year, sharing the honor with Florida head coach Mary Wise, as he earned SEC Coach of the Year honors for the second-straight season.
The Rebels were led by senior outside hitter Katie Kramer, who became only the 12th Rebel to break the 1,000 mark for career kills. Senior libero Tara Langley also broke the single-season and career dig marks. With 611 digs in the regular season, Langley became one of only five players to break the 600 dig mark in the history of the Southeastern Conference.
Kieckhaefer tallied 1198 assist on the year, equally distributing her sets to Katie Kramer, Caitlin Weiss, Emily Jones, Lauren Moffett, all of whom had over 200 kills on the season.
-- Mike Wojtychiw
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.
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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