Nov. 28, 2009
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The Mizzou volleyball team lost its final match of the regular season at Texas A&M, 3-0 (18-25, 27-29, 20-25), Saturday afternoon (Nov. 28) at Reed Arena. The loss likely marks the final match of the season for Mizzou as it falls to 18-14 and 9-11 in Big 12 play. Junior Paola Ampudia (Cali, Colombia) led Mizzou with 26 kills in the match, pushing her season total to 410, making her the ninth player in the program history to post at least 400 kills in a single season. Ampudia's 26 kills in the match are also a Big 12 three-set high this season and a Mizzou program record for kills in a three-set match. She also hit .295 with only eight errors on 61 attacks, also a Big-12 three-set high this season. Ampudia pulled in 11 digs in the match, marking her sixth double-double of the season.
Seniors Amanda Hantouli (Omaha, Neb.) and Lei Wang-Francisco (Shanghai, China) also shined in what was likely their last match as Tigers. Hantouli posted nine kills on a team-best .350 hitting while Wang-Francisco spread 38 assists in the match, averaging 12.67 per set. Wang-Francisco ends the regular season having played in more career sets (451) than any other player and the third-most matches all-time at 123. She also has passed out 4,816 assists in her career, third-most in a career at Mizzou.
Mizzou's back row had a fine match in the loss as it corralled 63 digs - five more than the Aggies - highlighted by 19 from libero Caitlyn Vann (Muncie, Ind.). Vann finishes the season with 484 digs, the fourth-most in a single season at Mizzou. Sophomore Annie Lopez (St. Louis, Mo.) pulled in 11 digs in the match as well.
Ampudia led the Tigers in the early stages of the first set as she seemed to attack from every spot on the floor. She helped Mizzou build an early lead at 9-8 lead as she and Hantouli roofed a Sarah Ammerman attack. The Aggies rallied behind their home crowd and eventually took a 20-14 lead in the set, due in large part to some Tiger miscues. Although Ampudia continued to pile up the kills, the Aggie attack - which is tops in the Big 12 - was too much for Mizzou as they took the first, 25-18.
Ampudia paced Mizzou in the set with 10 total points and nine kills while Mizzou posted on .222 hitting. The problem for Mizzou in the first was the Tigers' inability to slow the Aggie attack, which hit .319 and posted 19 kills in the set. Sophomore Annie Lopez (St. Louis, Mo.) led Mizzou with six digs in the frame while Mizzou pulled in 21 as a team.
The Tigers took advantage of several nice plays from its back line, including a huge dig from libero Caitlyn Vann (Muncie, Ind.) that led to a Hantouli kill, as they raced out to a 5-2 lead to open the second. Mizzou kept the foot on the gas despite a brief rally from the Aggies and opened at 9-5 advantage. The teams traded side outs until Mizzou found itself up 15-10 after a bad set from Aggie setter Kristin Schevikhoven. A&M took four of the next five points until back-to-back kills from Julianna Klein (Keota, Iowa) gave Mizzou back its four-point cushion at 18-14. A&M seemed to grab some momentum late in the set, but back-to-back points, highlighted by a solo block from Rosa Medrano (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic), put Mizzou up 22-19, forcing an Aggie timeout. Out of the stoppage, Texas A&M scored three straight to knot the score at 22. All three Aggie points in that span came on Tiger errors. Although the set was eventually forced to extra points, that three-point span seized the momentum for A&M as they took the second, 29-27, fending off three set points from Mizzou in extra points.
Through two sets, Mizzou hit .306 with 36 kills, 16 of which came off the arm of Ampudia. Mizzou also committed only 10 attack errors in the first two frames, but the Aggie attack was too much as it outdid Mizzou in nearly every category. Mizzou struggled to slow the Aggie attack as it hit .363 with 39 kills and had just six attack errors. Through two sets, Mizzou had out-dug and out-blocked the Aggies and handed out more assists.
On her final kill of the second set - which gave Mizzou its 27th point in the frame - Ampudia tallied her 400th kill of the season. She becomes only the ninth player in program history to tally at least 400 kills in a season and the eighth to do so under the tutelage of Wayne and Susan Kreklow.
Mizzou opened the first set with two bad passes off of its serve receive and Texas A&M took advantage of that as it opened a 2-0 lead. Hantouli put the Tigers on the board after a quick set from classmate Lei Wang-Francisco (Shanghai, China), but A&M took the next three points and opened a 5-1 lead. That rough start seemed to rattle the Tigers as A&M opened a 14-7 lead as Mizzou struggled regain its composure. Ampudia kept Mizzou in the set with five straight points as it cut the lead to 14-12.
That two-point lead stood until two straight Aggie points extended the lead to 21-17. That rally was all that A&M needed to put the match away as it took the third, 25-20.
The Tigers will await the announcement of the NCAA Tournament field tomorrow at 2 p.m. For all the latest on Mizzou volleyball, stay tuned to www.MUTigers.com.