University of Missouri
Duke
Tigers Fall to Duke in Sweet 16
12/10/2010 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Dec. 10, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Mizzou volleyball team fell, 3-1 (19-25, 25-21, 19-25, 22-25), in the NCAA Tournament regional semifinal to the No. 12 seed Duke Blue Devils inside Rec Hall at Penn State on Friday (Dec. 10). The loss eliminates the Tigers from the NCAA Tournament and ends their season. Despite the loss, the Tigers' 22 wins this season are their most since 2005 and the regional semifinal appearance is the deepest that the Tigers have advanced in the tournament since 2005 as well. Senior outside hitter Paola Ampudia (Cali, Colombia) led Mizzou with 21 kills in the match, good for her eighth 20-kill performance this season. She also pulled in 10 digs for her 13th double-double of the season.
"Duke consistently, throughout the night, served and passed better than we did and that was the story of the match. It just wasn't our night," head coach Wayne Kreklow said. "It's always a tough locker room in there, but you try to remind them that it was a great season. They don't want to hear that now because everyone is disappointed, but only one team is going to finish this tournament on a win. They had a great season and we wish we could have made it one more, but it just wasn't our night."
"I think we had a phenomenal season," senior outside hitter Julianna Klein said. "Coming in everyone knew that we were going to be pretty good, but never in our wildest dreams did I think would be here playing here in the Sweet 16 tonight."
"I couldn't have asked for a better freshman season," setter Molly Kreklow said. "We had great leadership from the seniors and overall, it was a lot better than any of us could have expected."
Duke's serving kept the Tigers out of system most of the night while the Duke offense was in rhythm throughout the match. In fact, Duke hit .283 with 63 kills in the match while limiting Mizzou to just .199 hitting and 52 kills. Duke also pulled in 75 digs to the Tigers' 54, a big reason why Mizzou was outhit in the match.
Aside from Ampudia's match-high 21 kills, the Tigers also got good performances from Julianna Klein (Keota, Iowa), who posted 12 kills, and freshman setter Molly Kreklow (Delano, Minn.), who spread 47 assists on 52 Tiger kills. Senior libero Caitlyn Vann (Mucie, Ind.), who came into the match as the NCAA Tournament leader with 59 digs, tallied 16 in the match to lead the Tigers.
In all, Mizzou's block was strong as it registered 12 in the match, one off of its season-best, while finishing with a season-best 22 block assists. Brittney Brimmage (East St. Louis, Ill.) led Mizzou with seven blocks while adding six kills on .294 hitting while Lisa Henning (Blue Springs, Mo.) added six blocks and six kills as well.
Senior Catie Wilson (Omaha, Neb.) closed her career with five kills on 10 errorless attacks as she finishes her career as the seventh-most efficient hitter in program history. She also pitched in three blocks. Weiwen Wang (Nanjing, China) also played in her final match as a Tiger and tallied two kills with one block assist in just two sets.
Mizzou came out sluggish in the first set and despite getting the first kill from Klein, Mizzou struggled with its attack, falling behind 7-2 in the early in the set. Mizzou called timeout at that point and made a rally, but that five-point cushion that Mizzou gave up turned out to be a decisive run as Duke claimed the first frame, 25-19. Mizzou got a great performance from Ampudia in the first set as she led the Tigers with five kills on .364 hitting. But that wasn't enough to counter the Duke offense, which hit .438 with 17 kills. Every Duke attacker finished with at least a .333 clip in the set.
The Tigers shored up their defense and ran out to a 15-10 lead at the media timeout in the second set. Duke rattled off the next three points following the timeout, but a block from Ampudia and Wilson ended that run. But Duke rallied to tie the score at 16, forcing a Mizzou timeout. Following the stoppage, the Tigers responded, winning four of the next five to take a 20-17 lead following a savvy tip shot from Henning. That was all the Tigers needed to take the second set, 25-21 after a left-side kill from Ampudia, her 12th of the match.
Ampudia led Mizzou with seven kills in the set as Mizzou's offense was firing on all cylinders, hitting .289 with 17 kills in the set. After tallying just one kill in the first, Brimmage posted three kills on six swings in the second. But the Tiger defense was the story of the second, pulling in 18 digs and accounting for three blocks while slowing the Duke offense, which his .438 in the first - to just .233 hitting with 14 kills. Vann led all players with seven digs in the set, moving her match total to 13 through two sets.
Duke took the first five points of the third, but Ampudia and Brimmage combined for a block on the right side to put the Tigers on the board. Mizzou rallied to cut the lead to as little as 9-7, but Duke tallied the next five points to double up Mizzou, 14-7. Mizzou made a slight rally again, but couldn't overcome the Blue Devils, who claimed the set, 25-19. Mizzou hit just .053 in the set with seven kills and five errors, but the block kept the Tigers in it as they had six in the frame.
Mizzou fell behind 5-1 in the fourth and rallied to as close as 11-9 in the early going, but Duke extended its lead back to five at 15-10 at the half-way point of the set. But that lead was all Duke needed to pull away from the Tigers as it claimed the set, 25-22, despite a late rally from the Tigers.
Mizzou will host its season-ending banquet on Jan. 23. For all the latest on Mizzou volleyball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com.
