Box Score
Emily Wilson tallied a career-high 22 kills.
MOSCOW, Idaho -- Senior outside hitter Emily Wilson (Omaha, Neb.) tallied a career-high 22 kills as she led four Tigers with double-digit kills in a 3-2 (25-14, 17-25, 25-17, 19-25, 15-10) win over Idaho in match one of the Idaho Nike Invitational on Thursday night (Sept. 11). Wilson's 22 kills top her previous best of 20 set against Villanova during her freshman year. Sophomore Carly Kan (Honolulu, Hawaii) was sensational as well, posting 17 kills and a career-high 23 digs in the win.
"This was a great win for us and one that we really needed to have after a tough loss Tuesday," head coach Wayne Kreklow said. "The way we battled all night was very encouraging and we did a lot of things well tonight. I thought our pin hitters did a great job and we really did a great job of keeping the foot on the gas in the fifth set. 12 of our 15 points in set five were kills - that is phenomenal."
The win moves Mizzou to 5-4 on the year and 2-0 in true road contests. It was also Mizzou's third straight five-set match, as Mizzou is now 3-1 in five-set contests this season.
Wilson was sensational in the win, hitting .304 on 46 swings. She tallied five kills on seven errorless attempts in the fifth set as she dominated late in the frame. Kan nearly tallied a 20-20 match with 17 kills and 23 digs while hitting .262. She also tallied a pair of aces in the win while accounting for 19 points. Sophomore Emily Thater (Springfield, Mo.) tallied 12 kills on .364 hitting with three blocks while senior Whitney Little (Keller, Texas) posted 11 kills on .391 hitting with three solo blocks. The three blocks move her just five away from owning the school's career blocking record (currently 454 by Christi Myers).
Kan led the Tigers in digs but senior libero Sarah Meister (San Diego, Calif.) was sensational with 17 digs while converting all 17 of her service receptions. She also added an ace in what was one of her most complete matches of the year. Sophomore setter Loxley Keala (Kaneohe, Hawaii) also added 34 assists and 14 digs as it was her seventh consecutive double-double. Mizzou dominated the Vandals from the start of set one, hitting a blistering .385 with 18 kills. The Tigers were a perfect 15-for-15 on side-out chances in the opening frame. Kan led the Tigers with six kills and six digs in set one and Wilson pitched in four more kills on .429 hitting. Kan led all players with six digs in set one. It was the first time that Mizzou won the first set of a match since the season-opening match against Mississippi Valley State.
The Tigers opened a 4-0 lead and led 8-5 in the second set before a 4-0 run from the Vandals flipped the script. From there, behind the home crowd, Idaho dictated play and ran away to a 25-17 set win. After hitting .385 in the first set, Mizzou hit just .100 in set two and allowed Idaho to hit .324 with 15 kills. Mizzou got side outs on just nine of 24 chances in set two.
Coming out of the break, Mizzou seized momentum back with a 7-1 run behind the serving arm of Kreklow and blitzed the Vandals en-route to a 25-17 set win. Mizzou had 18 kills on .282 hitting in set three led by six from Little, who did so on nine errorless attempts. Wilson also pitched in five and Mizzou sided out on 15 of 18 chances in set three.
But just as Idaho did in set two, it came out and dominated early in set four, opening a 14-7 lead that forced a Tiger timeout. That was all Idaho needed to pull away with a 25-19 set win. But Mizzou came out firing in the fifth, tallying 12 kills in the five sets.
Mizzou will be back in action at 2:30 p.m. (CT) against Boise State. For all the latest on Mizzou volleyball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on twitter @MizzouVB.