Nov. 18, 2006
Box Score
LAWRENCE, Kan. -
The Mizzou volleyball team (16-11, 10-8) won a hard-fought match at Kansas (10-17, 3-15) Saturday night, winning 30-24, 28-30, 32-30, 30-21. The Tigers had to come back from five points behind in game 3, overcoming 17 ties to win an exciting set. The Tigers swept the 2006 Border Showdown, presented by Midwest Ford Dealers and take a 5.5 to 4 lead in the all-sports series. Senior Jessica Vander Kooi (Hinton, Iowa) and junior Na Yang led Mizzou with 17 kills apiece.
Vander Kooi hit at an impressive .400 clip, scoring her 17 kills with only one error on 40 attempts. Yang also was very efficient, hitting at a .357 clip. Freshman Julianna Klein and senior Nicole Wilson added 15 and 14 kills, respectively.
Yang also added four solo blocks, recording 13 total in the past five matches. Only seven other performance have seen a Tiger record more solo blocks in a match. Yang's performance was part of a 11-block night for the Tigers, outlasting Kansas (4) in the category.
Lei Wang spread 60 assists on the night, leading the team to a .286 hitting percentage and was most impressive in game four as Mizzou hit at a .405 clip in the stanza with 21 kills.
Junior Tatum Ailes is now 18 digs from Shen Danru for the all-time digs record at Mizzou, adding 20 against Kansas. Abbie Booth also added 11 digs.
The Tigers forced a quick Jayhawk timeout in game 1 after jumping to a 10-3 lead, spurred from a 8-1 run that including three solo blocks by Na Yang. KU fought back, forcing a Mizzou timeout after scoring five-consecutive points as part of a 6-1 stretch, to close the lead to two at 11-9. Kansas closed to within one at 12-11 before a serving run by Vander Kooi that included an ace gave Mizzou a comfortable five-point lead at 16-11. Kansas called their final timeout at the 25-20 mark after an enduring rally that included two jousts at the net that was won by Mizzou on Nicole Wilson's fifth kill of the game. The teams traded points to close game 1 with a 30-24 win.
Mizzou was impressive at the net in the opening frame, tallying six blocks, four of which were solo scores. The Tigers outhit KU .256 to .140 in the game.
Game two started as heavily offensive affair as with the tie scored at 14-14, Mizzou had not committed a hitting error and was hitting .526 while Kansas started the frame hitting at a .375 clip. The Tigers employed a 3-1 run to force a KU timeout while up 19-16. Kansas chewed at the lead and claimed a tie at 25-25 to force a Mizzou timeout. The comeback was spurred KU's Jana Correa and Emily Brown who combined for five kills apiece in the stretch. The Jayhawks took back the lead after at 27-26 and extended the tally to 28-26 to force Mizzou's final timeout. Yang scored her sixth kill of the stanza to tie the score at 28-28 and force KU's final timeout. Kansas win the game with two-straight points, ending the game with a Savannah Noyes kill.
Kansas scored 23 kills in the second frame and just barely outhit the Tigers by a .346 to .320 advantage. Unlike game one, Mizzou was held to zero blocks in the second stanza.
Mizzou fell five points in game three, behind at 17-12, but recovered with a 5-1 run to pull within one at 18-17 and force a KU timeout. Following the timeout, a Kansas hitting error, put the score tied at 18-18. The score remained tight as the teams tied seven times on their way to 25-25. A Kansas hitting error gave Mizzou a 26-25 lead and force a KU timeout. Following the stoppage, a Vander Kooi kill gave the Tigers a 27-25 lead. Kansas scored on two straight to tie at 27-all. Vander Kooi used another kill to put Mizzou up 28-27, but a Kansas kill tied the score at 28-all. Vander Kooi scored again to make the score 29-28, but a Vander Kooi service error tied the score at 29. A double-hit on the set by Kansas gave Mizzou a 30-29 advantage. A service error by Klein tied the score at 30. Yang's 12th kill of the match put Mizzou up one at 31-30. On the next point, Lei Wang won a joust at the net and gave Mizzou the 32-30 set win.
The 17 ties in game three tied a Mizzou season-high. The Tigers won a game with Villanova early in the year that included 17 ties. In what was a scrappy game compared to a highly-efficient game 2, Kansas outhit Mizzou by a .164 to .160 rate.
Kansas took the initial 4-2 lead in game 4, but a Vander Kooi six-point serving streak gave Mizzou an 8-4 lead. The run included a solo block and kill by Lei Wang. The Tigers extended their lead with a 6-2 run that spread the lead to 17-11. An Abbie Booth six-point serving run which included six Tiger kills, three coming from Nicole Wilson alone, gave Mizzou a 23-12 lead. Kansas scored four straight to force Mizzou to call a timeout, pulling within seven at 24-17. But Mizzou was persistent after the stoppage, scoring three straight and putting the game out of reach with a 30-21 game win for the match.
Nicole Wilson led Mizzou with six kills in the final frame, while Na Yang added five. The Tigers hit an impressive .405 in the fourth set to Kansas' .225.
The Tigers will next travel to College Station, Texas, for a Thanksgiving-eve meeting with Texas A&M. The match will be Mizzou's next-to-last match of the regular season. Mizzou will wrap Big 12 play on Friday by hosting Texas Tech in the Hearnes Center.
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