New Banners in the Hearnes Center will give venue a new look
 
New Banners in the Hearnes Center will give venue a new look
  
 
October Slate Starts with Cyclones, New Look to Hearnes

New banners add a unique look to arena

Sept. 30, 2008

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COLUMBIA, Mo.--The Missouri volleyball squad (7-6, 1-2 Big 12) will open the October calendar on Wednesday in hosting Iowa State (9-6, 1-3 Big 12) in a Big 12 tussle that will begin at 6:30 p.m. The Cyclones, in its previous match Saturday, lost a four-setter to Nebraska while the Tigers, on the same day, won its second-straight match in a sweep over SIU Edwardsville. In addition, the Hearnes Center has a new look - complete with 35-foot-long banners that line each of the four ends of the arena.

Big 12 Volleyball, Iowa State at Missouri,
Columbia, Mo., October 1, 6:30 p.m.
Multimedia
TV: none.
Live Webcast: Missouri All-Access , sub. required
Live Stats: GameTracker

Coaches
Missouri (7-6, 1-2 Big 12): Wayne Kreklow (Drake '80), 334-66 overall (10th year), 67-37 at Mizzou (4th year), 176-83 at with wife at Mizzou (9th year), 14-2 vs Iowa State
Iowa State (9-6, 1-3 Big 12): Christy Johnson (Nebraska, 1996), 65-46 overall (4th year), 65-46 at Iowa State (4th year), 2-2 vs Missouri

Scouting Iowa State ...
Don't let the Iowa State Cyclones' 1-3 Big 12 record fool you. The Cyclones came close to knocking out the No. 2 team in the nation, Nebraska on Saturday. They lost 3-1 but still managed to have more aces and digs then the Cornhuskers. They also kept Nebraska's hitting percentage at .095 during the second set in which ISU won 25-20 and fought, but dropped the third set to the Huskers, 27-25. The Cyclones only Big 12 victory has come against Texas A&M while dropping matches to No. 3 Texas, Kansas (in five sets) and Nebraska.

Iowa State senior middle blocker Jen Malcom has 74 total blocks on the season and 23 of those coming in four conference matchups. Another leader is sophomore outside hitter Victoria Henson. Henson leads the team in points, 236.5 and kills, 209. She also is second on the team with five service aces in conference play.

As a team the Cyclones have out-blocked conference opponents 2.27 to 2.00 blocks per game and service aces 20 to 16. Iowa State falls short in kills per game 208-198.

-- Dana Burton

Last Time We Met ... def. Iowa State, 3-1, November 14, 2007
The Missouri Tiger volleyball team (16-10, 9-8 Big 12) earned a hard-fought victory over the Iowa State Cyclones (15-12, 9-8 Big 12) on Wednesday night, defeating the Cyclones 30-28, 30-26, 24-30, 30-24 in front of 2,892 fans. The win by Missouri moves them into a tie for fifth place in the conference with Iowa State. The victory is the third straight for the Tigers and marks the first time Missouri has been over .500 in conference play since they were 5-4.

"Obviously I'm pleased with the way we played tonight," said Missouri Head Coach Wayne Kreklow . "This was a really big win for us. Anytime you can beat a team above you in conference it's huge."

"It was nice to battle back the way we did after game three. If you want to compete in a good conference like this, it's something you've got to do."
Na Yang (Shan Dong, China) once again had a record setting night for Missouri, recording a double-double with 22 kills and 12 digs on the match. Her 22-kill performance marks the tenth time this season that she has recorded 20 or more kills in a match, a new school record. Yang breaks Shen Danru's previous record of nine in 2003.
Three other Tigers recorded double-digit kill totals on the match. Amanda Hantouli (Omaha, Neb.) threw down 14, while Weiwen Wang (Nanjing, China) and Megan Wilson (Lincoln, Neb.) added 13 apiece. Hantouli also recorded a hitting percentage of .500, the most of any player. Tatum Ailes' (Bellevue, Neb.) 29 digs tied the conference season high for digs in a four-game match.

Last Time Out ... SIU Edwardsville, Saturday
The Missouri volleyball team (7-6 Overall, 1-2 Big 12) took a quick break from conference play to host the SIU Edwardsville Cougars (2-6) Saturday night. The Tigers swept the Cougars, who are in its first year of reclassification from NCAA Division II to Division I, in just over an hour's time, 25-8, 25-21, 25-22. Julianna Klein (Keota, Iowa) scored three aces on night and a total of 16 points in scoring 11 kills and adding two solo blocks.

Right behind Klein, Amanda Hantouli (Omaha, Neb.) had 10 points and the team's highest hitting percent, .571, with nine kills and only one error on 14 attempts.

The team digs leader was Caitlyn Vann with 13 throughout the three sets. Vann and Megan Wilson added two aces apiece as part of the team's eight tally.

Lei Wang spread 36 assists, adding six digs and an ace.

Sydney Winslow led SIUE with 15 kills. Mallory Clements had an impressive 23 assists and eight digs.

The First to 25 ... Wins!
Okay, new rules. For the fourth time in a decade collegiate volleyball has made a major change to the game. In 2001, scoring went from side-out to rally. In 2003, we added the libero. In 2005, the libero could serve. AND, in 2008: we play to 25. Why keep a record book anymore? By the way, that's a joke.

Sets (yes, not games - that's an NCAA-mandated change in terminology) will be played to 25 points, with the fifth set still concluding at 15 points (you still have to win by two). The NCAA is progressively becoming more consistent with the FIVB (international federation) rules, and the change in scoring is a step in that direction. What does this mean bottom line? Shorter matches and a more concentrated effort to stop scoring runs before they the set becomes quickly out of hand.

In the Preseason ...
Mizzou was picked to finish fifth in the Big 12 by the league coaches. Sophomore MB Weiwen Wang (Nanjing, China) was the lone Tiger selected to the Preseason All-Big 12 team.

In her role, Wang led the Tiger team last year in service aces (34), and was second on the team in kills per set (2.96), blocks per set (0.89), hitting percentage (.256), and points per set (3.78). In addition, "Wendy" was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week on October 8 after posting school records with 19 errorless kills and 13 total blocks in the October 3 match at Colorado. She repeated the 19 errorless kills when the Buffaloes came to Columbia on November 24.

Vann Earns Second Big 12 Honor ... September 22
The Big 12 office announced on September 22 that Missouri sophomore Caitlyn Vann (Muncie, Ind.) was named as the league's volleyball Defensive Player of the Week for week of September 14-20, marking the second time that she won the honor in a span of three weeks. Vann posted a Big 12-leading 7.25 digs per set in matches against Oklahoma (Sept. 17) and Baylor (Sept. 21).  She combined for 58 digs -- 33 at Oklahoma and 25 versus Baylor -- in the Tigers' two losses Vann was also perfect in 23 service reception attempts on the week, all in the match against the Bears. 

As Maneater reporter Ross Taylor put it, "Sophomore libero Caitlyn Vann was nothing short of fantastic, or `Vann-tastic,' a term coined by several Missouri fans to yell following her serves. [...]

"With Missouri trailing 20-19 in the third set [against Baylor], Vann changed the match's momentum with a ridiculously athletic play. Diving to her right, Vann dug a well-struck ball with one arm. The ball carried over the net and landed in between six frozen Baylor defenders, helping Missouri salvage the third set."

Vann becomes only the third Tiger to earn conference player of the week honors twice in the same season. The last was Jessica Vander Kooi who earned the award twice in September 2006.

Vann Named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week ... September 8
Missouri sophomore Caitlyn Vann (Muncie, Ind.) was named as the Big 12's volleyball Defensive Player of the Week for the week of September 1-7. Vann, collecting her first league honor, helped the Tigers to a 2-1 record in the Spring Hill Suites at Arundel Mills Invitational in College Park, Md., on September 5-6, collecting 58 digs on the weekend (5.27 dps) including a Big 12 and career-high 34 in a five-set win over St. John's.

Mizzou swept host Maryland on that Friday and won a 59-tie, 27-lead-change thriller over St. John's, a 2007 NCAA regional semifinalist, on that Saturday. Kentucky, a 2007 NCAA-Tournament team, handed the Tigers its only loss in the tourney on that Saturday morning.

Vann, the team's libero, also had double-digit dig totals in the sweep of Maryland (13) and against Kentucky (11).

Vann leads the Big 12 by a wide margin with 5.21 digs per set so far this season. Texas' Heather Kisner is next on the roll with 4.50 dps. Vann is also in the nation's top 20 in the category.

Sophomore Julianna Klein was named to the All-Tournament team at Maryland, leading Mizzou with 4.00 kills per set.

Crazy Eights and Zero Seniors ...
What have we learned so far in 2008? If the Beijing Olympics taught us anything, it's that the number eight is a lucky number for the Chinese and in its culture, all the more evident with its beginning of the Olympic Opening Ceremony on 8-8-08 at 8:08:08 p.m.

The Missouri volleyball team in the 2008 season also wishes to employ the luck of the number EIGHT. The Tigers have been to EIGHT-consecutive NCAA Tournaments - every one of them in the decade, with Nebraska being the only other team in the Big 12 to match. For as young as the Tigers seemed last season, they return EIGHT to the team this season, five of which started in more than 20 matches last year. And, get used to the faces - there are zero seniors in 2008, meaning it will be a carbon-copy roster in 2009.

 "I look at us on paper and what we have returning, and that makes me feel positive about what we are able to do this year," said Head Coach Wayne Kreklow. "We've got a core group - we've got a returning setter, we've got a lot of returners from last year's team back."

Welcome Back, Klein ...
Not included in the list of "technical starters" from last season is junior OH Julianna Klein (Keota, Iowa). Klein started last season on a roll, recording kill-dig double-doubles in five of her seven matches played, averaging a then-team high 4.44 kills and 2.85 digs per set, and tabulating a career-high 26 kills in the season opener at Mississippi. But, in the September 7 match versus Houston, Klein went down in the third set, tearing the ACL in her left knee - her season would be over. However, Klein has bounced back, gone through rehab, and is ready to pick up where she left off.

"Jules has had a great spring in coming back from her injury," said Kreklow. "She's worked really hard in rehab and has consistently been ahead of all of her rehab goals, so she's really put in the time and effort in the training room to come back. I thought by the end of the spring she was close to where she was in the fall, so she's made a lot of progress off the court. She's obviously very anxious to get back out on the floor again and she's done a good job working on the little things, like her passing game. She's always been a big power hitter, and she's worked hard on the things that are going to be necessary for her to get where she wants to go if she wants to be all-conference, be an All-American player, and help us get back to the tournament again."

Setting the Table Again ...
Now in her fourth year in the Mizzou system, S Lei Wang (Shanghai, China) has a lot to look forward to in her redshirt-junior campaign. Having already guided the Mizzou ship in the last two years as setter, Wang has seemingly found her stride improve with each match experience. Oddly enough, her experience last year had to be tweaked a notch because of the injury to Klein. On occasion, Kreklow would utilize the 6-2 system, making Wang's play in the front row strictly at the net as a right-side hitter. Although her overall assist-per-set average was down because of the variety of positions that she had to play, Wang still recorded two triple-doubles including a 10 kill, 49 assist, and 15 dig effort versus No. 25 Oklahoma on September 29.

"I thought she had a great second half of last season," said Kreklow. "She really came on during the month of November and into tournament time and did a real excellent job. What we've worked on during the spring has been her individual defense and blocking. I think she's got a good grasp of what is required of her as a setter and I look for that to improve."

 

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Vann Tries Out For USA National Team

02/26/2009 - W. Volleyball

Last weekend in Colorado Springs, Colorado, junior setter for the Mizzou Tiger volleyball team, Caitlyn Vann, participated in the USA National Team tryouts.

Volleyball Standout Returns To Mizzou

02/17/2009 - W. Volleyball

In a glass case, adjacent to one of the many entrances in the Hearnes Center, hangs a red, white and blue jersey covered in black ink. Mostly silent and surrounded by memories of the past, the name on the jersey speaks loudly than any piece of memorabilia in that case: Hunter.

Tiger Volleyball Inks Three for `09

11/17/2008 - W. Volleyball

Three have signed National Letters of Intent to play volleyball at the University of Missouri next fall: Paola Ampudia, Kate Harris, and Lindsey Petrick.

Mizzou Volleyball Camps Finalized

01/21/2009 - W. Volleyball

Mizzou will once again offer summer camps for high schoolers interested in learning more about the sport of volleyball.

VB's Post-Season Push Brings No. 13 K-State

11/18/2008 - W. Volleyball

The Mizzou volleyball team has won four straight home matches and three of its last four overall, but No. 13 Kansas State comes to the Hearnes Center Wednesday.