Oct. 3, 2008
Complete News & Notes in PDF Format 
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| Live Audio: Yahoo! Sports
COLUMBIA, Mo.—The Missouri volleyball team (8-6, 2-2 Big 12) takes its three-match winning streak on the road Saturday for a 6:30 p.m., contest with Texas A&M (6-8, 1-3 Big 12). The Tigers are coming off a thrilling five-set win over Iowa State on Wednesday while the Aggies has had the week off, last falling to Colorado in Boulder last Saturday. Mizzou has only won once in College Station.
Big 12 Volleyball, Missouri at Texas A&M,
College Station, Texas, October 4, 6:30 p.m.
Multimedia
TV: none.
Missouri Audio: Yahoo! Sports (sub. required), commentators: Nick Adams, Craig Stewart
Live Stats: GameTracker
Coaches
Missouri (8-6, 2-2 Big 12): Wayne Kreklow (Drake '80), 335-66 overall (10th year), 68-37 at Mizzou (4th year), 177-83 at with wife at Mizzou (9th year), 7-9 vs Texas A&M
Texas A&M (6-8, 1-3 Big 12): Laurie Corbelli (San Francisco, 1988), 433-258 overall (23rd year), 333-152 at Texas A&M (16th year), 16-6 vs Missouri
Noting the Notes of Note …
* DEFENSE, DEFENSE, DEFENSE: A lot can be said about what the Tigers have done on the serve and the backlines to help move along this three-match winning streak. Mizzou has moved to third among its league peers in conference matches in opponents’ hitting percentage. Being one of three squads to hold teams below .200 so far in league play, at a .186 average, the Tigers only trail No. 2 Nebraska (.156) and persnickety-blocking-power Baylor (.165) in the category.
The Tigers are fifth in the league in blocks per set (2.51), but the real frustration from the MU opponents has been the inability to find many open holes in the Mizzou defense. Back-liners such as libero Caitlyn Vann, freshmen Priscilla Armendariz and Annie Lopez has made attackers think twice about where they attempt to put the ball.
In addition, sophomore Julianna Klein is playing all the way around and is playing in the back row for the first time in her career … AT ANY LEVEL! Coming off last year’s ACL injury, Klein has shown an innate ability to adapt and do what is needed for the team’s success.
* THE GAUNTLET AHEAD: While happy days are here for now, the road starts to get bumpy for the Tiger squad in the coming weeks. NOTE: The Tigers have the toughest strength of schedule among its Big 12 buddies over the next five matches, and that starts Saturday as Mizzou travels to College Station, a place where they have won just once (2005). After the Aggie-road-trip, Mizzou plays three out of four versus ranked (and respected) opponents. On Wednesday, Mizzou travels to No. 17 Kansas State for a battle made for TV. Then the Tigers will play THREE matches in SIX calendar days, hosting No. 2 Nebraska on October 12 (Sunday) and Kansas, a team that has taken at least a set from each of the leagues three ranked opponents, on October 15 (Wednesday) before traveling to No. 3 Texas for a October 17 (Friday) matchup. BTW, the volleyball contest in Austin will be the day before the football Tigers take on the Longhorns in Austin on that Saturday.
* SMILE! THREE-MATCH TV STREAK AHEAD: As part of the gauntlet, the Tigers will appear on television in three-straight matches the schedule is below. NOTE THE NOON START TO THE NEBRASKA MATCH!
- October 8, at Kansas State, Fox Sports Net – Kansas City (which we were told that will reach into Columbia)
- October 12, vs. No. 2 Nebraska, Fox Sports Net (will be seen in much of Big 12 country and by others nationwide, more details to come)
- October 15, vs. Kansas, Mizzou Sports Network (FSN in Columbia/St. Louis, MetroSports in Kansas City, other carriers TBA)
- In addition, the Tigers’ matchup at Nebraska on November 12 will be aired on CBS College Sports (CBSCS).
Observations from the Fourth Estate …
Sure, this is a simple cut-and-paste job, but sometimes the media can put general observations in some meaningful context … let’s take a look! …
“ ‘Our defense is one of our stronger points on the team just because we get a lot of ball dropping making it possible for our hitters to swing a lot,’ sophomore defensive specialist Caitlyn Vann said. ‘It might be frustrating for other teams because it's harder to put a ball down against us.’
– Caitlyn Vann to Maneater reporter Evan Glantz
http://www.themaneater.com/stories/2008/10/3/volleyball-team-three-games/
“Sophomore Caitlyn Vann continues to have an absolutely stellar season at the libero position. At the very minimum, Vann makes two or three digs a match that leave you scratching your head in amazement. But it's not only her play that's getting the back line some attention.
“Priscilla ‘Pip’ Armendariz is continuing a strong freshman campaign, contributing eight digs last night. Pip also added two aces, including one on the match's final point. Her freshman teammate on the back line, Annie Lopez, has quietly rounded out the group.
“Wednesday, the junior setter [Lei Wang] had a performance that coach Wayne Kreklow called "remarkable." Wang was strong serving and very efficient in her passing, finishing the night with a season-high 55 assists and two aces. Wang's play in the first two sets played a large role in Missouri's early lead.
“However, Wang began to cramp in the third and fourth sets, not coincidentally around the same time Missouri began to struggle. After the match, she remarked about how during breaks, she was holding Gatorade in one hand and water in another trying to rehydrate and stop the cramps.
“The Missouri offense lacks some of the large, big hitting firepower that other Big 12 teams have, but Wang showed Wednesday that when she's on her game, Missouri has an offensive style all its own.”
– Maneater reporter Ross Taylor in its sports blog
http://www.themaneater.com/blogs/sports/2008/10/2/what-did-we-learn/
Scouting Texas A&M …
After losing to Colorado in five sets on Saturday, Texas A&M fell to eighth place in the Big12 with a 1-3 conference record and 6-8 overall. The Aggies started off the season on a three match losing streak before winning five straight. Since then, Texas A&M has gone 1-5 and is on a two-match losing streak as they face the Missouri Tigers.
The Aggies are led by Mary Batis’ 3.40 kills per set and Sarah Ammerman’s 2.93 kills per set. Batis is second on the team with 2.87 digs per set and leads with 3.87 points per se in conference games. The Aggies have struggled offensively, hitting .183 while allowing opponents to hit .217 in conference play.
Texas A&M is coached by Laurie Corbelli who has compiled a 333-152 record over 15 years as head coach at the school. The Aggies are 5-1 at home this season and lead the overall series with the Tigers 19-8. Texas A&M holds an 11-1 advantage on matches played in College Station, with Missouri’s only win coming in 2005.
-- Mustafa Mohammad
Last Time We Met … lost at A&M, Nov. 17, 2007
Senior Na Yang led the Missouri volleyball team with 19 kills on Saturday night in a four-game loss at the hands of Texas A&M in College Station. Yang moves to third on the Tiger all-time season-kill list (476), passing three others on the evening to be within one of Shen Danru for second on the season list. A&M won the match 30-28, 27-30, 30-22, 30-22.
Frosh Weiwen Wang scored 18 kills, adding six digs. Megan Wilson notched 12 kills in also adding three solo blocks.
Tatum Ailes tallied 22 digs while frosh Caitlyn Vann added 18. Lei Wang had a double-double with 37 assists and 10 digs.
Last Time Out … Iowa State, Wednesday
The Missouri volleyball team (8-6, 2-2 Big 12) won its third-straight match in resuming conference play on Wednesday, defeating Iowa State (9-7, 1-4 Big 12) in an intense five-setter, 25-15, 25-15, 16-25, 22-25, 15-7. Mizzou sophomores Julianna Klein (Keota, Iowa) and Weiwen Wang (Nanjing, China) led with the Tigers with 17 and 16 kills, respectively in the contest. Despite winning the first two sets convincingly, the Tigers could not dispatch the Cyclones until the fifth set.
Klein would finish with a stellar .385 hitting percentage (17-2-39), adding a season-high 16 digs and two aces while Weiwen Wang was also efficient in carrying a .382 (16-3-34) average.
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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