Oct. 6, 2009

• Complete Release in PDF Format
• Gametracker
• Mizzou All-Access Video/Radio
• Mizzou VolleyBlog: The Official Blog of Tiger Volleyball

Match Info
Date: Wednesday, Oct. 7
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Location: Columbia, Mo.
Arena: Hearnes Center
Live Video: www.MUTigers.com.com
Live Stats: www.MUTigers.com
Television: Live on Mizzou Sports Network (FS Midwest, KOMU, Metro Sports)
Announcers: Play-by-Play: Beau Baehman, Color: Craig Sherman
Series Information: he Tigers trail the all-time series with CU, 31-14, but have won the last five and 12 of the last 16 meetings.

What You Need to Know
• With two more home wins this week, Mizzou would match its best home Big 12 start since starting the 2003 season 8-0 at home before falling to Texas. Should the Tigers win both matches this week, Mizzou would square off against Nebraska on Oct. 17 - their next home match - to try and improve to 9-0 at home this season.

• Julianna Klein needs just three attacks to break into the all-time career top 10 at Mizzou. She currently has 2,701 career attacks.

• Libero Caitlyn Vann sits just 23 digs from slipping into the top-five on the all-time digs list at Mizzou. Vann posted 250 digs in the first half of the season, putting her on pace to become only the second Tiger to post back-to-back 500-dig seasons. Vann was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week for her efforts last week.

• The Tigers have limited their opponents to .123 hitting at home this season and have posted 46 more kills, 41 more digs, 46 more assists, 10 more aces and 9.5 more blocks than their opponents.

• Mizzou's opponents this week are a combined 0-10 in Big 12 play this season and have won only one set out of 30 in league play this season.

• Junior Catie Wilson leads all Tiger attackers with a .281 clip during Big 12 play. She is the only Tiger hitting better than .250 during league play and also leads the team with 14 total blocks while her 37 kills are third-best. Last week, Wilson hit .343 with 16 kills.

This Week
After consecutive road matches against ranked opponents last week, Mizzou returns to the friendly confines of the Hearnes Center - where they are 6-0 this season - to take on the Colorado Buffaloes. The match is slated for a 6:30 start and will be the Tigers' first televised match of the 2009 season. The match will air live on Mizzou Sports Network and feature Beau Baehman and Craig Sherman as commentators. The Tigers trail the all-time series with CU, 31-14, but have won the last five and 12 of the last 16 meetings.

Last Week
The Tigers dropped a pair of road contests to top-20 opponents - at No. 19 Baylor and at No. 14 Iowa State. The back-to-back losses marks the first time this season that Mizzou has lost consecutive matches. The losses drop Mizzou to 2-3 in Big 12 play this season, placing them in a tie for seventh place in the league. Mizzou now stands at 10-6 overall in 2009.

Middle hitter Catie Wilson paced the Tigers last week as she posted 16 kills on a team-high .343 hitting with five total blocks in six sets. Wilson had 35 attacks on the week and committed only four errors to lead the Tigers. Libero Caitlyn Vann also had a fine week, averaging 5.67 digs per set en-route to pulling in 34 during the two three-set matches. Her 20 digs at Iowa State are the fourth-best in the three-set match in the Big 12 this season.

Whoa, We're Halfway There
The Tigers have played 16 matches this season, reaching the half-way point, as they have 16 remaining.

Dig, Dig, Dig
Libero Caitlyn Vann has been on a tear since the start of Big 12 play as she has pulled in 116 digs in that six-match span. Vann had collected 134 digs in the 10 matches prior, averaging only 3.94 per set. Over her last six matches, Vann has accounted for 5.27 per frame and moved from eighth in the Big 12 to fourth in digs per set. In fact, Vann ranks second in the league during Big 12 play with 5.42 digs per set, trailing only All-American Ashley Mass of Iowa State.

Vann collected 34 digs in six sets last week, including 20 against Iowa State on Saturday, only the fourth time this season that a tiger has hit the 20-dig mark, earning her Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week for the third time in her career.

More on Vann
With her 34 digs last week, Vann now needs only 23 this week to crack the top-five all-time at Mizzou with 1,150. Vann started the season out of the top 10, but has been on a steady climb over her last six matches since cracking the top 10 after collecting 21 at Oklahoma. If Vann, continues at her current pace, she will finish the 2009 campaign with 500 digs, making her only the second Tiger to have back-to-back 500-dig seasons. She would also rank second all-time at MU.

Despite being Swept...
The Tigers had a decent showing in Ames on Saturday. In fact, Mizzou lost the match to the No. 14 Cyclones by only 12 total points, including only two in both the first and third set. The teams combined for 129 total digs and 21.5 total blocks in the match as both teams hit below .200. The Tigers took the Cyclones to the brink in the first falling just short at 25-23. The third set was possibly one of the Tigers' most competitive this season as the back-and-forth affair ended in a 28-26 set win for ISU. The 26 points in that set were the most for the Tigers since posting 29 in a win over Fairfield at the Michigan/Pepsi Challenge.

The Key is on the Outside
In the Tigers' 10 wins this season, their outside hitters are attacking at a clip of .206. In the Tigers' six losses, that trio - consisting of Julianna Klein, Rosa Medrano and Paola Ampudia - is hitting only .095. Klein actually has hit better in the Tigers' six losses (.183 vs. .169) but Medrano and Ampudia have seen a large drop-off. In the Tigers' 10 wins, Medrano is hitting .231 but in the six losses, she is hitting .000 with 36 attack errors. Ampudia has hit .238 when the Tigers win, but only .075 in losses this season. The Tiger middle hitters have seen minimal drop-off in wins versus losses, showing a direct correlation between the play of the Tiger outsides and the their win/loss ratio this season.

Winning with Wilson
Junior middle hitter Catie Wilson has been arguably the Tigers' best player since Big 12 play began. Wilson is hitting .302 in her last six matches - five of which have been Big 12 contests - with 41 kills and 14 blocks. Wilson has hit better than .300 in four of those six matches and has hit the .500 mark in two of those. Wilson is hitting .319 on the season and leads the team in blocks with 44, accounting for 159.0 total points, which ranks second on the team. She has hit better than .300 10 times, .400 five times and .500 three times. Last week, Wilson hit .343 with 16 kills while posting five total blocks.

Home, Sweet Hearnes
Mizzou is now 6-0 inside the friendly confines of the Hearnes Center to start the 2009 season. The 6-0 mark is the best home start to a season since 2003, when Mizzou opened 8-0 at Hearnes before falling to Texas. With two wins this week, the Tigers will tie that mark and set up a home match with Nebraska on Oct. 17 that will give them a chance for their best home start since 2002, when they opened 9-0 before falling to Kansas State.

21st Nationally
Averaging 1,519 fans per match this season, Mizzou comes in ranked 21st in the nation in average attendance. That mark ranks them fifth in the Big 12 this season. Mizzou ranks ninth in the nation in average attendance since the Kreklows took over the program 10 seasons ago.

Downright Defensive
The Tigers earned their fifth sweep of the season when knocking off UMKC. In that match, Mizzou limited UMKC to only 39 total points, their best mark of the season, and limited the `Roos to -.065 hitting, their best mark since holding Alabama State to -.250 hitting in the 2006 season-opener.

Active in the Community
Over the past several weeks, the Tiger volleyball program has taken time to give back to community. The Tigers visited the MU Children's Hospital last Saturday and mingled with children and their families for hours. After that, Mizzou let nine-year-old Piper Osman celebrate her ninth birthday with 20 of her closest friends inside the Tiger locker room. Mizzou will also host a Girl Scout youth Clinic this Saturday and is currently offering an elementary youth league that runs all month long. The league gives elementary school children a chance to play volleyball at Mizzou before school.

Scouting the Buffs
CU comes into Wednesday's match with a record of 5-10 and 0-6 in league play. The Buffs have won only one set in Big 12 play and that came in a four-set loss to Kansas in Lawrence. Colorado has faced four ranked opponents during Big 12 play, including its most recent match with No. 19 Baylor last Saturday when it was swept in Boulder.

CU is led by sophomore outside hitter Becah Fogle, who averages 3.41 kills per set at a clip of .168. Fogle also ranks second on the team with 104 digs, averaging 2.26 per set. Colorado does not have a player on its roster that averages more than a block per set or more than 3.00 digs per set. The Buffs average only 10.62 kills per set while allowing their opponents to post 13.94 per frame. Mizzou trails the all-time series with Colorado, 31-14, but has won 12 of the last 16 matches, including the last five.

Quite a Comeback
In MU's against Texas A&M, Mizzou rallied from down 2-0 to top the Aggies, 3-2, in its first five-set match of 2009. The win marked he first time since Oct. 1, 2005, that the Tigers have come back from a 2-0 deficit in a five-set match. The Tigers also limited Texas A&M to a season-low .111 hitting. A&M entered the match hitting a Big 12-best .301.

But Wait, There's More
There were plenty of additional notable stat lines in the Tigers' win over A&M as well. Both Julianna Klein and Paola Ampudia posted a team season-high 19 kills in the match. Klein also posted her fourth double-double of the season as she pitched in 13 digs to go along with her 19 kills. Setter Lei Wang-Francisco also posted a double-double and finished just four blocks shy of a triple-double with 50 assists, a season-best 17 digs and six blocks. Wang-Francisco added another double-double at Baylor with 30 assists and 11 digs.

The Tiger back row shined in the five-set win over A&M as well, pulling in a season-best 96 digs, highlighted by a season-best 29 from libero Caitlyn Vann. Sophomore Priscilla Armendariz posted 21 in the match as well. The pair combined for 50 of the Tigers' 96 digs.

Career Night for Klein
Tiger outside hitter Julianna Klein posted the 1,000th point of her career in the Tigers' win over Texas A&M on Saturday on her final kill of the match. Klein has the most points among active Tigers and with 253.5 more, she will crack the all-time top 10 career point list at Mizzou. Klein also posted a school-record 78 total attacks in Saturday's match, which is the second-most by a Big 12 attacker this season. Klein set season-highs in six statistical categories in the match.

Return to Sender
In last Saturday's win over Texas A&M, Mizzou posted a season-high 18.0 total blocks, their best since sending back 14.5 against Texas State in the 2009 opener. The 18.0 total blocks are the second-best mark in the Big 12 this season, trailing only Texas who posted 20.0 in a four-set win over Cal. Senior setter Lei Wang-Francisco led the Tigers with a season-best six total blocks in the match while Catie Wilson, Weiwen Wang and Rosa Medrano each accounted for five in match.

Holding `em In Check
The Tigers had their best defensive match of the season against Texas A&M. The Aggies came into the match leading the Big 12 in hitting at .301 and the Tigers - due in large part to season-highs in total blocks (18.0) an digs (96) - limited A&M to .111 hitting, its worst output of the season. After holding opponents to below .200 hitting only five times in the first 11 matches, the Tigers have now done so in four for the last five matches. Mizzou is 9-0 this season when hitting at a better percentage than its opponents. Mizzou held UMKC and Texas A&M to a combined .055 hitting percentage, highlighted by a -.065 clip by the `Roos. That was the Tigers' best opponent hitting percentage since holding Alabama State to -.250 hitting in the 2006 season-opener.

Pocket Aces
Mizzou currently leads the Big 12 in serving with 75 total aces in their 16 matches while their 1.34 per set ranks third. Mizzou posted a Big 12-high 11 service aces in its win over UMKC, highlighted by six from Caitlyn Vann, marking the first time that a Tiger has served that many aces in three-set match since Julianna Klein served seven against Villanova on Aug. 26, 2006. Those six aces are the most by any player in the Big 12 this season. Vann leads the Tigers with 21 aces this season, a mark that is second in the Big 12, while her 0.38 per frame ranks second.

Rookie of the Week Part Deux
Junior Paola Ampudia was named Big 12 Rookie of the Week for the second-consecutive week on September 21, 2009. Ampudia is the first Tiger ever to take home back-to-back Big 12 weekly honors.

Big Night for Pip
Sophomore defensive specialist Priscilla Armendariz posted a career-best 21 digs in the Tigers' win over Texas A&M. Armendariz teamed with Caitlyn Vann to pull in 50 digs between the pair, marking the first time this season that two Tigers have hit the 20-dig mark during the same match.

A Full-Team Effort
In Mizzou's win over UMKC, every student-athlete on the Tigers' 14-player roster saw action. That was the first time this season that that has happened as two Tigers - Marissa Ferri and Lindsey Petrick - saw their first action in a regular season match this year. Ferri posted her first career dig in the third frame while Petrick entered late in the set and earned her first career solo block and registered three total attacks.

The 700-Club
Team Kreklow (Wayne and Susan together) earned its 700th career win after topping UMKC last week. The 700 combined wins dates back to their time as the head coaching tandem at Columbia College, where they mentored both the men's and women's programs. The pair has won 192 matches in their 10 seasons at Mizzou. With the Tigers' win over Fairfield earlier this season, head coach Wayne Kreklow earned his 400th victory as a head coach. Dating back to his time at Columbia College, where he coached both the men's and women's teams, Kreklow has compiled a 403-108 record as a head coach, including a 350-84 mark coaching women's volleyball. 83 of his 350 wins in women's volleyball have come during his time at Mizzou. For a complete list of Kreklow's coaching records, see page nine.

...It's Wendy's!
Tiger junior Weiwen Wang currently ranks eighth in the Big 12 with a .333 hitting percentage this season. Wang has committed only nine errors on the season while posting 50 kills. At the Michigan/Pepsi Challenge, Wang hit .435 with 12 kills to pace the Tigers in the middle and hit .286 with six kills against Kansas. Wang is averaging 1.61 kills per set this season.

A Well-Spread Attack
For the second time this season, Mizzou had four players hit the double-digit kill mark against Kansas. Julianna Klein, Paola Ampudia, Catie Wilson and Rosa Medrano all finished with 10 or more kills, totaling 16, 15, 12 and 10 respectively, and accounted for 53 of the team's 64 kills. The only other time Mizzou had four players in double-digits was against Utah Valley, when Mizzou posted 70 kills in its four-set win, the second-best kill total by a Big 12 team this season. The 64 kills against KU ranks 11th in the Big 12 this season. Those two marks - 70 and 64 - are the only of the Big 12 top 11 single-match kill totals that came in four sets this season; the other nine were all done in five sets.

An Efficient Attack
Mizzou hit .354 in its four-set win over Utah Valley, its best hitting efficiency of the season in a single match. That mark currently ranks as the second-best team hitting-percentage in a three-set match this season. Six Tigers hit better than .300 in the match while two - Paola Ampudia and Weiwen Wang - hit better than .400. Additionally, in the Tigers' three-set sweep of Ole Miss at the Tiger Invitational, the team hit .333. Five of the Tigers' top six attackers in the match hit better than .286 while Catie Wilson had six kills on seven attacks, hitting at a career-best clip of .857. Mizzou hit better than .333 just twice last season - .337 at Texas Tech (10/4) and .427 against Texas Tech at home (11/1).

Big Night for Brit
Tiger sophomore Brittney Brimmage tallied 13 kills with only one error on 20 swings in the Tigers' four-set loss to No. 17 Utah. That stat line gave Brimmage a .600 hitting percentage in the match, which is the fourth-best single match mark in the Big 12 this season. The .600 clip is also a career-best for Brimmage as she becomes one of only 26 athletes in school history to post a .600 hitting percentage with more than 10 kills.

Ninth Time in Ten Seasons?
Since the Kreklows took over the Mizzou program in 2000, the Tigers have appeared in eight NCAA Tournaments and have ranked amongst the Big 12 and national elite. This season will mark Wayne and Susan Kreklow's 10th year at the helm as they will look to make it nine out of 10 in 2009. The Tigers' best NCAA Tournament run came back in 2005 when they advanced to the NCAA Regional Final after topping Hawaii in the round of 16.

From Colombia to Columbia
Junior transfer Paola Ampudia joins the 2009 Tiger roster after spending two years at Miami Dade Community College. Ampudia, a Cali, Colombia, native, was dubbed Preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year by the Big 12's coaches earlier this month. In 2007, Ampudia led Miami Dade to the National Junior College Athletics Association (NJCAA) national title game and helped the Sharks to a 30-0 regular season record that season. For her efforts, Ampudia was named NJCAA National Player of the Year as she ranked in the nation's top 10 in both hitting efficiency (.578) and kills per set (3.85).

All-Access Video and Radio
Be sure to follow the Tiger volleyball program all season long on www.mutigers.com. The matches will be streamed live on Mizzou All-Access and KCOU, Mizzou's student radio station, will provide play-by-play of each home match over the video. Also, all Big 12 road matches will be available for radio streaming on www.mutigers.com.

Tigers on Television
Mizzou will play in three matches that will be televised this season - at home against Colorado on Oct. 7, at Kansas State on Oct. 14 and at Nebraska on Nov. 4. Mizzou's match with Colorado will air on the Mizzou Sports Network with Beau Baehman and Craig Sherman providing the play-by-play and color analysis. The match against Kansas State will air on FSN-Kansas City. The Tigers' match with Nebraska will air in Lincoln, Neb., on Nebraska Education Television.

Next Up
The Tigers welcome Texas Tech to the Hearnes Center on Saturday for a 6:30 p.m. match.