MU's `Can the Huskers' Returns Sunday NOON
Oct. 10, 2008
Complete News & Notes in PDF Format COLUMBIA, Mo.—The Missouri volleyball team (8-8, 2-4 Big 12) will host the No. 2 Nebraska Cornhuskers (16-0, 7-0 Big 12) Sunday at the Hearnes Center starting at Noon. Patrons can receive free entry into the match with two canned goods that will go to benefit the Central Missouri Food Bank as part of the fourth-annual “Can the Huskers” campaign. The match will also be aired nationally on many FSN affiliates.
Big 12 Volleyball, No. 2 Nebraska at Missouri, Noting the Notes of Note … In fact, the Tigers are already 5-3 in 2008 when winning the first set compared to a 15-2 record a year ago under the same conditions. However, they are 3-5 this year when losing the first set compared to being 2-10 a year ago under the same conditions. Weird, wild stuff! Twenty-five point conspiracy, anyone? * DEFENSE, DEFENSE, DEFENSE: A lot can be said about what the Tigers have done on the serve and the backlines to help move along what was a three-match winning streak and two competitive road losses to Texas A&M and Kansas State. Mizzou has moved slightly down to fourth among its league peers in conference matches in opponents’ hitting percentage, at a .207 average, the Tigers only trail No. 2 Nebraska (.146), persnickety-blocking-power Baylor (.196), and improved Texas A&M (.205) in the category. The Tigers are eighth in the league in blocks per set (1.76), 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 two-time Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week Caitlyn Vann and freshmen Priscilla Armendariz and Annie Lopez has made attackers think twice about where they attempt to put the ball as the Tigers by far lead the conference in digs per set (17.88). 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. * SIX DAYS, THREE MATCHES: 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. Observations from the Fourth Estate … “ ‘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, after the Oct. 1 Iowa State match “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, after the Oct. 1 Iowa State match Scouting Nebraska … The Huskers are led by their two outside hitters, Jordan Larson and Tara Mueller, who combined forces for 27 kills in their match against the Sooners. Larson is fifth in the Big 12 Conference for kills, averaging 3.77 per game. Not far behind is Mueller, only a sophomore, who collected her third double-double of her campaign with 13 kills and 10 digs on Wednesday night. She is averaging 3.45 kills per game, ranking 8th in the league. Collectively, the Tigers are out-digging the Huskers, leading the conference with over 16 digs per game. Nebraska, ranking 5th in digs, is averaging 14.45 per game. Caitlyn Vann and Julianna Klein, both collecting 19 digs against Wednesday’s match against K-State, led the Tigers defensively followed closely by Lei Weng, totaling up 13. These two teams met twice last season, with the Huskers collecting both wins. However, the Tigers gave the Huskers a major scare in Lincoln last season, taking the match into 5 close games. -- Jana Hainey Last Time We Met … lost at No. 2 Nebraska, Oct. 31, 2007 Ask anyone, the match was really strange. Mizzou dropped the first game without much of a blip on the radar screen, but Mizzou fought back, scoring on 20 kills in the second set to win 34-32. Rolls reversed in game three as the Tigers only scored on only six kills in a 30-11 third-frame loss. The Tigers fought back to win game four 30-24 on a .286 hitting strike. The race to 15 in game five gave Mizzou trouble, as Mizzou hit only .111 in garnering one non-sideout point. The Tigers were led by Na Yang's 20 kills on the night. Senior Tatum Ailes led Mizzou with 21 digs an even higher total came from "non-stat-sheet-fantastic-plays". Freshman Caitlyn Vann was also a star for the Tigers, adding 16 digs herself. Last Time Out … Kansas State, Wednesday Sophomore Julianna Klein marked nine kills on the night, adding a career-high 19 digs. Sophomore libero Caitlyn Vann notched 19 kills as well, adding three service aces. Lei Wang contributed another double-double in spreading 29 assists and 13 digs. K-State was led by Natalya Korobkova who had a match-high 16 kills. Megan Farr scored on six blocks and 11 kills. The First to 25 … Wins! 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 the set becomes quickly out of hand. In the Preseason … 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 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 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 … 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 … “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.” Now, in this 2008 campaign, Klein is leading the Tigers in kills and has had her share of digs, as she, for the first time in ANY point in her career, is playing the full-rotational circuit. Setting the Table Again … “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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Camps2008 SeasonLearn More/Get InvolvedHistory & Records2007 NCAA Tournament2007 SeasonLindsey Hunter with
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 Vann Tries Out For USA National Team02/26/2009 - 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 Mizzou02/17/2009 - 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 `0911/17/2008 - 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 Finalized01/21/2009 - 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-State11/18/2008 - 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. |
