Tigers Start Big 12's Second Half With No. 6 Texas
Oct. 18, 2007
#6 Texas at Missouri Volleyball Quick Links Multimedia Coaches Series Matchup Of Note COLUMBIA, Mo.—The Missouri volleyball team (12-7, 5-5 Big 12) is hoping to bounce back from a disappointing sweep at the hands of the nation’s top-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers (17-0, 10-0 Big 12) and looks to start a new winning streak in the first match of the conference season’s second half when they take on the No. 6 Texas Longhorns (13-3, 9-1 Big 12) on Saturday night. The match is scheduled to start approximately one hour after the conclusion of the Missouri-Texas Tech football game. Fans can get in free to the match with the ticket stub from the football game. Texas swept the Tigers in Austin earlier in the season, but Missouri has recorded seven straight victories over the Longhorns in Columbia, including last season’s big three-game sweep over the then-No. 5 Longhorns. The Kreklows as a coaching staff is 10-4 all-time against Texas. Parking Concerns Scouting Texas … Since conference play has started, the Longhorns have had three players earn Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week honors. Michelle Moriarty earned the award for the week of October 15, Destinee Hooker for the week of October 1, and Juliann Faucette claimed the honors for the week of September 17. Hooker was also named the Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week on October 1. Faucette and Hooker rank No. 2 and 3 respectively in the conference in kills, with Faucette averaging 4.76 kills per game and Hooker averaging 4.75. Hooker is the conference point leader, scoring an average of 5.78 points a game. Faucette ranks fourth in the same category with 5.28 points per game. Moriarty is second in the conference in assists, contributing with 13.46 a game. Brandy Magee, who ranks eight in the Big 12 with 1.21 blocks per game, leads the Longhorns defensively. As a team, the Longhorns rank in the top five in six of the seven major conference categories. They rank second in the league in hitting percentage (.323), assists per game (15.70), kills per game (16.74), and blocks per game (3.03). The team ranks fifth in opponent hitting percentage (.186) and service aces per game (1.43). The Longhorns have won the past two matches against the Tigers, and lead the all-time series 13-10. Texas has dropped seven straight to Missouri at the Hearnes Center. -- Steven Keers Start Time for Kansas Road Match Changed Ailes Is Big 12’s Defensive Player of the Week Mizzou now has back-to-back conference award winners for the first time in program history as freshman Weiwen Wang won the Big 12’s Offensive Player of the Week award last Monday. This award is also Ailes’ first weekly award from the conference. Ailes won Big 12 Libero of the Year honors in 2005. In Wednesday’s match versus Texas A&M, Ailes notched 19 digs while fielding 23-of-24 serve receptions. At Baylor on Saturday, Ailes had 21 digs to go with 15-of-16 serve receiving attempts. In addition, Ailes added two aces in a row in game one to give Mizzou the game one lead over the Bears. Mizzou has now won five straight on the way to a fifth-place tie with Iowa State in the Big 12 standings and will host No. 1 Nebraska Wednesday and No. 7 Texas on Saturday. Tigers Struggle Against Top Ranked Cornhuskers "I was obviously pleased with the first game," said Head Coach Wayne Kreklow. "I thought we played with a lot of energy. I thought we played with a lot of tempo. We were doing a lot of things pretty well. Slowly after that, we started to dissolve. "It was a great start and I was happy with some of the things we did early. Obviously, it was a disappointing finish. But, it certainly pointed out some areas that we have to continue to work on to get better." Weiwen Wang (Nanjing, China) and Megan Wilson (Lincoln, Neb.) were the high scorers on the night for Missouri, landing 11 kills apiece. Wang tallied an impressive .529 hitting percentage. Like the Difference Between Night and Day… After four conference games, Mizzou was winless and questions remained whether or not the Tigers would be able to rebound after such a tough stretch of games. To put it in perspective, one could look at the Tigers team stats and understand why they were 0-4 in conference play. They were eighth in the Big 12 in hitting percentage at .187, and they were only averaging 2.1 blocks per game. And the Tigers were not helping there own cause with unforced errors and having a block differential against their opponents of negative 16.5. More importantly though, the Tigers lacked cohesion with the six they put on the court night-in and night-out. Mizzou tried many different lineups to spark a winning trend, Weiwen Wang was moved from middle blocker to outside hitter, true freshman Catie Wilson was inserted into the everyday lineup, having to play the outside hitter position for the first time in her life, and Mizzou even began running a 6-2 offense with Lei Wang and Luiza Jarocka splitting the setting duties. The latter was something that Mizzou volleyball coaches Susan and Wayne Kreklow have never implemented on a full-time basis during their tenure at Mizzou. Change was good for Mizzou volleyball in this instance, however. And the chance to knock-off the then-co-conference leader Oklahoma also added a little motivation to turn the tide of their season. After a thrilling five-set victory over No. 25-ranked Oklahoma, Mizzou began their “new” season in the Big 12 Conference and have won five straight entering Wednesday’s home match against Nebraska. The 6-2 offense was a key difference in Mizzou’s play and several Tigers have stepped-up their game since the four-match losing streak. With Na Yang being a consistent threat on the outside for most of the season Megan Wilson picked up the slack over the last five matches by averaging 3.74 kills per game and 0.95 blocks per game during the winning streak. She recorded 11 solo blocks during that stretch, equaling the 11 solo blocks her teammates combined to record. During the four-game losing streak to open conference play, Wilson was only averaging 2.69 kills per game and 0.75 blocks per games. Also, the 6-2 offense meant that Lei Wang was going to be an even more integral part of Mizzou’s offense as well. Primarily being a setter for her entire career at Mizzou, Lei’s role has greatly increased over the past few games. In short, she has played every position on the court except libero and defensive specialist. During the winning streak, Wang has recorded 1.58 kills per game, 9.00 assists per game, 2.95 digs per game and 0.95 blocks per game. Wang has grown accustomed with her new role as Mizzou has produced better on the court. As a team, it helps that Mizzou has got off to a fast start against their opponents recently as well. Over the last five matches, Mizzou has won each of the first two sets. Though, the quick start is directly related to their more efficient offense and scrappier defense. Mizzou now ranks third in the Big 12 in hitting percentage at .244 and second in digs per game (16.66). -- portions by Ryan Dunaj and McClain Thompson Last Time We Met … Missouri-Texas Yang added three blocks and four digs for Mizzou. Weiwen Wang (Nanjing, China) was next in the kill category for Mizzou, scoring nine, adding four digs. The Tigers managed just 40 kills in the match, a season low. In her 100th match as a Tiger senior Tatum Ailes (Bellevue, Neb.), led Mizzou with 13 digs. The match turned into the Juliann Faucette and Destinee Hooker show, as each recorded a double-double in the match. Faucette registered 21 kills and 11 digs, while Hooker scored 17 kills and 11 digs. The Longhorns had a hitting percentage of .370 or higher in each of the three games. Klein’s ACL is a Sideliner In the third of four games against Houston, with the Tigers up 20-12, Klein went to attack a ball and then came down in pain. Klein was leading Mizzou with 4.44 kills per game, up from her 2.75 average her freshman season and stood fourth in the Big 12 in the category. In addition, Klein’s defense showed much improvement as her digs-per-game shot from 0.75 her frosh campaign to 2.85 this season, resulting in the first five kill-dig double-doubles of her career. Along with leading Mizzou with 0.48 service aces per game, Klein was third in the Big 12 with 5.30 points per game, behind only 2006 National Player of the Year Sarah Pavan of Nebraska and All-American Destinee Hooker of Texas. Despite not playing in the final match of the CenturyTel Premier against host Texas State, Klein was named the tournament’s MVP, scoring 5.67 kills per game on a .342 hitting strike for the Tigers while adding 3.33 digs per game and scoring 6.67 points per game. Klein was also named to Ole Miss’ Magnolia Classic All-Tournament team, opening the season with a career-best 26 kills against the Rebels. Big 12 Report The Baylor Bears continued to struggle in conference play, dropping both matches last week, being swept by both Missouri and Texas. They will try to change their ways when they travel to Kansas and host Colorado. Colorado will be looking to pick up their first conference win, after losing both matches 3-1 last week, dropping matches to both Kansas and Texas A&M. Despite being 0-9, the Buffs have been competitive in all of their matches. This week, they will host Iowa State before traveling to Baylor. After going through their roughest week of the conference season, where they got swept by both Texas and Nebraska, Iowa State will try to get back on track when they travel to Colorado and host Texas Tech. Kansas, in need of a win to break its three game losing streak, got it when they hosted Colorado. They bested the Buffs 3 games to 1. Unfortunately for the Jayhawks their next match was against # 7 Texas, who ended up sweeping them, three games to none. Kansas will look to get back into the win column when it hosts Baylor before traveling to Nebraska. After losing two crucial matches the week before, the Kansas State Wildcats were hoping their Wednesday off would help them recuperate for their only match of the week. The extra rest paid off as the Wildcats swept Iowa State. The sweep moved Kansas State into sole position of fourth place in the conference, while dropping Iowa State into a fifth place tie with Missouri. Kansas State hosts Texas Tech before traveling to Oklahoma this week. Despite almost dropping their second game all season, the Nebraska Cornhuskers continued their streak of sweeping all of their opponents, as they swept both Iowa State and Oklahoma. The Huskers will be going to play at rival Missouri this week before hosting Kansas. Oklahoma continued its consistent play last week, going 1-1, losing to Nebraska, but also defeating Texas Tech. The Sooners, who were predicted to finish near the bottom of the conference, have been the surprise of the conference this year, as they are currently in third place in the Big 12 and are ranked in the Top 25. This week will be huge for not only Oklahoma, but the Big 12 as well, as the Sooners host both second place Texas and fourth place Kansas State. Just like Nebraska, the Texas Longhorns continue to make things look easy, sweeping both Baylor and Kansas last week. The Longhorns will be tested on the road this week, however, when they travel to both Missouri and Oklahoma. Texas will be looking to stop a seven game losing streak against Missouri in Columbia, when it travels to play the Tigers on Saturday. After being swept by Missouri, the Texas A&M Aggies returned to the friendly confines of G. Rollie White Colliseum to the tune of a 3-1 victory over Colorado. The team will go out of conference play as they host Sam Houston State before traveling to Lubbock to face Texas Tech. -- Mike Wojtychiw Television For Iowa State’s Visit to Columbia The Wednesday match is slated for a 6:30 p.m., start, and will be the third televised match of the season. FSN Midwest and FSN Rocky Mountain will air live coverage of Mizzou’s match at Colorado on October 3 while CSTV will air live coverage of the Tigers’ visit to Nebraska on October 31. Schedule Change Notes to Keep in Mind … 2006 Revisited Preseason Impressions The national impression of the league is also striking. Nebraska was the coaches’ preseason pick to at national No. 1. Texas is also expected to have a big year, they ranked 4th in the preseason national poll. The Tigers had a No. 20 preseason ranking with Oklahoma, mentioned earlier that they were picked to finish ninth in the league, had a No. 22 preseason standing, ending the 2006 season with a No. 12 ranking. Texas A&M, Colorado, and Iowa State all received votes in the poll. “Wendy” Wang Earns Big 12 Acclaim – October 8 For the record, Weiwen’s Tiger teammates call her “Wendy”. At Colorado, Wang broke school records in blocks (13) and most kills without an error (19). Wang tallied a season-high 28 points in addition to recording the second-best attack clip (.559) in Mizzou history. The Nanjing, China native also contributed six digs and two aces to the Tigers’ effort. Against the Red Raiders, Wang posted 13 kills on a .476 hitting percentage with five digs, three blocks and two aces. Wang was the first Tiger to win the honor since Jessica Vander Kooi’s second career nod on September 25, 2006. In addition, she is the sixth person from Mizzou to win the honor in the last six years and the first Tiger freshman to win the award since Shen Danru did on September 9, 2002. Senior Salute Both Ailes and Yang were named to this season’s Preseason All-Big 12 team, and for Ailes, she became the first defensive player in league history to earn such an honor. Ailes (Bellevue, Neb.) returns for her senior campaign fresh from an appearance on Team USA's A2-national training team this spring and returns to the team having been the Tigers' starting libero for three seasons. Meanwhile, Ailes has already made a lasting impression on the Mizzou program as the squad's all-time leader in digs and digs per game. In 2005, the coaches of the Big 12 named Ailes as Libero of the Year. Yang (Shan Dong, China) is in her senior campaign as well and has an accomplished record from her previous three years at Mizzou. Yang has shown prowess during the regular season, but her numbers in the post-season are the outside-hitter's bread-and-butter. In eight NCAA Tournament matches, Yang has averaged 4.10 kills per game on a .304 hitting percentage. Sophomore Surge Setter Lei Wang is already going into her second full year of leading the Tiger offense, coming off a successful frosh season in leading the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament with a 12.46 assists per game, 2.39 digs per game, and 0.98 points per game average. During the Big 12 season, Wang averaged 12.86 assists per game, ranking fifth in the league. Wang recorded 63 assists in the five-game NCAA second-round match at Stanford and was a crucial component of the Tiger game-four comeback, as Mizzou hit nearly .500 (13-2-24) from when the Tigers were down 16-10 to when Mizzou won the frame 30-25. Keota, Iowa, native Julianna Klein stepped up during her true freshman season, finding a starting role in 18 matches last season. Klein scored 10-or-more kills in 16 matches last season, including scoring a season-high 21 kills versus Baylor on September 27. Against Stanford in the NCAA second round, Klein carded 14 kills and six digs. In addition, Klein’s serve caught several opponents off guard early in the year as she scored 18 of her 23 aces from the season in the first 11 matches. Klein racked seven aces in an early-season tournament match against Villanova. Amanda Hantouli started 25 matches last season as a redshirt freshman, finding her first playing time since an ACL injury sidelined the Omaha, Neb., native during her senior year in high school. Now a sophomore, Hantouli contributed 10-or-more kills in four contests and five-or-more blocks in six matches last season. Her play against Stanford in the NCAA second round gave many a picture into the possible future as she scored 10 kills on 15 attempts (.533), adding three blocks. Megan Wilson will likely see quite a bit of playing time as a right-side hitter this season. The 6-2 sophomore from Lincoln, Neb., exposed much talent as a server as well last season. Against Stanford in the NCAA second round, Wilson added three crucial aces and served many points in efforts to throw the Cardinal offense. Wilson had three matches in 2006 with two-or-more aces. Sparkling and New Newcomer Caitlyn Vann comes to Mizzou from Muncie, Ind., and Burris High School. Vann, along with fellow newcomer Catie Wilson, was one of 35 to be named to the inaugural AVCA High School Senior All-American list. Vann was a three-time All-State selection at Burris, earning first-team honors in her junior and senior seasons. While Vann was recruited as a libero, she played as a left-side hitter in her years in high school, tallying 442 kills and 368 digs as team captain in her recently completed senior season. Vann was also a part of USA Volleyball’s Junior National Training Team in 2006 and was before a two-year member of USAV’s Youth National-A2 team. Weiwen Wang comes to Mizzou from Nanjing, China, and is the fifth Tiger to come from the country. Wang was captain of her national-champion high school team and was a member of her country’s team that won the 2006 World School Volleyball Championship in Porec, Croatia. Wang was also a member of the Chinese 15 & Under Youth National team that took third. Catie Wilson (no relation to Megan Wilson) comes to Mizzou from Omaha, Neb., and Gross High School. Wilson, along with Vann was named to the AVCA’s inaugural High School Senior All-American Team. In addition, Wilson was a four-time All-State selection, earning first-team honors in her junior and senior seasons. ### |
Camps2008 SeasonLearn More/Get InvolvedHistory & Records2007 NCAA Tournament2007 SeasonLindsey Hunter with
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