Oct. 22, 2009

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Match Info: Mizzou (12-9, 4-6 Big 12) at Kansas (11-8, 4-6 Big 12)
Date: Saturday, Oct. 24
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Lawrence, Kan.
Arena: Horejsi Family Activities Center
Gametracker: www.MUTigers.com
Streaming Radio: www.MUTigers.com
Series Information: The Tigers took round No. 1 back in September as they topped the Jayhawks, 3-1, inside the Hearnes Center. Mizzou leads the overall series with the Jayhawks, 47-33, and have won 11 of the last 15 meetings with Kansas, dating back to Oct. 19, 2002.

What You Need to Know
• Paola Ampudia was named Big 12 Rookie of the Week for the third time this season as she posted 40 kills on .273 hitting and set career-highs in kills (23), digs (13), blocks (six), attacks (61), assists (three) and total points (26.5) last week. Ampudia also posted the first two double-doubles of her career last week and hit .295 with 23 kills against No. 7 Nebraska. She has 82 kills in her last five matches and has led Mizzou in that department in each of those contests.

• Ampudia becomes the only Tiger in program history to take home three Big 12 Weekly honors in the same season.

• The Tigers are in search of their first Big 12 road win of the season as they head to Kansas on Saturday.

• Mizzou collected nearly 1,700 pounds of food for the Central Missouri Foodbank during Saturday night's `Can the Huskers' promotion.

• Mizzou leads the Big 12 with 99 total service aces and passed Texas A&M in aces per set at 1.34 after posting three against Texas on Wednesday.

This Saturday
The Mizzou volleyball program will hit the road for the second-consecutive match as it looks for its first Big 12 road win against archrival Kansas at 7:30 p.m. in Lawrence. The match is volleyball's second installment of the M&I Bank Border Showdown, which pits Mizzou and Kansas in an overall athletic competition. The Tigers took round No. 1 back in September as they topped the Jayhawks, 3-1, inside the Hearnes Center. Mizzou leads the overall series with the Jayhawks, 47-33, and have won 11 of the last 15 meetings with Kansas, dating back to Oct. 19, 2002.

Last Time Out
Despite a combined 26 kills on .300 hitting from outside hitters Paola Ampudia and Rosa Medrano, the Tigers fell at No. 2 Texas, 3-0. Ampudia finished the match with a team-high 16 kills on .256 hitting and has now led the team with 82 kills in her last five matches and has led Mizzou in kills in each of those matches. Medrano hit double-digits in kills for the first time since Sept. 16 against Kansas as she posted 10 kills on .381 hitting. The .381 clip is her second-best attack percentage when posting more than 10 kills this season and her fourth-best overall in 2009. The Tigers struggled to slow the UT attack as the Longhorns hit .452 thanks in large part to 19 kills on 32 errorless attacks from Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year, Destinee Hooker.

Production from Paola
Tiger junior Paola Ampudia has been one of the league's top attackers over her last six matches as she has 82 kills on .242 hitting. Her 82 kills in that span are 46 more than the next-best Tiger attacker in that span while her .242 clip is the second-best on the team in that span. Only Catie Wilson (.319) is hitting better than Ampudia in the last five matches, but has 52 less kills. She is averaging 4.56 kills per set and nearly a block per set at 0.94 as her 17 total blocks are also a team-best in the last five matches. Ampudia leads the Tigers with 93.5 total points in her last six matches, averaging 5.19 points per frame. Her back-row numbers have improved in that span as well as she has pulled in 36 digs, averaging two per set. She also has earned her first two career double-doubles in her last five matches.

More on Paola
Ampudia is the reigning Big 12 Rookie of the Week as she became the first Tiger in program history to earn three Big 12 weekly honors in the same season. Ampudia tallied 40 kills on .273 hitting and set career-bests in kills (23), digs (13), blocks (six), attacks (61), assists (three) and points (26.5) in her two matches last week while her .295 clip against Nebraska was the third-best of her career. Ampudia now ranks fourth in the Big 12 in kills per set (3.73) and points per set (4.22) during league play. Her 23 kills and 26.5 total points against No. 7 Nebraska last Saturday stand as the third-best marks in each of the two categories by any player in the Big 12 this season.

Rosa is Rollin'
Against Texas, Rosa Medrano had one of her best matches since the opening weekend of play when she was named Tiger Invitational MVP. Medrano posted 10 kills - her most since the last time that the Tigers played Kansas on Sept. 16 - on .381 hitting, her fourth-best clip this season. The match marked the sixth time this season that Medrano has hit double-digits in kills, but only the second time in her last 10 matches.

Whoa, We're Halfway There!
Now that the first half of the Big 12 season has passed, Mizzou sits in a tie for seventh and is just a match back of Texas A&M for sixth place. The Tigers are tied for the seventh-place spot with Kansas - this week's Tiger opponent - making Saturday's match one of the most important of the season for Mizzou.

Playing Up to Her Competition
When playing against the top seven teams in the Big 12 Conference this season, junior libero Caitlyn Vann has brought her best game. In those seven matches against the leagues' top seven teams, Vann is averaging 4.96 digs per set and has eclipsed the 20-dig plateau in three of those matches and came close in a fourth as she hit 19 in the Tigers' first meeting with Kansas. Vann posted a season-best 29 digs against Texas A&M - the sixth-place team - and pulled in 21 and 20 against Oklahoma and Iowa State, respectively.

More on Vann
Vann is averaging 4.45 digs per set this season as she has posted 329 in the Tigers' 21 matches this season. She was the only Tiger to hit double-digits in digs against Texas on Wednesday.

If the season were to end today, that 4.45 digs per set mark would rank fourth all-time at Mizzou in a single season. Vann also sits just 33 digs shy of cracking the all-time single season top 10 and is 101 digs shy of cracking the Mizzou top three in career digs as she currently has 1,205 in her two-and-a-half seasons as a Tiger. She is on pace to become only the second Tiger to post back-to-back 500-dig seasons.

Ace in the Hole
With three service aces against Texas on Wednesday, Mizzou moved into first place in the Big 12 with 1.34 per set - passing Texas A&M, who averages 1.33 per frame - while its 99 total aces are also tops in the league. Both Caitlyn Vann (fifth, 0.28 per set) and Julianna Klein (seventh, 0.27 per set) rank amongst the Big 12's top 10 this season. Klein has posted the most service aces in a match by a Big 12 player with her eight against Colorado, while Vann's six aces against UMKC comes in ranked second overall. Catie Wilson served four against Texas Tech, the fourth-best mark in the league this season. Mizzou posted a season-best 11 aces in the win over Colorado and also hit the 11-ace mark against UMKC. That mark is tops in a Big 12 match this season.

Start for Wendy
Junior middle hitter Weiwen Wang, who posted a season-best eight kills last Wednesday at Kansas State, earned her first start of the 2009 season against Nebraska. Wang responded by posting eight more kills, tying her top output of the season, while posting a pair of service aces, account for 10 Tiger points in the match. For the week, Wang finished second on the team with 16 kills on .244 hitting with three blocks and 19.5 total points. Wang also started in Wednesday's match with Texas, her second of the season.

Quarterbacking the Tiger Attack
Senior setter Lei Wang-Francisco has posted 40 or more assists in three of her last five matches, highlighted by 43 against Colorado. Wang-Francisco currently ranks third on the Mizzou all-time assists list with 4,407 and sits just 547 shy of tying Heather Gerber for second place all-time at Mizzou. Wang-Francisco is a little behind pace to do so, as she needs to average around 49 assists over her final 11 matches as a Tiger. But with steady play as of late, Wang-Francisco could close that gap quickly over her next several matches.

Send `Em Back, Catie and Paola
Last week, Mizzou out-blocked its opponents, 16.0-12.0 as the Tigers averaged nearly 2.00 per set. A big reason for the improved block numbers was the play of middle hitter Catie Wilson and outside hitter Paola Ampudia, who combined to post three solo blocks and 18 block assists, accounting for 13 of the Tigers' 16 blocks. Wilson averaged 1.38 blocks per set last week while Ampudia averaged 1.25.

Double-Double Trouble
Senior setter Lei Wang-Francisco has begun to show that she is one of the best all-around players in the Big 12 Conference as of late. Wang-Francisco posted her team-leading fifth double-double of the season after handing out 41 assists and collecting 11 digs against Nebraska last Saturday. She now ranks third on the team in total digs with 161, fourth in total blocks with 40 and has anchored the Tiger attack by handing out 730 assists this season.

A Season-High for Mizzou
As the Tigers looked to equal their best home winning streak in program history last Saturday against Nebraska, 2,646 fans packed into the Hearnes Center. The crowd was a season-best for the Tigers in 2009.

Staying on the Attendance Topic
The 2,646 fans that watch Mizzou and Nebraska last Saturday helped bump Mizzou's season average to 1,625 fans per match, ranking the team 20th in the nation this season. Mizzou has ranked in the top 10 nationally in attendance from 2004-2008, prompting Volleyball Magazine to rank the Hearnes Center as one of the top-10 toughest places to play in the nation.

Unlucky Breaks
The Tigers saw some rare stat lines for them this season last week. In Mizzou's match against Kansas State last Wednesday, the Tigers actually hit a better percentage than the Wildcats at .200 to .191, but they lost the match. That marked the first time this season that Mizzou has lost a match when out-hitting an opponent; they had won the previous 12. A similar thing occurred against Nebraska on Saturday as Mizzou out-blocked Nebraska, 9-6, but lost. Mizzou has out-blocked it opponents 10 times this season, losing only two of those matches.

Scouting the Jayhawks
Kansas comes into Saturday's contest tied with Mizzou at 4-6 in league play, but Mizzou holds the tie-breaker with a head-to-head win earlier this season at the Hearnes Center. Kansas has lost four of its six league contests to top 25 opponents this season while its wins have come against Colorado, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Kansas State. The Jayhaks have won their last two matches.

Led by outside hitters Karina Garlington and Allison Mayfield - who have combined for 442 kills this season - Kansas averages 13.35 kills per set, which is the only statistical category that the Jayhawks rank better than the Tigers in. The Jayhawk back row is led by Melissa Manda, who averages 4.24 per set. Tayler Tolefree leads Kansas in blocks with 1.04 per frame.

Mizzou leads the all-time series with Kansas, 47-33, after knocking them off at the Hearnes Center earlier this season, 3-1. Mizzou has won 11 of the last 15 matchups with their archrival.

Relentless Attack
With 49 attacks against Kansas State last Wednesday, junior outside hitter Julianna Klein passed Gwen Mullens for eighth-place on the Tigers' career attack list. Klein now has 2,825 total attacks at Mizzou, the most among active Tigers. She also is the active leader in total service aces (69) and kills (922).

Wilson Goes Wild
Junior Catie Wilson had one of her finest weeks as a Tiger two weeks ago as she hit .750 with 19 kills, four service aces and three blocks. Wilson hit .733 - the ninth-best clip in program history when totaling more than 10 kills - with 12 kills on 15 attacks. Her .733 clip is the second-best mark by any player in the Big 12 in a single match this season. She followed that with seven kills at clip of .778 and four aces in Mizzou's win over Texas Tech.

`Digging' Their Way to a Cure
During intermission of the Tigers' match with Texas Tech, Mizzou volleyball presented a $2,100 check to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. The funds were raised as a combination of events from Mizzou's `Dig for a Cure' match against Kansas, including an online auction of jerseys and T-shirt sales, along with a dollar from each ticket sold.

A Former Tiger Sees Success on the Beach
Former Tiger defensive specialist Juliana Evans (formerly Juliana Godoi) has been making quite a name for herself in the professional volleyball world. The 2003 Big 12 Defensive Specialist of the Year and former crowd-favorite won the US Open of Beach Volleyball with her partner Kim McGiven on September 27. The tournament is one of the largest in the nation and was started by volleyball legend Karch Kiraly. Evans and McGiven finished in the top five in every tournament that they played in this season during their first year together. The pair also was one of six teams in a 64-team qualifier to to advance to the AVP Open in Hermosa Beach.

Milestone for Wang-Francisco
Senior setter Lei Wang-Francisco played in her 400th career set for Mizzou in the Tigers' match against Colorado. She has now played in 416 sets as a Tiger, the most among active players and needs to play in five more to crack the top 10 all time.

Milestone for Klein
Julianna Klein posted her 900th career kill against Colorado, the most among active players. She currently has 922, the most among active players at Mizzou.

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 and mingled with children and their families for hours before their match with Texas A&M. 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 also hosted a Girl Scout youth Clinic and is currently offering an elementary youth league that runs all month long. The league gives elementary school children a chance to play volleyball with Mizzou before school.

Downright Defensive
In that match with UMKC, Mizzou limited the `Roos 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.

Quite a Comeback
In MU's match against Texas A&M, Mizzou rallied from down 2-0 to top the Aggies, 3-2, in its only five-set match of 2009. The win marked the 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 then season-low .111 hitting. A&M entered the match hitting a Big 12-best .301.

Career Night for Klein
Julianna Klein posted the 1,000th point of her career in the Tigers' win over Texas A&M on her final kill of the match. Klein has the most points among active Tigers and with 196.5 more, she will crack the all-time top 10 career point list at Mizzou. Klein also posted a school-record 78 total attacks in that match.

Return to Sender
In its 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. 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. Mizzou is 12-0 this season when hitting at a better percentage than its opponents. Mizzou held UMKC and Texas A&M to a combined .055 hitting percentage that week, highlighted by a -.065 clip by the `Roos.

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.

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.

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 The .600 clip is also a career-best for Brimmage as she becomes one of only 27 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.

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 one more televised match this season after playing at Texas on Wednesday. The last televised match for Mizzou will be at Nebraska on Nov. 4. The Tigers' match with Nebraska will air in Lincoln, Neb., on Nebraska Education Television.

Next up
After back-to-back matches on the raod last week, Mizzou returns home on Oct. 28 to face Kansas State in the `Bust the House' promotion.