Sophomore Julianna Klein looks to have a big impact in her home state
 
Sophomore Julianna Klein looks to have a big impact in her home state
  
 
Tigers Hope to Cool Hot Cyclone Squad

Iowa State coming off a Wednesday win over No. 13 Kansas State

Oct. 24, 2008

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COLUMBIA, Mo.— The Missouri volleyball team (10-10, 4-6 Big 12) will take on Iowa State (13-8, 5-5 Big 12), Saturday at 2 p.m., in Ames, in what is sure to be a very good matchup. Mizzou topped the Cyclones in four sets in Columbia on October 1, but, since, ISU has won four-of-its-last-five including pulling off a five-set victory over No. 13 Kansas State Wednesday night. Iowa State is also 7-2 in Hilton Coliseum this season.

Big 12 Volleyball, Missouri at Iowa State,
Ames, Iowa, Saturday, October 25, 2 p.m.
Match Special: FREE Admission, Iowa State football homecoming (versus Texas A&M) following
Multimedia
TV: none
Missouri Audio: Yahoo! Sports (sub. required), commentators: Schuyler Weinberg, Laura Pedersen
ISU Webcast: Clone Zone Webcast (sub. required)
Live Stats

Coaches
Missouri (10-10, 4-6 Big 12): Wayne Kreklow (Drake '80), 337-70 overall (10th year), 70-41 at Mizzou (4th year), 179-87 at with wife at Mizzou (9th year), 15-2 vs Iowa State
Iowa State (13-8, 5-5 Big 12): Christy Johnson (Nebraska, 1996), 69-48 overall (4th year), 69-48 at Iowa State (4th year), 3-2 vs Missouri

Scouting Iowa State …
After upsetting No. 13 Kansas State Wednesday night, the Iowa State Cyclones advanced to 5-5 in Big 12 play and 13-8 overall.

Contributing to the upset, sophomore outside hitter and Big 12 Offensive Player of the week Victoria Henson had 16 kills on the night, totaling her seventh straight match with 10 or more kills. Freshman outside hitter Rachel Hockaday also led the team, reaching a double-double with 15 kills and a career-high 15 digs in the match. With the win, the Cyclones improved to 1-4 in five-set matches this season.

The Tigers will take on the Cyclones in Ames this Saturday. The two teams last met on October 1, with Missouri taking the match after 5 games. In the match, Iowa State out-blocked Missouri 12-5, but the Tigers answered back by leading .259 to .165 in kills. Tiger Middle Blocker Weiwen Wang had 16 kills against the Cyclones, while Iowa State’s Rachel Hockaday led her team with 15 on the night.

After taking on the Cyclones in Ames this Saturday, the Tigers’ next home match will be Saturday, November 1 against Texas Tech.

-- Jana Hainey

Last Time We Met … Mizzou wins 3-2 in Columbia, November 24, 2007
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.

“I think it just comes down to us realizing that we need to protect our home court,” said Klein afterwards. “We show our pride and guts and just leave everything out on the court”

Despite being outblocked as a team, 12-5, the Tigers outhit Iowa State .259-.165 and held the Cyclones to a -.033 (5-6-30) strike in the fifth frame.

Caitlyn Vann (Muncie, Ind.) was a defensive dynamo, leading MU with 24 digs in the match. Megan Wilson (Lincoln, Neb.) added 13 digs on the night as well.

Lei Wang (Shanghai, China) spread a season-high 55 assists, adding a tied-team-high three blocks and two aces.

Last Time Out … Colorado, Wednesday
The Missouri volleyball team (10-10, 4-6 Big 12) swept past the Colorado Buffaloes (10-9, 4-6 Big 12), 25-18, 25-23, 25-17, Wednesday night in the Hearnes Center.  With the win, the Tigers go from ninth to sixth in the Big 12 standings to end the first half of play. Mizzou overcame a 20-16 deficit in the second set to garner momentum and a crucial match win.

Coach Wayne Kreklow knew the third set would be crucial, “One of the things we talked about is coming out with a strong game three. That was our challenge for the night. We did a pretty good job of that. I think it was much better than game two, where we made ten or 11 unforced errors. Colorado had to make the plays in game three, and we were not giving it to them.”

Julianna Klein (Keota, Iowa) and Catie Wilson (Omaha, Neb.) led the Tigers with nine kills apiece while Weiwen Wang (Nanjing, China) was part of six of Mizzou’s 12.5 blocks.

Lei Wang (Shanghai, China) led in hitting percentage with a .455 strike, scoring five kills on 11 errorless attempts while also adding 34 assists and nine digs.

Sophomore Caitlyn Vann (Muncie, Ind.) tallied 16 digs on the evening, adding an ace. The Tiger defense held the Buffs to a .073 team hitting percentage and allowed zero service aces.

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.”

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 …
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.”

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.”

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 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.

 

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