MU wins fourth match in a row
Published Oct. 12, 2007
Two weeks ago, the Missouri volleyball team was 0-4 in the conference and appeared lost. But they all said they knew the Big 12 schedule was a grind, and they could get back to .500 by the end of the season.
They reached that goal much faster.
Looking like a completely different team than the one embarrassed at home by Kansas less than three weeks earlier, MU swept the Texas A&M Aggies 30-23, 30-23, 30-28, controlling the match nearly the entire way.
Senior libero Tatum Ailes said getting back to .500 was a huge psychological boost for the Tigers (11-6, 4-4 Big 12), and a product of a refocused practice regimen.
"Getting back to 4-4 shows how hard we've been working," she said. "We really are starting to believe in ourselves again."
The Tigers hit .341 for the match, including .395 in the second game. They committed 12 errors as a team, as opposed to 21 for the Aggies (13-6, 3-6).
"We're doing a better job attacking," Kreklow said. "We're getting more aggressive shots because I feel like we're much more comfortable with ourselves."
Senior outside hitter Na Yang led Missouri with 22 kills, while sophomore setter Megan Wilson had 17. Sophomore setter Lei Wang glowed about Wilson's play.
"She's incredible plus infinity," Wang said. "She had a career day, night, whatever it is right now."
It was Wilson's second highest kill total of the season. Against Oklahoma on Sept. 29, she had 18 kills, but that match also went five games.
Even Ailes, who plays a defensive position, got a kill. That doubled her season total to two.
The Tigers led nearly the entire match and never trailed in the third game. But the Aggies made MU sweat out what seemed like a sure win.
After pulling ahead 19-12 in the third game, the Tigers watched the Aggies tie the game at 22, and then make up another four-point deficit to tie the game at 28. But two Aggie errors gave the Tigers the last two points they needed to win the match.
"We won this match tonight, don't get me wrong," Wang said. "But when we had to in the third game, we let them (Texas A&M) make mistakes."
And with still more than half the conference schedule left, the Tigers are just one game out of fourth place in the Big 12. Ailes said MU never got worried because they knew how erratic the conference is and how it's just as easy to lose four in a row as it is to win four.
"We showed how swingy the conference is," she said. "We started 7-1 last year and ended 10-8, so it goes both ways. The last four matches just go to show that you can always find yourself and it's never too late."