Missouri volleyball sweeps Texas A&M

Senior outside hitters Paola Ampudia and Julianna Klein led the way for the Tigers.

By Zach Dischiano

Published Nov. 16, 2010

The Missouri volleyball team improved to 19-8 overall and 11-6 in the Big 12 with a sweep of the Texas A&M Aggies on Saturday evening.

Senior outside hitters Julianna Klein and Paola Ampudia both recorded double-doubles on the night, with Klein totaling 13 kills and 11 digs and Ampudia tallying 11 kills to go with 11 digs. Freshman setter Molly Kreklow dished out 38 assists and junior middle blocker Brittney Brimmage had a nice performance with nine kills on .615 hitting.

“It was a great match for us,” coach Wayne Kreklow said. “I was really pleased with the way we played, and I don’t say that very often. There’s usually no shortage of things I can pick out and complain about that we have to do better, but I’d have to look a little bit closer in this match. We knew it was going to take a really good match and a well-executed match tonight to come out and win.”

The Tigers got off to quick start when they took a 4-1 lead in the first set. The Aggies got close to tying the score at 9, but a pair of back-to-back kills from Brimmage kept the Tiger lead in tact. Texas A&M would eventually even the score at 15, but Missouri denied their attempt to take the lead by scoring 10 out of the next 12 points to win the set, 25-17.

“I felt like we just played really consistently throughout the whole match,” Klein said. “I thought that we were just poised under pressure the entire match. We never lost our cool, we never panicked, you know, even when we were down by a couple of points.”

The second set was much closer, with 11 ties and six lead changes. Missouri looked to be in control of the set when they held a 18-13 advantage, but Texas A&M rallied for six straight points to take the lead. Both teams went back and forth until Coach Kreklow called a timeout with his Tigers down 23-22. Missouri turned to Klein in the clutch, who in turn scored one kill to tie the set at 23 and then a service ace to end the match a play later, 25-23.

Missouri got off to another hot start in the third set, scoring nine out of the first 11 points to open up the final set. A series of kills from Klein, Ampudia, and freshman outside hitter Lisa Henning helped the Tigers to a 20-10 lead over the Aggies. Missouri would score five out of the next nine to take the set and win the match, 25-14. Aggie junior outside hitter Kelsey Black came into the game ranked third in the Big 12 in kills per set, but was held to just nine kills total on the night.

“We prepared for her a lot,” Kreklow said. “They didn’t really set her as much cause I think they knew we were keying on her so they tried to go to other hitters which is okay because obviously the other hitters aren’t as good as her.”

The win over Texas A&M was Missouri’s sixth in a row and 19th of the season, the most wins for the Tigers since 2005. The team will look to keep its winning streak alive when it travels out to Austin on Wednesday to take on the seventh ranked Texas Longhorns.