Tiger volleyball falls to Cyclones
The Tigers were dealt their third loss of the season in the match.
Published Sept. 21, 2010
Taking on the 11th-ranked team in the country, Missouri volleyball fought hard Saturday, but eventually came up short against the Iowa State Cyclones. After dominating the Cyclones in the first match, the Tigers were unable to keep the momentum going as it gave up the following three sets resulting in MU's third loss of the season.
The Tigers came out in the first set firing on all cylinders, scoring the first seven points of the game and, at one point, holding a double-digit lead against the Cyclones. Iowa State came into the game ranked first in the Big 12 in hitting percentage, but early in the match, Missouri showed no signs of intimidation. The Cyclones applied some pressure later on in the first set, but any time it got something going, the Tigers found a way to end it. The final score of the first set was 25-16, with Missouri playing like a top five team in the country.
The second set did not start out as planned for the Tigers. After scoring the first two of the match, Missouri gave up 13 out of the next 15 points, struggling to find its rhythm. The Tigers didn’t make much of a comeback in the second set, and eventually dropped it by 10 points.
“They just won the serve and pass game,” coach Wayne Kreklow said. “We’d make two and three point runs, but they’d come back with four and five point runs. We went from phenomenal to really bad.”
The third and fourth sets didn’t see much change from the second, as the Cyclones continued to deny any Tiger attempt to come back and win. Missouri gave up six straight points in the third set, putting Iowa State in an unstoppable rhythm. In the fourth set, Missouri lost five out of the first six points, digging a hole quickly and making it harder to win.
“We started out really strong, but we kind of tailed off at the end,” senior middle blocker Catie Wilson said. “We had a rough time putting everything together. Our consistency is what failed us at the end.”
The Tiger offense was led by senior outside hitter Paola Ampudia, who tallied 15 total kills while freshman setter Molly Kreklow recorded her third career double-double with 38 assists and 12 digs. Senior libero Caitlin Vann again led the Tigers back row, posting 14 digs in Saturday’s match.
Missouri will look to bounce back against the tough University of Texas at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Hearnes Center.