Sept. 24, 2011
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COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Mizzou volleyball team improved to 14-4 on the season after defeating Texas A&M, 3-1 (23-25, 25-23, 26-24, 25-23), in a close match on Saturday afternoon (Sept. 24) at the Hearnes Center. A season-high 3,105 fans packed the Hearnes Center for the Tigers' first home match in nearly a month and saw sophomore outside hitter Lisa Henning (Blue Springs, Mo.) lead the way with a career-best and match-high 21 kills. Senior libero Priscilla Armendariz (Blue Springs, Mo.) also posted a career-high as she pulled in a match-high 25 digs. She is now the 11th player in school history to surpass 1,000 career digs as she needed just four heading into the match.
"I was really proud of how our team continued to battle today," head coach Wayne Kreklow said. "There were a lot of times during the match where it looked like Texas A&M was going to pull away, but we did a nice job of battling back and we continued to score points when we needed to. I was really pleased with how they fought back against Texas A&M, which is a really good team."
Aside from the offensive production that Mizzou got from Henning, freshman Emily Wilson (Omaha, Neb.) had a great night with 16 kills on .310 hitting while pitching in five blocks (three solo, two assists) while accounting for 20 total points. Senior All-Big 12 pick Brittney Brimmage (East St. Louis, Ill.) also had a nice match with 11 kills on 21 swings, good for a .381 clip. Sophomore setter Molly Kreklow (Delano, Minn.) also had one of her best matches of the season with 53 assists and 11 digs, good for her fifth double-double of the season. She quarterbacked a Tiger offense that finished with 62 kills on .249 hitting in the four sets.
Defensively, Armendariz led the way with her 25 digs and Kreklow pitched in her 11, but freshman Jade Hayes (Ozark, Mo.) also finished in double figures with 10 digs. Classmate Sarah Meister (San Diego, Calif.) pitched in nine digs as well while Henning finished with seven, just three shy of her fifth career double-double.
The win for the Tigers is their third straight over Texas A&M after taking both meetings last season. A&M was led by Tori Mellinger, who posted 16 kills while preseason All-Big 12 pick Kelsey Black had 13 kills. Four Aggies finished in double-digit digs as they actually out-dug Mizzou 75-73.
Mizzou will return home on Wednesday against Kansas State for the annual Pink Out meet. The match is slated for a 6:30 p.m. start. For all the latest on Mizzou volleyball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on twitter @MU_Volleyball.
