10/11/03

Missouri 3, Texas 0

» Box score

COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Texas volleyball team fell to Missouri, 3-0, on the road in a Big 12 Conference match on Saturday afternoon. The Longhorns came back after a slow start, but still fell to the Tigers, 30-19, 30-26, 42-40. Junior Mira Topic (Kastela Kambelovac, Croatia/Vladimir Nazor) recorded her sixth double-double of the year with 12 kills and 12 digs.

The 42-40 third game marked the longest game ever in the Longhorns' history. Prior to Saturday, the longest game in school history was a 37-35 loss at home against Colorado (Nov. 6, 2002).

Texas (9-7, 4-3 Big 12) held five game points in the third game before Missouri rallied back to claim the match on their seventh game point. The Longhorns pulled ahead 17-12, but the Tigers chipped away at their lead until pulling even at 27-27. Neither team could string together enough points to take the game until a kill by Mizzou's Nicole Wilson was followed by an ace by Juliana Godoi for the match.

"We showed a lot of heart in that last game," Texas head coach Jerritt Elliott said after the match. "It was a tight game, but we did a lot of good things. We just didn't have the luck we needed in the end and Missouri is a tough team to beat at home. We have a big match against Kansas State on the road on Wednesday so now we have to turn our attention to getting ready for that."

Missouri (13-4, 6-2 Big 12) out-hit Texas in the first game, .429 to .073 and the two teams played evenly until 7-7 before Missouri went on a 12-2 run to take command of the game. Junior Bethany Howden (Austin, Texas/Westlake) had seven of Texas' 13 kills in the game. Missouri had a balanced attack, benefiting from five kills from Shen Danru and four each from Lisa Boyd and Lindsey Noll.

Texas rebounded in the second game with a higher hitting percentage, .295 to Mizzou's .273, as the two teams again played evenly until 18-18. From that point, the Tigers proceeded on a 6-2 run to control play and take a 2-0 lead into the break. Howden again lead the attack with five kills for UT, while freshman Brandy Magee (Mission Viejo, Calif./Capistrano Valley) added four. Noll and Lisa Morris had four each for Mizzou.

In the third game, Topic paced the UT offense with eight kills, while Howden added six. Danru added to her match totals with seven kills, while Noll and Nicole Wilson had five apiece. As a team, the Longhorns hit .300, but Missouri bettered that with a .360 mark.

Howden finished the match with a game-high 18 kills and was one of three Longhorns with nine digs. Freshman setter Jenny Andrew (Houston, Texas/Kingswood) and sophomore libero Erin Larson (San Antonio, Texas/Ronald Reagan) also had nine digs. Mizzou's Danru had 17 kills and Noll added 13. Lindsey Hunter had 16 digs and Sara Parks added 10.

Texas returns to action on Wednesday, Oct. 15 when the team travels to Manhattan, Kansas for a meeting against No. 12 Kansas State. The match will be taped by College Sports Television (CSTV) for broadcast on Sunday, Oct. 19, as part of its "Sunday Night Spike" package.