Match Stats
- 15-seed Missouri def. Northern Illinois 3-0 (25-16, 25-13, 25-20)
- NCAA 1st Round
- Hearnes Center, Columbia, Missouri
- Missouri advances to play Purdue on Friday at 7:00 Eastern Time
The 15-seed Missouri Tigers swept away MAC Champions Northern Illinois at home on Thursday to advance to the second round of the NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship tournament.
The Tigers hit a whopping .404 in what was an offensive-leaning game. The Tigers got 27 kills from a combination of Melanie Crow (4e, 37ta, .351) and Carly Kan (3e, 25ta, .280), and had 4 minor players hit better than .500 to lift the team. The Tigers had 6 blocks to Northern Illinois’ 1, and also got 8 aces – 4 of which came from Crow. Crow had a total of 22.5 points to her credit in the game.
As has been the trend all season, when Kan has less pressure offensively and can aid in the defensive game (she had 14 digs), the Tigers play better – and that’s what happened on Thursday evening.
Northern Illinois hit .221 in the game, but didn’t have a single player with double digit kills (or points of any kind). Mary Grace Kelly led the scoring for the Huskies with 8 kills (3e, 28ta, .179 average).
The win sets up a rematch against Purdue, who beat Iowa State 3-0 in the first game of the evening at the Hearnes Center. Purdue finished the regular season at 19-13 and ranked 10th in the Big Ten, but made the tournament over Illinois and Iowa – both of whom had better conference records.
THAT'S A WINNER!
Mizzou sweeps Northern Illinois, 3-0
Tigers vs. Purdue tomorrow night at 6 pm. Trip to Sweet 16 on the line! pic.twitter.com/maqy93mCPx
— Mizzou Volleyball (@MizzouVB) December 2, 2016
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