Weekend Update & More

Great news! I got to go to 3 quarters of the Mizzou-Tech game. Only it wasn't as good as a game as we all expected it to be. Mizzou won 41-10 and became bowl eligible. This brings our record to 6-1. Tech had one of their poorest showings ever, but Mizzou played great. I was proud to be a Tiger, but still had sorrow for my beloved Red Raiders. Below is a slideshow with some pictures from the game. Friday night I went to the hotel where Tech was staying to see my old boss, Buzz, and some of my friends from undergrad. It was so great to catch up with some of them.

Mom & Dad drove up on Thursday and left Monday morning. It was so great to see them. Friday night we had a "tailgate" party at Casey & Neisha's house. We knew that Saturday would be hectic between football & volleyball so we chose to tailgate the night before. Casey's parents came over as well as Neisha's friend Destiney & some of her friends. Matt (another GA) showed up a little later. We cooked steaks, mashed potatoes, corn, baked beans, salads, cobbler & ice cream. Of course we entertained ourselves by playing with Harper and some guitar hero. Harper got to eat carrots for the first time that night as well. She didn't really like them and proceeded to "motor boat" with them in her mouth getting them everywhere (see pic below). It was a great time to just hang out with family & friends. Saturday Emily & Kyle came over for the football & volleyball games. Sunday we all went to church together and looked at the houses Emily & Kyle have been looking at to buy. I've included a few pictures from our tailgate as well.

So now for the volleyball update. Nebraska is amazing. We played a great game 1 against them, but games 2 and 3 were not fun. We lost 29-31, 18-30, and 14-30. Saturday we hosted Texas. Unfortunately, we lost in 3. Once again, we played a great game 1, but games 2 and 3 weren't near as good. Game scores were 29-31, 17-30, and 22-30. This brings our overall record to 12-8 and our Big XII record to 5-6. We are tied for 6th with Texas A&M currently. Today we played Kansas State. They are #4 in conference & #15 in the nation. Unfortunately we got swept for the 3rd time in a row, 23-30, 17-30, 27-30. We have 8 more Big XII games, then we find out if we make the NCAA Tournament or not. Mom took some pics at the volleyball game for me, so they are on the slideshow as well. (Side note: Texas swept Nebraska tonight, giving Nebraska their first loss of the season.)

5 in a Row

That's right, we have now won 5 Big XII Conference games in a row! And to top that off, we have had 2 Big XII Players of the week -- one offensive player and one defensive player. I'll start where I left off last time. After an exciting win over Colorado we hosted Texas Tech & Texas A&M. Both were very short matches as we swept both of them in 3. Against Tech we were 30-23, 31-29, 30-16. Game 3 was AMAZING!! It was great to get done in 3 because that meant more tailgating before the big Nebraska game (I'll get to that in a minute.) The following Monday, Wendy was named Big XII Offensive Player of the week, after a stellar performance at Colorado followed by 13 kills against Tech. Wednesday we hosted A&M and won in 3 as well, 30-23, 30-23, 30-28. Our hitting was amazing that night. Na had 22 kills and Megan had 17 kills. That was a career high for Megan in a three game match and Na had the most kills by a Tiger in a 3 game match since 2000. Saturday we traveled to Waco to play Baylor. It was another sweep in 3! We won 30-27, 30-25, 30-23. These 3 game sweeps are getting nice! Yesterday Tatum was named Big XII Defensive Player of the Week. So needless to say it's been an exciting time at Mizzou Volleyball. The win over Baylor tied us with Iowa State for 5th. The next couple of weeks are tough though. We host Nebraska (#1 in the nation and our conference), Texas (#6 in the nation and #2 in conference), and Kansas State (#16 in the nation and #3 in the conference). Then we go to Kansas & to Nebraska. That's pretty much as tough as a stretch as you can get. I would post volleyball pictures but I don't have any and you can't save them from the internet :(

Now the Nebraska game was soo much fun. Did a little tailgating before the game with Neisha and some of her friends. Then we walked over to the game and sat in the family section in the south end zone. It was the Gold Rush game and as you can see from the pictures there was a TON of gold. I was actually pretty amazed. Lots of times schools try to get themed games and only about half the fans participate, but the amount of participation was AMAZING. I am interested to see what the Blackout Game vs A&M looks like. Total attendance was 70,049, the most ever since they have reconfigured the stadium. That's a lot of people. The students started the wave in the 4th quarter and it lasted forever. Of course the Nebraska band & fans wouldn't participate so they got booed everytime it got to them. The Tigers stomped the Huskers 41-6. It was also the first time that Nebraska did not score a touchdown against Mizzou since 1961. I have posted some pictures below. They do no justice for the atmosphere.

Unfortunately the football team had their first loss of the season this past weekend. We will not discuss this any further, as it is a sore spot and I have already gotten enough grief from Kyle. On a brighter note, it's homecoming this weekend. Homecoming supposedly originated at Mizzou in 1911 when the football coach invited former players and students to "Come Home" to watch the game versus Kansas being played on campus for the first time ever. It will be a tough game for me though because they play my Red Raiders. It should also be a great game to watch. #1 total offense vs #5 total offense and #3 scoring offense vs. # 10 scoring offense (sadly for the Tigers, Tech is the leader in both). Definitely a spectator's dream!! It's on ABC at 2:30. I might get to see part of the game, but am not sure yet. We play our volleyball game after the football game, so hopefully I will get to watch some of it in person (the football stadium is across the street from the Hearnes Center), otherwise I will be glued to the tv. I will be cheering for the Tigers aloud, but the Red Raiders will always have a special spot in my heart, so the way I look at it its a win-win situation this week. My parents, Emily & Kyle are coming to the game so I am excited to see all of them and I get to see my old boss Buzz!

MIZ-ZOU

First of all, it's a very exciting weekend in Columbia. It's the Mizzou-Nebraska football game and it's on ESPN at 8:15 pm. Even more exciting I GET TO GO TO THE GAME! :) You should watch and try to find me. I'll be the one in the gold shirt. (Watch the game, you will find this much funnier). It's our Gold Rush game and our Big XII opener. Now on top of all of that we have several other athletic events. We have a volleyball game at 2 pm against Texas Tech, softball has a game at noon, there are live wresting matches at Hearnes following the volleyball match, sometime in the morning there is baseball practice, and Men's Basketball is having open gym at 4. I think that covers everything...maybe women's basketball practice in there somewhere too. So needless to say we have a full day of events to cover.

Now for the volleyball update. Iowa State was a hard fought battle, but we lost in 5; 27-30, 30-24, 30-26, 26-30, 16-14. This was one of the most exciting matches all season though. We are definitely two very closely matched teams. In game 5, we were down 14-7 at one point in time and won 7 straight points to tie the game before losing. It was definitely a heart breaker of a match. The following Wednesday we played at Kansas State. The atmosphere there is amazing, but we were swept in 3. Not many high points in that game with our scores being 30-21, 30-20, 30-20. This isn't a game we try to reflect on too much at all. This brought our record to 7-6 and 0-4 in Big XII play. Then things began to look up.

We hosted No. 25 Oklahoma last Saturday. Talk about an exciting day. Oklahoma was leading the conference coming in and we were tied for 10th (out of 11). They and Nebraska were both undefeated, but since Nebraska had already had an off week and OU hadn't, their record was 5-0 against the Huskers 4-0. Well needless to say we knocked them out of their top spot. We started out up 2-0; 31-29, 30-18. Then comes the 10 minute intermission (I am beginning to hate that break). We came out and lost the next two 33-35, 24-30. Game 3 was amazing, as you tell by the score. It was back and forth the whole time. Then came game 5, which we won 15-13. It was GREAT! We definitely needed that win more than anything and of course any victory over the Sooners is GREAT! (Sorry Kyle, I still love you!) Wednesday we went to Colorado. I now have a new appreciate for jet planes. We chartered a turbo prop plane instead of the jet plane that we have been taking to games. It was still a 30 seater plane instead of the 19 seater that they took last year, but not near as smooth and the prop was right outside my window. Oh well, we got there safely and it's better than driving. Well I have discovered that we can't do anything the easy way. Once again we got up 2-0, go into "halftime", come back out lose the next 2, but win game 5. So we are now 9-6, 2-4 in Big XII and tied for 6th in the conference. Scores were 30-20, 30-19, 26-30, 28-30, 15-9. Another exciting thing about the game. Weiwen "Wendy" Wang, one of freshmen, broke two school records that night. She had 13 blocks in the match and 19 kills with no errors. Previous records were 12 block and 17 kills with no errors. She also recorded the second-highest hitting percentage (.559, 19-0-34) all-time in a Tiger five-game match. So going 5 wasn't all that bad, just a little stressful. That was our 7th 5 game match on the year. The school record is currently 10 and we aren't even half way through conference. I told the girls we should see how many matches we could win in 3, that's a lot more fun than 5.

Well I guess that's it for the volleyball update. Our next 5 out of 6 games are at home, so it will be nice to get some time off from traveling, but that just means more work getting things ready for games.

Harper's half birthday was Tuesday. Neisha & Casey had a half birthday party for her. It was so cute. I don't have any pictures from it yet, but I will post them when I do get them. She got into the cake, despite Neisha saying she couldn't. She wasn't really sure what to think about the icing and cake taste, but we tried to tell her it is MUCH better than the rice cereal.

Mom & Dad are coming in two week and I am super excited. It's our homecoming game vs the Red Raiders and we host Texas in volleyball. I still have my fingers crossed for that night football game. We find out Monday the time :) I am very anxious to say the least. Kyle & Emily are coming over for the game as well. It will great to all be together again and hopefully we all get to tailgate together. Dad--I asked Casey again if you could bring the Tech football guy--he said NO. :( I still think he is super cool and you better have him plugged in on Saturdays at home. I do miss my Red Raider Football Games, but I am super excited to get to go watch my Missouri Tigers play this weekend, and who could ask for a better game to be my first.

Mizzou-RAH! Go Tigers!