Tigers end three-match skid

Na Yang breathed a huge sigh of relief as she walked off Hearnes Center’s court Saturday night.

“I’m just so happy we won,” she said. “Finally.”

The No. 21 Missouri volleyball team snapped a three-match losing streak with a 30-23, 30-17, 28-30, 30-28 win over Colorado.

Yang, a junior outside hitter from Shan Dong, China, had a career-high six aces, doubling her previous high of three. Yang, however, was not counting her stats.

“Really?,” she said, when told of her feat. “I am surprised to know I got six aces. I did not know that.”

On the negative side, Yang had five service errors to go along with the aces, and Missouri coach Wayne Kreklow says that consistency is something she needs to work on.

Developing consistency with her serve is just another step for Yang, who is still trying to fully recover from a knee injury last year, which required surgery over the summer.

Yang was unable to jump serve last season because of the knee injury, but the surgery has allowed her to start doing it again. With the jump serve becoming a weapon for her, Yang is happy to have had the surgery.

“Since I had surgery, I feel much better jumping,” she said. “When I serve without jumping, I don’t serve that well. When I jump serve, since I’m an outside hitter, I use my best parts to help the team. The surgery helps a lot.”

Yang struggled earlier in the season, in large part because she was not 100 percent after the injury, and she says it was frustrating for her.

“I didn’t feel very good when I couldn’t play at the level I had played at before,” she said. “But I had to face it.”

Jessica Vander Kooi led Missouri (15-9. 9-6 in the Big 12 Conference) with 21 kills and the Tigers pulled into a tie with the Buffaloes for fifth place in the Big 12 with the win. Amber Sutherland led Colorado (13-9, 9-6) with 20 kills.

Missouri dominated the first two games before letting Colorado rally to win game three. The Buffaloes almost rallied from a five-point deficit late in game four, closing to within one at 29-28 before Nicole Wilson’s 17th kill of the match put it away.

Kreklow said it was probably beneficial for his team to win the way they did.

“I think that having to dig deep and play well against a good Colorado team that was playing well in the third and fourth games, probably will help us more psychology than winning handily in Game 3,” he said. “From a personal standpoint though, it about killed me.”

And for Yang, months of hard work is starting to pay off.

“It was hard,” she said. “I had to do treatment for three months every single day. It was tough, but you can see the results right now.”