You know how I said MU would probably need Julianna Klein to beat Texas this coming weekend? I'd say that ain't gonna happen...
The results from an MRI test conducted yesterday afternoon have come back with unsavory results for the University of Missouri volleyball team. Sophomore Julianna Klein (Keota, Iowa) was diagnosed late last night with a torn ACL in her left knee which was a result of the injury suffered in Friday's match versus Houston in San Marcos, Texas.In Klein's absense against Texas State, Megan Wilson stepped up wonderfully. Methinks Texas will be a little tougher to handle, especially without MU's workhorse. Megan Wilson does have a all-around game herself--she's strong in both the service and digs departments--but she hasn't proven nearly as much offensively. We'll see what happens here. Klein isn't irreplaceable, but she was Mizzou's steadiest offensive option to this point.
In the third of four games against Houston, with the Tigers up 20-12, Klein went to attack a ball and then came down in pain.
Klein was leading Mizzou with 4.44 kills per game, up from her 2.75 average her freshman season and stood fourth in the Big 12 in the category. In addition, Klein's defense showed much improvement as her digs-per-game shot from 0.75 her frosh campaign to 2.85 this season, resulting in the first five kill-dig double-doubles of her career. Along with leading Mizzou with 0.48 service aces per game, Klein was third in the Big 12 with 5.30 points per game, behind only 2006 National Player of the Year Sarah Pavan of Nebraska and All-American Destinee Hooker of Texas.
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