The crisp reverberation of sophomore outside hitter Lisa Henning’s palm hitting the ball, followed by an echoing sound of the ball socking the playing court, was a common occurrence this weekend at the Hearnes Center.
Henning led the Tigers with 24 kills during the annual Tiger Invitational on Friday this past weekend. Freshman outside hitter Emily Wilson also made a big impact with 23 kills, earning her Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honors.
“I feel like I performed well and like I did what I needed for the team to be successful,” Wilson said.
For coach Wayne Kreklow, the invitational meant more than just promising stats.
“Overall, I was very pleased,“ Kreklow said. “We’ve got a lot of young kids and this is the first time they’ve been in a collegiate match situation, so you don’t know really what to expect when you come in, but I was pleasantly surprised. I thought the more we played, the smoother we got.”
Kreklow touched on how important tournaments such as the Tiger Invitational are before conference play begins Sept. 21.
“It gives us a chance to get these girls out on the floor,” Kreklow said. “I hate to put too much pressure on early matches, but these have a lot to do with what happens at the end of the year. Every one’s important.”
In Henning’s case, these tournaments are helping relieve some preseason nervousness.
“You get your jitters out,” Henning said. “You obviously want to win, but it’s not our conference matches. I think we did really well. We got our nerves out early.”
Henning wasn’t the only one facing pregame butterflies. Wilson said she was anxious from the time she arrived in the morning.
“When I got here, I was really feeling the jitters and was really nervous,” Wilson said after Friday’s matches. “But once warm ups got going, I felt really good.”
Not only are these matches helping with the pins and needles, but with camaraderie.
“They spend most of the day together,” Kreklow said. “We go through scouting reports, we have meetings and we watch. The next few weekends we’ll be on the road, so now you add the travel element, we’re together a lot. So these preseason conference tournaments do a lot of help in terms of team cohesiveness and getting to know each other and that bonding point.”
Henning said she can already see the cohesion building on the court, especially with sophomore setter Molly Kreklow. Kreklow was named Big 12 Player of the Week on Monday for her strong performance.
“By the end of the post season, I felt really connected (with Molly),” Henning said. “In practices, I feel like there’s no stopping us. I mean, she could set me with her eyes closed and know where I’m at.”
Wilson, along with the six other Tiger newcomers, said she looks up to her older teammates for leadership and team togetherness. With team harmony comes respect for the veteran players.
“They’re great leaders out there and they’re really showing us the ropes and showing us how it’s done,“ Wilson said. “They’re kind of idols to me I guess, that’s how I want to be.”
Competing in the Tiger Invitational was only the beginning for this team, but Henning is already seeing results both on and off the court.
“There’s not one person that doesn’t fit on the team,” Henning said. “Everyone really understands each other and plays the same way, so it really works out.”