After Saturday’s match against Baylor, the Missouri volleyball team will have played 15 of its 21 matches on the road.
In every one of their matches thus far, the Tigers (14-6, 1-3 conference) have had to adjust to the different playing styles and tempos of their opponents. The icing on the cake is 70 percent of the time they have been forced to do this outside of their home state.
The Tigers dropped another road match to Oklahoma on Wednesday, losing 3-2 after a late rally fell short in the final set. Sophomore setter Molly Kreklow suggested if the match had been played at the Hearnes Center, she might’ve been talking with reporters about a totally different outcome.
“It’s definitely always a different atmosphere,” Kreklow said. “It’s a hard place to play on the road. In Oklahoma, the gym is a lot different than ours. I think it was definitely a match we could have won. Had it been at the Hearnes Center, things might have gone differently, but we’ll get that chance later in the season.”
The Tigers are 5-1 at their home court this season, but just 9-5 away from the Hearnes Center.
As if playing so many matches away from Columbia wasn’t enough, Missouri will travel even further south tomorrow to take on the Baylor Bears (13-6, 2-3 conference) for yet another conference matchup before heading home.
“It’s definitely difficult,” Kreklow said. “I think that everyone’s ready to be back to being at home. We’ve just got to push through it for right now.”
Freshman middle blocker Whitney Little is learning the labors of a college athlete for the first time this season. She said as the traveling continues, keeping up with schoolwork and conference play becomes easier.
“It’s a little hard at first, but it get’s easier when we have our athletic advisor with us, so that definitely helps,” Little said. “But we learn from the older girls and ask them different things like when to do school work and what to focus our time on.”
Kreklow also spoke about the process of such a young team adjusting to travel.
“I think it’s a good learning experience, especially for our team being so young, so it’s definitely going to help us out in the end,” Kreklow said.
The Tigers are looking forward to redeeming themselves in two consecutive home matches next week.
“We have another away match on Saturday, then we’ll head back home next week,” Kreklow said. “Hopefully, we’ll be ready just to work hard. We’ve only got two or three months left on the season, so we’ve really got to push through it.”
Little said she sees the bright side of all the traveling, but admitted it will be “nice” to have more home matches when the season winds down.
“It’s going to help a lot,” Little said. “We have to protect our home. We can’t lose. It’s going to make us play harder and it’s going to be nice to stay home and not have to travel.”
The Tigers will be home for both Wednesday and Saturday next week, facing off against Kansas (12-4, 0-3 conference) and Texas Tech (14-4, 0-3 conference), respectively. They are set to face Baylor on Saturday in Waco, Texas, but the time has yet to be announced.