Missouri women’s volleyball continued its four-year winning streak against Southeast Missouri State on Saturday at the Mizzou Classic, sweeping the Redhawks (25-13, 25-14, 25-13) to go 14-0.
The Tigers hit the ground running in their third match of the weekend. Junior hitter Emily Wilson contributed four of the team’s 16 kills while hitting .800 for the first set, and junior blocker Whitney Little had a perfect hitting percentage with three kills. Missouri coasted to a 25-13 win while hitting .727 with no errors in the opening set, compared to SEMO’s five attack errors.
“Offensively, we played well,” coach Wayne Kreklow said. “I don’t think that SEMO served particularly consistently, and we were insistent most of the time. And when you’re insistent, we’ve got a lot of people that can swing and we did a really good job offensively.”
In the second set, Wilson and freshman utility Carly Kan brought their kill count ups to seven, with senior hitter Lisa Henning following close behind at six kills on 11 attempts. Senior setter Molly Kreklow won set point with an ace, her fourth of the match, to close out the game 25-14. Missouri had 26 swings in the second set, four more than the previous set.
Missouri’s 25-13 victory in third saw Little finish the match with 10 kills, five blocks and a hitting percentage of .909. Little also leads the NCAA in hitting percentage. The Tigers hit at .606 for the match, breaking the school record of .595 set in 2000.
“Whit works hard; she works really hard out there. She makes herself available in transition and she goes behind Molly really well,” Wayne Kreklow said of Little’s tendency to backslide. “That’s probably what Whit does best, is go behind, and that’s one of the reasons she’s next to the setter.”
Missouri has yet to drop a set in the Mizzou Classic, and will play its last match of the tournament against Middle Tennessee on Saturday night at Hearnes Center.