Missouri needed to take one more set to win its home opener against Utah Friday night. The Tigers dominated their first two sets, winning 25–17 and 25–22 behind 23 kills, nine of which came from junior Melanie Crow.
And then the third set happened.
Utah switched its offensive play back to a 5–1 set up, throwing Missouri off as they struggled to defend against Adora Anae and Tawnee Luafalemana, Utah’s two big hitters. The Utes took the set 25–20.
It was all Utah from there. With .300 hitting and higher in the final three sets, the Utes went on to win the fourth set 25–21, forcing the fifth and final set. Missouri looked like it might hold on at the end for a win, but after three unforced errors, Utah took the set 15–11 and handed Missouri its first loss of the season.
“Well, obviously it’s disappointing,” coach Wayne Kreklow said. “But I got to give Utah a lot of credit, they made some very good adjustments after the second game. We were kind of on our heels in most of the games, but that’s what happens and we’ve got to do a better job of making adjustments and handle all that stuff better.”
The offensive change-up is what Missouri struggled with the most. Senior defensive specialist Alexa Ethridge said her team needs to be able to make those adjustments with the opponent, instead of getting caught off guard.
“Usually we go into a game with a game plan, and we know their tendencies and how they play,” she said. “They switched from a 6–2 to a 5–1, and we just weren’t ready to adjust. We need to learn how to switch our play on the fly.”
Missouri’s passing and serving game was sharp during the first two sets, which helped the offense take control. Ethridge and senior Carly Kan had five and nine digs, respectively, through the first two sets.
It seemed as though Missouri tired during the third game, and Utah took advantage of that. Preparing for fatigue — both mental and physical — is something Kreklow said he has been working on in practice.
“When we get really challenged and things don’t go well, we have an awfully hard time trying to bounce back and regroup and make a play,” he said. “But that’s kind of what we do this time of the year, we put ourselves in situations that we get challenged in, and we’ve got to be able to learn from it.”
Kan agreed with Kreklow, and she said that though the loss hurts the team now, it gives them a chance to grow.
“When people get on us, we get a little scared,” Kan said. “Now we know that we’re not as good as we think we are, that’s going to help us improve in practice and want to get better every day.”
Kan was the target of Utah’s offense in the last three sets, as each serve and kill seemed to be directed at her.
That burden is something Kan is used to. After her breakout freshman season in 2013, the outside hitter has been bearing the weight of serves and kills since her sophomore year.
“I have a lot more experience, I remember my sophomore year I wouldn’t have responded in the same way,” Kan said. “I’m growing and I’m not going to be perfect, so I just know that every team is going to be coming after me. That’s just something I have to deal with and I’m getting a lot better with.”
The Tigers play two more games tomorrow to finish out the Tiger Invitational. They take on Miami (Ohio) at 12:30 p.m. and Rice at 6:30 p.m.
Moving forward with the loss Friday night is something Kreklow says the team needs to do in order to have the season they wish for.
“We’ll talk a little bit about what we need to do better moving forward, but we don’t have time to cry over spilled milk,” he said. “It’s a marathon, not a sprint. While this hurts and everyone is disappointed and not very happy right now, we’ve got a lot of volleyball left to play. The loss is a disappointment, but it’s only a failure if we allow it to carry over and define who we are.”
_Edited by Peter Baugh | pbaugh@themaneater.com_