After finishing second in the season-opening Tiger Invitational this weekend, Missouri volleyball has a 3-1 record.
The Tigers’ first opponent in the tournament was the North Florida Ospreys. Junior outside hitter Lisa Henning led the offense with 12 kills while junior setter Molly Kreklow and sophomore libero Jade Hayes split the defensive responsibilities, as both had 11 digs in the match. The Ospreys only led once, and the Tigers led by as many as 10 points throughout the match.
The next match against Virginia Tech was much closer. After trading the first two sets, the Tigers came out of intermission with newfound energy to dominate the next two sets, winning 25-19 and 25-16, respectively.
Several players had standout performances against the Hokies. Sophomore middle blocker Whitney Little had her best performance of the tournament with 14 kills on .571 hitting and four blocks. In her first night game as a Tiger, transfer sophomore outside hitter Taylor Simpson tallied up 12 kills and 13 digs. Kreklow racked up 44 assists and 11 digs on the night.
After the Virginia Tech game, coach Wayne Kreklow said he was pleased his team was able to bounce back.
“Overall I was impressed with our performance today,” Wayne Kreklow said. “I was especially impressed with how we came back after dropping the second set to Virginia Tech tonight. The way the team rallied and played coming out of intermission gives me a lot of confidence moving forward.”
Missouri returned to the court the next morning to face Nicholls State and won in three straight sets: 25-17, 25-13 and 25-17.
Sophomore hitter Emily Wilson recorded 12 kills on .500 hitting percentage.
“Molly and I were just really connecting well,” she said after the game. “My adrenaline was running high, and the whole team was just playing well.”
Even though his team looked dominant, Wayne Kreklow pointed out the grind that comes with playing several matches in a short amount of time.
“These are tough matches to play,” Wayne Kreklow said. “You play late last night, and they turn around the next morning to get yourself going again both mentally and physically. We struggled a little bit more so with the mental part.”
The final match of the tournament was against the No. 23 Michigan Wolverines. Both teams were 3-0, and the Missouri fans packed the stands to witness a match for the undisputed championship.
Missouri was unable to gain momentum against the Wolverines, scoring only 11 kills in two sets and losing 25-19 and 25-15. In the third set, the Tigers showed some life, never allowing Michigan to break away by more than three points. But it wasn’t enough, and the Tigers fell for the third set and suffered their first defeat 25-22.
After the game, Henning described the mindset of the team during the first two sets.
“Our first couple of games were not what we wanted and weren’t our style of play,” Henning said. “We were so ready when we came out, but we hadn’t seen that side of us before, and I think that was hard for us to adjust.”
She also said she thinks the Tigers need to begin strong to prevent such a loss from happening again.
“We can’t take two games to figure out who we are,” Henning said.
Missouri will go on the road this weekend to compete in the Lipscomb Invitational in Nashville, Tenn. All three opponents — Houston, Lipscomb and Appalachian State — are unranked.
