Volleyball takes Tiger Invitational
Published Sept. 17, 2002
Volleyball coaches Susan and Wayne Kreklow had big smiles on their faces Saturday night. As freshman Lindsey Hunter gave the final assist to redshirt freshman Shen Danru, all Missouri volleyball fans could hear next was the smash that hit the floor and the cheer of the well-earned game point that defeated Eastern Illinois 3-0 and led the Tigers to capturing the 2002 Tiger Invitational.
The Tigers went 4-0 in the tournament with three consecutive shutout games, improving their season record to 10-1.
"I'm very happy with our team's performance this weekend," Susan Kreklow said.
On Friday morning, the Tigers opened the tournament with a three-game victory over North Carolina State (30-18, 30-12, 30-21). That evening, they played San Diego State and defeated the Aztecs in a contested fourth-game rally. The Tigers went 30-23, 30-25, 27-30 and 30-23.
The well-balanced offensive attack was led by junior Mary Lauren Smith, who had 17 kills. All-Big 12 senior Christi Myers had 16 kills, which moved her into third place on the career kills list at MU with 1,119. The defense specialists also tabbed double-digit figures in the number of digs. Junior Juliana Godoi posted 15, while Danru had 14 and Myers had 10.
"I think the momentum swing you see with our team is due to ball control," Susan Kreklow said. "When we're controlling the ball from the backcourt, we're able to really run our offense and keep things at a very quick tempo."
In Saturday's first match, the Tigers took another 3-0 victory over the University of Arkansas-Little Rock (30-28, 3-19, 30-21). The momentum continued to roll later that evening as the Tigers defeated Eastern Illinois in just more than an hour in a 3-0 (30-18, 30-10, 30-17) victory, thus securing the championship win.
"It's been a great day because we worked the lineup, and we tried different things and saw what worked and what didn't," Myers said. "So, for us, we have a lot of new players with lots of different options, and we needed the extra time."
Myers led MU with 14 kills with a .714 hitting average. Smith tallied 13 kills while Danru had 12. Starting setter Hunter had 47 assists and averaged a career-high 49.5 for the weekend, leading the Big 12 in the number of assists. The Tigers held Eastern Illinois to a .140 hitting percentage.
"I think we were on most of the day," Hunter said. "We finally started clicking this weekend together."
Myers, Danru and Hunter earned All-Tournament Team honors. Danru received the most valuable player award, which is her second MVP title this season. She also was named Big 12 player of the week.
"Overall, we ended in a really good way," Myers said. "We finally found a rhythm for the first time this season, and we looked like a competitive Big 12 team."
Opening the conference with one of their best season records, the Tigers travel to Austin, Texas, Wednesday to play the University of Texas at 7 p.m. In their last meeting, the Tigers went 2-5 in a heated rally.
"I think we just have to continue developing some consistency," Susan Kreklow said. "We were able to maintain our focus throughout the match and play at a high level from start to finish. It's something that we are going to have to do as we head into the Big 12."
MU's next home match will be on Sept. 25 against No. 16 Texas A&M.
