Volleyball ranked No. 12
Published Oct. 17, 2006
Coming off its loss to No. 1 Nebraska on Wednesday, the Missouri volleyball team moved up three spots to No. 12 in the country, tying with LSU.
The Tigers will travel to Norman, Okla., on Wednesday to face No. 23 Oklahoma. The Sooners are 8-1 in the Big 12 and are one of the biggest surprises after finishing 2-18 in conference play in 2005.
Even after being blocked 22 times against Nebraska, Kreklow said he isn't afraid to face Oklahoma, ranked first in the Big 12 in blocks.
"I'm not worried," he said. "We have to anticipate where we put the ball and be comfortable getting blocked a few times. But we can't let it impact our whole offense."
After having a seven-match winning streak ended by Nebraska, the Tigers now face the realistic possibility of losing two in a row and falling to fourth in the Big 12.
"If we lose, we just go on to the next match," he said. "I know it's cliché, but it's the truth for us."
Kreklow also doesn't plan to make any notable changes to the starting lineup or rotation before heading to Norman.
"At this point, we are what we are," he said. "We can tweak stuff here and there, but we really have to just take what we've got and get better."
The Tigers were off last Saturday, a rare break for a team that has practiced six days a week since the start of the season in August.
MU coach Wayne Kreklow said that the team needed some rest after going 7-2 through the first half of its conference schedule.
"We needed to recover and rest our legs a bit," he said. "I don't want us to regress, but we have to rest."