Freshman hitter sets record at tournament
Published Aug. 29, 2006
The No. 13 women's volleyball team returned from its season-opening trip to Long Beach, Calif., with two victories in three games — thanks largely to the play of freshman outside hitter Julianna Klein.
Klein had four aces in her debut, and junior libro Tatum Ailes added five more as the Tigers swept the Alabama State Hornets, winning 30-8, 30-9, 30-8.
Before heading west, coach Wayne Kreklow called the Tigers' match against Long Beach State his team's "toughest test" of the weekend. His fears proved correct as the Tigers were swept by the 49ers, 30-16, 30-18 and 30-27.
In front of a partisan crowd, Long Beach State held the Tigers to just a .016 hitting percentage and no kills in the second frame.
MU rebounded Saturday as the Tigers closed the trip with a three-game sweep of the Villanova Wildcats, 30-20, 30-20, 30-27.
Klein's seven aces made her only the third Tiger to get at least that many aces in a three-set match. Senior outside hitter Jessica Vander Kooi led the team with 14 kills, and senior middle blocker Nicole Wilson and junior outside hitter Na Yang had 10 kills each.
"I felt we did a good job bouncing back from last night," Kreklow said after the Villanova match. "We built on a decent game three from last night and started to get into a better rhythm with a lineup change."
Klein's feats led a group of freshmen that contributed right away. In the Villanova win, redshirt freshman setter Lei Wang had 36 assists and added 27 more against Alabama State — a match in which fellow redshirt freshman Megan Wilson also scored seven kills.
The Tigers open their regular season tonight at 6:30 against Arkansas-Little Rock at the Hearnes Center.