Volleyball team prepares for Texas
Published Sept. 22, 2006
With a match against the No. 5 Texas Longhorns looming, the Missouri volleyball team needed momentum. Wednesday night's 30-22, 30-27, 29-31, 30-25 win on the road against the Kansas State Wildcats — its second win there since 1993 — will probably help.
The win was Wayne Kreklow's 300th career victory as a coach. Kreklow attributed the feat to his players over the years, as well as plain longevity.
"We preach to kids to worry about being smart and playing the right way," he said. "The wins are a byproduct of the players working hard and doing the right things."
Kreklow added with a smile: "I guess if you hang around long enough, the wins start to add up."
In the win Wednesday night in Manhattan, Kan., senior outside hitter Jessica Vander Kooi led MU (8-4, 2-1 Big 12) on offense with 27 kills. She nearly recorded her second 20-20 of the season, narrowly missing that plateau by recording 19 digs.
The Tigers nearly swept the Wildcats for the first time since 1993, leading 29-26 in the third game. But K-State rallied with five points in a row to stun MU and force a fourth game.
Vander Kooi said she was impressed how the Tigers, after losing the third game, were able to rally and close out the match in the fourth with a 30-25 win.
Despite only winning the game by five, the Tigers had leads of 10-5 and 22-12 before K-State's rally came up short.
"It was great that we kept our pressure up," she said. "We needed to stay aggressive in the fourth set, when it would have been easy for us to be hesitant."
Junior outside hitter Na Yang, who had 16 kills in the win, echoed Vander Kooi's feelings.
"I really felt like we should've won 3-0," Yang said. "But in the fourth game, we kept pushing hard and that's a big confidence-builder for us."
Yang also said she feels like the team is getting stronger because of tougher practices.
"After we lost to Colorado, the coaches have started to push us so hard in practice," she said. "But the matches have become easier because we're working much harder in practice."
Kreklow said he hopes that the good feelings from Wednesday will carry over to Saturday night's match against Texas. Kreklow is 5-0 at home against the Longhorns, but MU as a program is 0-31 against teams ranked fifth nationally or higher.
"We're a team that's progressing, and last night helped the process," he said. "These kind of matches are easy to get ready for. How can you not get up for the fifth-ranked team in America?"
Vander Kooi said that in order to beat a team like Texas, the Tigers have to avoid making mistakes.
"We're going to have to slow them down, and not make errors," she said.
Yang agreed, emphasizing that the Tigers can win tomorrow if they make points hard for Texas to come by.
"No matter how good they are, we have to make them earn points," she said. "If they don't want to earn them, we'll win."