MU back and forth with wins
Published Aug. 28, 2007
Coach Wayne Kreklow admits he created chaos during the MU volleyball team's opening weekend by making frequent lineup changes. The team lost its Friday night match against Mississippi in five games before beating Jacksonville State and Arkansas State on Saturday.
"You've got to experiment a little bit," Kreklow said of his lineup this early in the season. "But when you do that, it also adds a little bit to the chaotic feeling on the court. It's hard for the player."
Sophomore Julianna Klein also said the frequent changes were a setback for the players and required the support of teammates.
"We're helping each other out so everything goes more smoothly," she said.
The Friday night match was as back and forth as they come. The Rebels won the first game 30-28. The Tigers took the second, 30-27. After the Rebels took game three 34-32, the Tigers dominated game four 30-13. Mississippi took the fifth game 16-14 to clinch the match.
The match lasted two hours and 41 minutes and was the third-longest match in Tiger history. Klein had 26 kills, a career high. Freshman Caitlyn Vann had 24 digs.
"I was thinking on the side, this feels like a postseason match," Kreklow said of the intensity.
He said he thought the Rebels are further along than his team is as far as playing together, but that his team competed well.
"It still could have gone either way," he said.
The first match on Saturday was also a five-gamer, but this time the Tigers beat Jacksonville State. The Tigers began the match with another dominant game, winning 30-16.
"We will just be pushing harder, because the opponents make more mistakes," senior Na Yang said.
The Gamecocks won the next two games 30-28 and 30-27, respectively, before the Tigers pulled off 30-23 and 15-12 wins to take the match. Yang had 20 kills and freshman Weiwen Wang had 19.
The final match of the weekend was on Saturday against Arkansas State, during which the Tigers swept 32-30, 30-20, 30-13. Yang had 18 kills, giving her more than 1,000 for her career. Sophomore Lei Wang had 42 assists.
Yang said the team's Saturday wins are part of a trend.
"We're getting better every match," she said.
The Tigers now have to prepare for two matches this weekend at home — Friday night against Notre Dame and Sunday afternoon against Florida International. Florida A&M was originally on the schedule as well but withdrew from the event. Kreklow said his team will be working on generating more offense out of the middle and right side, something he said improved over the weekend. But he said the team also has to get more comfortable playing together.
"I think a lot of it does come with time," he said. "I think it's kind of a strange process, and every year is a little bit different."