Klein earns tournament MVP award
Published Sept. 11, 2007
The Missouri volleyball team found itself in a familiar situation on Friday. Playing a team it was favored to beat, it won the first two games of the match. But unlike their earlier season loss to Florida International, on Friday the Tigers finished Cal State Fullerton in the third game.
"The difference is the emotional part," senior outside hitter Na Yang said. "We were different than last weekend. We had fire in our hearts."
Sophomore Megan Wilson said the team vowed to play with more enthusiasm after the FIU loss. She said the team has a new nickname after this weekend's performance.
"Our phrase was the 'Crazy Tigers,'" she said.
Coach Wayne Kreklow said that in the FIU match, his team played to avoid losing, something he said changed this weekend.
The Tigers also took on Houston on Friday. The Cougars took the first game from the Tigers, using a 17-9 run to secure a 31-29 win. But the Tigers were able to recover, winning the next three 30-22, 30-15 and 30-21. Despite the recovery to win the match, the team ran into a setback.
Sophomore outside hitter Julianna Klein injured her knee and did not play the rest of the weekend. Initial assessments from both the Tiger and Texas State trainers indicated a non-serious injury that did not affect her ACL.
Kreklow said he didn't count on any one player to replace Klein.
"I think it was a collective effort," he said. "I felt like our two seniors provided leadership in what could have been a disastrous situation."
Klein was no ordinary player to replace. In the Cal State Fullerton match, she had 19 kills and 10 digs. She had 15 kills and 10 digs in the Houston match before her injury in the third game. Her performance was good enough to earn the tournament MVP award even though she did not play in the Texas State match.
Wilson said that in a way, the injury did something positive for the team.
"I feel like our team just kind of took that and used it as extra fuel," she said.
The Tigers used that extra fuel to finish the weekend with another win on Saturday. After the Tigers took the first game 30-23, Texas State fired back. It evened the match by winning the second game 30-25. The Tigers recovered and won the next two games 30-24 and 30-27.
With Klein out of the lineup, Wilson and freshman Weiwen Wang led the team in kills with 18. Wilson's .364 hitting percentage was a career high.
Kreklow said a priority will be making sure his team continues to play hard enough.
"I really think that right now with this young team, in order for us to play at a high level, we're going to have to have energy," he said.
The Tigers return home for a Wednesday night match against UM-Kansas City at 6:30. Conference play begins Saturday at Texas.
