Missouri volleyball senior setting records

Wang-Francisco ranks third in MU's all-time career assists.

By Emily Durfey

Published Nov. 10, 2009

As the volleyball season winds down and the Tigers begin to prepare for the NCAA Tournament, Missouri volleyball coach Wayne Kreklow will continue to look to his key players to step up and guide the team.

One of those players is senior setter Lei Wang-Francisco.

Wang-Francisco has led the team in assists in every game this season except one, including a season-high 57 assists in the Tiger's match against Kansas on Oct. 24. In Saturday's match against Texas, she again led the team by posting 22 out of the 26 total assists produced by the Tiger offense.

Wang-Francisco ranks third in Missouri's all-time career assists with 4,563, and she needs 426 more in order to move into second place overall. During the 2006 season, Wang-Francisco set the sixth-highest single season total for assists by racking up 1,433.

From Oct. 28 to Nov. 4 of this season, she averaged 13.50 assists per match, her best in a three game span during the season.

Wang-Francisco is ranked sixth in the Big 12 with a season average of 10.80 assists per set. That has led to Missouri's ranking of fifth in conference with an average of 13.02 assists per frame.

She is ranked third on Missouri's list of highest average assists per set with a career average of 10.66 through last season. Wang-Francisco is two matches away from cracking the top ten in matches played and has also played the eighth-highest number of games in Missouri history as well.

Wang-Francisco first caught the eye of Kreklow while in high school in Shanghai, China in 2000. The Tigers were practicing in China and training against other teams in China, and one of those teams had a junior team for which Wang-Francisco played. The two teams saw a lot of each other, and she contacted Missouri when she was ready to graduate from high school.

"She said she was interested in playing volleyball and going to school in the U.S.," Kreklow said. "That's how she came to Mizzou."

Wang-Francisco said she has a setter coach who helps her perfect her game.

"She gets a play set sheet, and I study it to prepare for games," Wang-Francisco said.

Although Wang-Francisco receives high praise from her coaches and her teammates for her accomplishments, she focuses on the team first.

"I get assists, but if you want me to pass, I'll do it," Wang-Francisco said. "I will do whatever I can to help the team."

Junior outside hitter Julianna Klein said Wang-Francisco represents the mother figure of the team and is the type of person that everyone can look up to.

"She's good at keeping people in line," Klein said. "We tease her about being the team mom. But she steps up and keeps us on track. She's somebody you can trust to bring it everyday. She's always bringing intensity, and it rubs off on everyone."