Kreklow, Henning excel at Tiger Invitational
The two freshmen led the Tigers to a 3-0 record on the weekend.
Published Aug. 31, 2010
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Missouri head coach Wayne Kreklow talks to his team in a time out Friday evening against Maryland at the Hearnes Center during the Tiger Invitational. The Tigers were victorious, defeating the Terrapins by three matches to none.
It isn’t common for a freshman to win Most Valuable Player of their first tournament. Nor is it common for another freshman to record the second most kills on her team in the first three matches of the season.
Whether its infrequent or not, freshman setter Molly Kreklow and freshman outside hitter Lisa Henning have accomplished both these tasks respectively, helping Missouri win the Tiger Invitational and helping push the Tigers to be a championship-contending team. In her first match at the collegiate level, Kreklow tallied 36 assists with five kills and six digs, on a team-best .375 hitting percentage. She showed no signs of slowing down in her following two matches, where she again recorded 36 assists in her second appearance against Nevada and then 38 assists Saturday against Utah Valley.
“She does so many things well,” head coach Wayne Kreklow said. “There’s a lot to being a good setter. To really establish yourself as an elite player in that position, you have to have that mental toughness. As the tournament went on, she got more and more comfortable.”
Kreklow earned MVP of the tournament despite wearing a cast on her right hand throughout her matches. The setter injured her pinky just before the season started but her finger has improved and hasn’t seemed to slow her down. The question everyone is asking now is: what will she do without a cast on her hand?
One of the best performances of the tournament came from Lisa Henning, who recorded 31 kills in her first three matches in Division I volleyball. Her dominating offensive performance gained recognition from both the fans and her teammates.
“Being a freshman, you wouldn’t think she’d be so calm and mature,” senior middle blocker Catie Wilson said. “She has great knowledge of the game. She’s smart and she’s hard working.”
Henning’s 31 kills were second only to senior outside hitter Paola Ampudia’s 32 on the tournament, so it’s clear the freshman is able to play very well consistently next to the preseason All-Big 12 team member.
“It’s not so much the Paola show as much as it was in the past,” coach Kreklow said. “Which is good and bad but it takes away a lot of the pressure on her.”
With the additions of these two talented freshmen, scoring points will come much easier and more frequently for the Tigers. The flow of the offense looks a lot smoother with Kreklow anchoring the attack while the Tigers have acquired a versatile new weapon to produce more points with Henning as outside hitter. The two have already established themselves as a threat to all opposing defenses with their strong opening performances, and time will tell how opposing coaches will plan to stop the freshman attack. The Tigers continue the season at the Pepperdine Asics Invitational this weekend.
