University of Missouri
Texas Tech
Tigers Top Texas Tech in Big 12 Opener
9/15/2010 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 15, 2010
LUBBOCK, Texas - The Mizzou volleyball team won its Big 12 Conference opener, 3-0 (26-24, 25-18, 25-21), over Texas Tech on Wednesday (Sept. 15) at United Spirit Arena. With the win, Mizzou moves to 9-2 on the season and the win is also the 100th career victory for head coach Wayne Kreklow at Mizzou. Senior outside hitter Julianna Klein (Keota, Iowa) led Mizzou with her first double-double of 2010, posting a team-best 15 kills and 11 digs. The Tiger sweep is their eighth in nine wins this season.
"Obviously it's great for me to win my 100th, but to be honest I didn't even know about that until after the match," head coach Wayne Kreklow said. "I thought it was a good win, but not a great win for us tonight. Texas Tech was real scrappy but we did enough to overcome that. We just need to get back into the gym and sure up our blocking and get ready for Iowa State Saturday."
Freshman Molly Kreklow (Delano, Minn.) led a balanced offensive attack as she spread 43 assists to five different attackers, good for 14.33 per set. Classmate Lisa Henning (Blue Springs, Mo.) also had a fine match with 13 kills on .407 hitting while junior middle hitter Brittney Brimmage (East St. Louis, Ill.) continued her break-out season with nine kills on .400 hitting. The Tiger defense was led by libero Caitlyn Vann (Muncie, Ind.), who totaled 14 on the match.
The Tigers came out sluggish in the first set and actually trailed until midway through the set after a kill from Klein on an out-of-system set from Ampudia, giving them their first lead at 15-14. Brimmage buried an overpass on the next point as Mizzou began to pull away from Tech, which really seemed to ride its home crowd to a fast start. Mizzou ran its lead to 24-20, but Tech rallied off four straight to send the set to extra points. Klein gave Mizzou a 25-24 lead and then she finished the set with a roll shot to the middle of the floor, clinching the set, 26-24.
Klein was the Tigers' go-to hitter in the first as she hit .417 with five kills and no attack errors, including the final two kills. She was one of three Tigers to hit better than .400. Henning posted six kills on a team-high .455 while Brimmage pitched in four kills on .429 hitting. Kreklow spread 14 assists in the first set while Priscilla Armendariz (Blue Springs, Mo.) led the Tigers with five digs.
Texas Tech hung around throughout the second set as Mizzou struggled to build more than a three-point lead over the Raiders, but ultimately, Mizzou rode the arm of Henning to pull away as it built a 21-17 lead late in the frame. From there, Klein tallied a pair of solo blocks as the Tigers scored four of the last five points to win the set, 25-18, after an athletic kill from Brimmage.
Klein paced all attackers in the second with five kills on just 10 swings. Henning and Ampudia also had good outings in the frame, posting four and three kills, respectively. Through two sets, the Tigers' top three attackers were all hitting better than .381. Kreklow spread 12 more assists in the set, moving her match total to 26 through two.
The third set was a back-and-forth affair as neither team was able to put together a substantial run. In fact, Tech took the lead at 15-14, but a Red Raider service error evened the score at 15. From there, Tech ran to a 20-18 lead, prompting a timeout from Kreklow. Following the timeout, Mizzou won the next five points to take a 23-20 lead, forcing Tech coach Trish Knight to take her final timeout of the match. Mizzou scored two of the final three points to take the set, 25-21.
