University of Missouri
Yale
Mizzou Wins Four-Set Thriller at Yale
9/6/2013 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sep 6, 2013
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Mizzou volleyball team got perhaps its toughest win of the season so far as it defeated three-time defending Ivy League Champion Yale, 3-1 (25-23, 15-25, 25-19, 25-20), on Friday night (Sept. 6) in its first match of the Yale Invitational. The win improves Mizzou to 6-0 on the season and 2-0 on the road after its win at Fairfield on Thursday.
Senior setter Molly Kreklow (Delano, Minn.) anchored a great Mizzou offense that hit .336 on the night with 57 kills. Kreklow spread the ball to six different attackers and four of those six finished in double-figures. Of the four to finish in double figures, none was more important to the Tigers on Friday than junior Emily Wilson (Omaha, Neb.) who finished with 13 kills on .423 hitting as Yale had no answer for the 6-2 outside. Freshman Carly Kan (Honolulu, Hawaii) was also sensational with a match-high 16 kills on .424 hitting while adding eight digs. All-SEC middle blocker Whitney Little (Keller, Texas) added 13 kills on just 19 attacks without an error and All-American Lisa Henning (Blue Springs, Mo.) had 13 kills and a team-high 13 digs. Yale hung tough with the Tigers, but in the end Mizzou just had too many options on offense, the most notable of which was Wilson who tallied 10 of her 13 kills in the final three sets.
"This is a big win for us - Yale is a very good team and that was a very hard place to play," head coach Wayne Kreklow said. "They were really clicking in the second and took it to us pretty good, but we showed great mental toughness to rally after that. We kept our composure and we had a lot of people step up and make plays when we needed them. That was a great win."
Aside from Kreklow's setting (50 assists on 57 kills), the senior also led Mizzou with a team-high 13 digs, good for her second double-double of the season. Junior libero Sarah Meister (San Diego, Calif.) added 11 more. Little led the team with three blocks as Mizzou finished with six in the match.
Yale and the Tigers came out firing in front of a loud, raucous crowd at Lee Amphitheater and the two teams played very even until the serving of freshman Emily Thater (Springfield, Mo.) kept Yale out of system. After a block by Little and Henning, Thater served up and ace and Mizzou opened a 15-12 lead, forcing a Yale timeout. A big solo block from Little gave Mizzou its largest lead of the set at 19-14, but Yale rallied off seven of the next eight points and took a 21-20 lead. Kan tallied a big kill out of a timeout and Kreklow added an ace as Mizzou went back on top, 22-21, and Yale took the next two. But after a bad set by Yale, Wilson ended a long rally with a tip shot to space to give Mizzou set point. Henning then ended the frame with her fifth kill of the set, giving Mizzou a 25-23 win. Mizzou had 15 kills on .452 hitting in the first as Kreklow assisted on 14 of 15 kills.
Yale jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second and kept that cushion throughout, despite several Tiger rallies and ran away with the set, 25-15. Mizzou had just 10 kills in the set as Yale countered with 16. The loss was the worst of the early season for the Tigers, but they responded in the third thanks in large part to Wilson who had five kills and gave Mizzou another huge weapon. In fact, her hitting helped Mizzou to a 25-19 set win as through three, she had nine kills on just 18 swings. Kan had 13 kills through three on .440 hitting. The Tigers had 17 kills on .400 hitting in the third.
Wilson continued to carry the Tigers in the fourth set as they pulled away late to a 25-20 set win. Wilson added four more kills in the final frame and pitched in a huge solo block as Yale was making a run late in the set. The win improves Mizzou to 6-0 on the season and 2-0 on the road. After Yale hit .400 in the first two sets, Mizzou held Yale to .209 hitting and hit .400 in each of the final two sets behind the setting of Kreklow.
The Tigers will play Seton Hall and Colgate tomorrow as they wrap up play in the Yale Invitational. For all the latest on Mizzou volleyball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on twitter @MizzouVB.
