University of Missouri
Colgate
Mizzou Wins Yale Invite, Moves to 8-0
9/7/2013 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sep 7, 2013
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Mizzou volleyball program moved to 8-0 on the season after defeating Colgate, 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-14), while winning the Yale Invitational on Saturday afternoon (Sept. 7). The 8-0 start for the Tigers is their best since 2005 when they opened the season 12-0. The win over Colgate is Mizzou's third this week over a team that won its league last season after defeating Fairfield and Yale Thursday and Friday. Senior All-American Lisa Henning (Blue Springs, Mo.) led Mizzou with 17 kills in the win, doing so on .308 hitting. Since 2010, Mizzou is now 14-1 in the second weekend of play.
"It was a great week for us," head coach Wayne Kreklow said. "We beat three teams this week that won their league last year and played in the NCAA Tournament and I thought we really took away a lot of positives. It was great to see how the team performed away from home. Now we have a short week before we head to Rice to face three more really good teams."
Senior setter Molly Kreklow (Delano, Minn.) was named Tournament Most Valuable Player while Henning and Emily Wilson (Omaha, Neb.) earned spots on the All-Tournament Team. Kreklow averaged 12.40 assists per set and guided Mizzou to a .354 attack percentage and 15.20 kills per set in the tournament. Henning led Mizzou with 44 kills over the three matches, doing so on .279 hitting. Wilson averaged 2.89 kills per set on .460 hitting. Junior middle Whitney Little (Keller, Texas) was also deserving of All-Tournament honors as she averaged 2.60 kills per set on .605 hitting while adding nine solo blocks (10 total).
In the win over Colgate, Mizzou pulled in 57 digs in the three sets, highlighted by 16 from Carly Kan (Honolulu, Haw.), a new career-high. Loxley Keala (Honolulu, Haw.) also added 12 in the win as the Tigers held the Raiders to .154 hitting. Conversely, Mizzou hit .396 in the win as Kreklow spread 42 assists on 51 Tiger kills.
Mizzou tallied six kills on its first 10 swings, three from freshman Emily Thater (Springfield, Mo.), as it opened a 7-0 lead in the first set as it had everything working. After a Colgate timeout, Kreklow tallied an ace before Colgate finally got on the board at 8-1 and then continued to close in on the Tigers, drawing as close as 12-10 before a service error and an ace by Meister reopened a four-point cushion at 14-10. Mizzou closed out the set from there, winning the first, 25-16. Mizzou had 18 kills on .318 hitting in the first, led by six kills from Henning and four on just four attempts from Thater. Kreklow spread 16 assists in the first.
Colgate hung around in the second set and actually led 10-9 before Mizzou went on a 4-1 run capped by a Henning kill to give Mizzou a 13-11 lead. That was all that Mizzou needed as it ran away with the set, 25-18, after controlling play late in the set. Henning had five kills on 14 swings in the second as Mizzou hit .333 with 14 kills in the frame.
Colgate again hung around early in the third until a 4-1 run midway through gave Mizzou a 15-11 lead, forcing a Colgate timeout. At the time of the stoppage, Mizzou had 11 kills on .500 hitting in the third. Following the timeout, the Tigers tallied back-to-back blocks and opened a 17-11 lead and the run was capped by a kill from Little. That was all Mizzou needed to pull away from the Raiders with a 25-14 set win. Mizzou hit .562 in the third with 19 kills.
The Tigers will continue the season next weekend at the Rice Invitational where they will take on NC State, Rice and Houston Baptist. For all the latest on Mizzou volleyball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on twitter @MizzouVB.
