Sept. 15, 2000

By Stacy Hollister - (as seen in Inside Mizzou Sports) - Kristen Johnson seems to be dripping with happiness. A smile. A giggle. They appear with such ease and with great frequency.

You get the sense, though, that it hasn't always been this way, that there have been darker times, times that make her restless in her chair upon their mention.

She never quite discloses any specifics and holds onto the details of her past turmoil as if there might be an explosion if they're released.

There have been worse traumas in the world, no doubt. And Kristen never hints that hers would win a sob-story contest, but when she tells you about her first two years as a collegiate volleyball player, the word unhappiness arises too many times to tally. And when you're unhappy, the world is cast in a more somber tint.

Volleyball. You can tell she loves the game deep down. Basketball held her attention in junior high. A day before tryouts for her high school team, Kristen's mother found an ad calling volleyball players to take a shot at a club team. Kristen gave it a go. Goodbye basketball. Hello volleyball.

The following year, Kristen made the varsity volleyball squad at Olympia High School in Washington state. Sure, she dabbled in other sports--softball for a year and track and field for two. And she was good at those other sports--she's the school record holder in the high jump. But it was volleyball that captured her heart.

A dominating outside hitter, Kristen was honored as league MVP following her junior and senior seasons. She set a school record with a .325 hitting percentage and was tabbed the Tacoma News Tribune's Female Athlete of the Year.

Kristen loved that this was a hard game to play. It was a game of finesse that commanded respect, and it fed her competitive spirit. She hated to lose, and she craved success, so she committed to Washington State, a PAC-10 school with one of the top volleyball programs in the nation.

This is where the unhappiness begins to creep in. As a freshman, she put up with the little things that irked her and the flaws she found in the system because she figured that was the brunt all freshman must bear.

She accepted a move to middle blocker, which she greeted with success as tops among the Cougars in blocks per game at 1.10 and second on the team with 78 total blocks and 68 block assists during her sophomore season. Despite achieving in the middle, she wanted to move to the outside. She felt more comfortable there.

There were other things fueling her unhappiness. She wasn't getting along with her coaches. She watched as numerous other teammates and friends transferred from the program. Around Christmas time during her sophomore year, she talked about leaving but never made a move. She continued with her routine and went through winter conditioning.

In February, Kristen walked into her coach's office with no intention of quitting, but she walked out a former Cougar player.

She didn't visit Missouri until the end of April, so she never got to see her future teammates play, but she could pick up on the positive vibe of the team. Ninety percent of her decision in choosing Missouri rested in her feelings toward the coaching staff. She heard nothing but positives about Susan and Wayne Kreklow.

And in Kristen's brief time here, the Kreklows have lived up to their reputation. They were worth the 33-hour trek from home, worth leaving family and friends behind.

"The Kreklows are awesome," Kristen raves. "They're so positive and encouraging. I'm not used to that. I know I made the right decision."

Life's a little different in Missouri. No living on a lake. No boat to cruise along the water on a whim. No water skiing barefoot. No spontaneously jumping off the `really high' rock banks, the ones no one dares to jump off. No knowing everybody and everything.

But Kristen's adjusted to this life less filled with mountains and lakes. And she's in a good place now. At the Tigers' season-opening tournament hosted by Oral Roberts University, Kristen was in her element. Back at her favored outside hitter post, she earned tourney MVP honors. Through the team's first three games, she leads the squad in kills with 40.

Kristen's parents made the trip to Oral Roberts tourney. They could see a difference in their daughter. "You look happy," they said.

Hello happiness.