Sept. 1, 2001
Morgantown, WV.- The University of Missouri volleyball team opened the 2001 season with a 3-0 win over Temple University on Saturday afternoon. Mizzou improves to 2-0 in season openers under second-year coaches Susan and Wayne Kreklow. Kreklow said she was happy with effort the Tigers gave and that the match gave the Tigers a good idea of what they have to work on.
"We looked good at times and gave a good effort, but our ball control was inconsistent and we need to improve our focus." Kreklow said. "Temple is a scrappy, solid team and they gave us a run for our money."
2000 All-Big 12 honorable mention and junior Christi Myers had a solid season-opening match putting down 11 kills, six digs and four total blocks to lead Mizzou. Senior middle blocker Krista Johnson also played well recording a .333 hitting percentage and stuffing six total blocks. The Tigers were able to record a .207 hitting percentage as a team while limiting Temple to .034.
The Tigers made quick work of the Owls, who were 20-11 in 2000 and also made the NCAA Tournament in Game 1, 30-19, using an 8-4 run to end the game. However, Mizzou found themselves in a dogfight in game two. The Owls jumped out to a 5-2 lead but the Tigers were able to battle back to 13-13 and would take the game, 30-27. Game 3 was much the same as the Tigers would struggle in the early going and find themselves down 6-2. MU would go on a 28-17 run the rest of the way and take the game and match.
Mizzou is now 1-0 and 0-0 in the Big 12.The Tigers will take the court once again tonight at 8:00 p.m. EST as they take on host-school West Virginia in the WVU Coliseum. Look for scoring updates tonight at www.mutigers.com.