Mizzou Volleyball Q&A with Head Coach Wayne Kreklow
7/27/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
July 27, 2006
Q: First off, word came back to Columbia that you coached your son's (Ricky) AAU 14-and-under basketball team to a national title last week, how was that experience?
WK: It was really a great experience for everybody. Coaching is another word for teaching, their interchangeable. It was a great experience for me personally, because I haven't coached basketball for a long time. With kids 14 and under, it's really all about teaching.
We used the same philosophy with this basketball team as we use for
I look forward to getting back into the gym with our volleyball team, I love the coaching and working with players aspect of what I do. Ask any coach, and they'll tell you the best part of working with a team is the working with individuals. Sure winning is fun, but developing your players, both physically and mentally, is really the best part.
The "Missouri Rush" as they were called went 2-1 in pool play before winning five-straight in bracket play to take the national title in Coco Beach, Fla.
Q: It seems the spring season went well with a younger team. What were your thoughts?
WK: Overall, we were pleased with the progress we made in the spring. Going into the spring, we had thought with the missing three (Lindsey Hunter, Lisa Boyd, and Shen Danru) it would be interesting to see how key positions that need to be filled would be filled. And we were happy with what we saw.
We saw a team that is trying to find its identity, and those things don't happen overnight. It's always interesting to see how the new people will fit in to it. You ask yourself `What personality will this team take?'
We have, in a lot of ways, the same dilemma the
Q: A class of three (Lindsey Hunter, Lisa Boyd, and Shen Danru) that just left due to graduation had a big impact on this team, how do you fill the void?
WK: People will have to step up. We had three people, Lei Wang, Megan Wilson, and Amanda Hantouli, this spring that did a very good job of starting the trend. The setting position is always the most difficult to fill. After losing a four-year starter and first team All-American, the personality of your team changes. I think both Lei Wang and Megan Wilson progressed well in the spring in those positions. Lei was looking more and more comfortable in that position over the spring, and she will certainly fill the pressure with those shoes to fill, but she has the tools to manage those expectations and to be a great setter.
I also thought Melissa Allbery made really great strides in the middle blocking position. She's always been a smart, methodical presence at the net. She's a great thinker, and biggest strength is at the net and here blocking ability. I believe she did well in progressing her offensive game over the spring, and look for her to be an impact player on this team.
Hunter, Boyd, and Danru was the winningest class to come out of Missouri, going 90-33 in their days as Tigers.
Q: How will the seniors (Jessica Vander Kooi, Nicole Wilson, and Abbie Booth), roles be changed in their final seasons as Tigers?
WK: Anytime you see a class go through their senior season you hope you get more than improvements in single play. You hope that you'll get more leadership and stability form the group. What we hope to get is the seniors showing the way to the younger players. When we use leadership as a word, we want that to be an example of how to do things, how to get the job done, and how to get the `follow me' attitude across. Those three seniors have earned the right to say `follow me, watch me'. What they do this season will be passed down to the younger players and even the ones just showing up for the first time on campus will hopefully be showed the way both on and off the floor.
Q: Mizzou had a great season in '05, and made an elite-eight run in the NCAA Tournament, yet finished third in the Big 12. How tough will the conference be again this season?
WK: Every bit as tough or tougher, it's going to be another classic Big 12 season. Of course
Playing in this conference is fun. There is no problem in getting the players fired up for each conference match, they know how tough this can be.
Q: You also put together a strong a non-conference schedule for `06, adding three teams that ended the season in the national top-15 and two that ended in the top five. What were your thoughts in making the schedule?
WK: Every year we approach scheduling differently. We have to be flexible and adapt to what system the NCAA uses in getting teams to the tournament. Last year you saw a lot of teams with great records be left out because of their strength of schedule and RPI. You have to deal with what they deal you. Your seed in the tournament could suffer, or you could be left out altogether if you don't protect yourself in those areas.
Our focus won't be on the success or failure of the first few weeks. For the players it's a way of challenging them. If we lose these matches, it is not going to be the end of the world. We will have to make it clear to the team to not make much of wins and losses. We want to be worried where we are in November, not where we are in August and September.
The odds of us going undefeated before Big 12 play is not good. However, you could get a big boost if you beat anyone of these teams on the road. The mindset of these matches are of pre-tests. Class really hasn't started yet, but they give us a barometer of how to approach different positions and see what is working and what isn't. Some days, you are going to get great grades, some days you are not.
The Tigers will play five teams in the non-conference season that made the NCAA Tournament in 2005. Mizzou will also have only one match at home during non-conference play.
Look for a complete preview of the 2006 season, next week on mutigers.com.
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