<i>This weekend will mark the second spring tournament for Mizzou.</i><i>This weekend will mark the second spring tournament for Mizzou.</i>
Volleyball

Volleyball Heads to Northern Iowa

April 16, 2010

Read Molly Kreklow's Blog Update

COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Mizzou volleyball program will head to Northern Iowa this weekend for competition in the Panthers' spring tournament which will feature teams from UNI, Iowa State, Iowa and Wisconsin, making it one of the strongest spring tournaments in the nation this season. The tournament will be played on Saturday (April 17) at UNI's West Gym. Admission to the event is free.

Mizzou will square off with Wisconsin at 9 a.m., UNI at 10 a.m., Iowa at 2 p.m. and conclude with Iowa State at 3 p.m. on Saturday. North Dakota State will also be at the tournament but will not meet the Tigers. Facing teams from across the Big Ten and Big 12 will give the Tigers a great tune-up as they prepare for the fall schedule.

Mizzou opened its spring competition schedule last weekend by topping teams from Cincinnati, Western Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee Tech. Mizzou dropped its first set of the tournament to Cincinnati, but won each set from that point on as they came back to beat the Bearcats, 2-1, and swept its next three opponents.

The tournament also marked the competitive debut of freshman Molly Kreklow (Delano, Minn.), who will take over as the Tigers' starting setter in the fall. Last weekend's tournament marked the first time that she has played in a competitive setting with the rest of the Tiger squad.

Mizzou returns the bulk of its squad that went 18-14 in 2009, including Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Paola Ampudia (Cali, Colombia), who led the team with 410 kills in 2009. In fact, Mizzou's top six attackers return in 2010 as it brings back nearly 89-percent of its offense from a season ago, including its top six attackers from a season ago. The Tigers also return 85-percent of their total defense, including libero Caitlyn Vann (Muncie, Ind.) who should rank as one of the Big 12's top liberos in 2010.

With the addition of Kreklow at the setting position and another AVCA/Under Armour High School All-American Lisa Henning (Blue Springs, Mo.) the Tigers should make a run at the Big 12 title and another berth to the NCAA Tournament.

For all the latest on Mizzou volleyball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com.

###