Oct. 4, 2010
COLUMBIA, Mo. - For the third time in her career, freshman setter Molly Kreklow (Delano, Minn.) was named Big 12 Rookie of the Week following her performance against both Kansas and Colorado last week. Kreklow paced the Big 12 in assists per set last week as she averaged 13.43 and guided the Mizzou offense to a .284 attack percentage, which was a league best. She passed out more than 40 assists in both matches last week and hit the 50-assist mark for the second time in her career last Wednesday at Kansas. She has now won the award more than any other Big 12 player this season.
"Obviously it is a great individual honor for me, but this is an award that I couldn't win without my teammates," Kreklow said. "I have so many great hitters around me - it makes my job pretty easy. I thought that we played much better against Colorado on Saturday than we did at Kansas and the challenge now is just to keep that level of play as we continue Big 12 play. For me, I just want to keep doing the things that help our team win."
Her 13.43 assists per set last week helped her widen her gap atop the Big 12 in assists per set as she now is averaging 11.91 this season. She began play last week in second place to ISU's Alison Landwehr, but now holds a sizeable lead over the Cyclone sophomore, who is averaging 11.28 in 2010. Kreklow ranks fifth nationally in assists per set and is the top freshman on the list.
Kreklow began her week by dishing 50 assists in the Tigers' match at Kansas and pulled in 12 digs during the match for her team-leading fourth double-double in 2010. She helped guide the team to a .275 hitting percentage and assisted on 50 of 60 Tiger kills (83.3-percent). Her sets were also paramount in helping two players hit better than .440 in the match, including Julianna Klein (Keota, Iowa), who finished with a career-best .455 attack percentage and a season-best 18 kills. The match marked the second time in her career that she has dished at least 50 assists.
Kreklow came back and posted her fourth-straight match with more than 40 assists on Saturday in the Tigers' sweep of Colorado. In fact, she dished 44 in the match (14.67 per set), just three shy of her three-set career best of 47, which was set earlier this season against Rice. She handed out 19 assists in the second set alone as she guided the Mizzou offense to a .319 attack percentage with 20 kills in the set. For the match, she helped the Tigers hit .297 with 48 kills. She also pitched in nine digs, falling just shy of her fifth career double-double.
Kreklow and the Tigers will return to action this Wednesday as they look to "Can the Huskers" at 6:30 p.m. at the Hearnes Center. Fans who donate two canned food items to the Central Missouri Food Bank will receive free admission to the match. For all the latest on Mizzou volleyball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com.