Whatever It Takes, Mizzou Volleyball Forms New Identity
9/4/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Mizzou has adopted the slogan 'Whatever it Takes'.
By Brandon Weiss, MUTigers.com correspondent
It came time to turn the page on the 2013 season, and Mizzou volleyball's seniors did just that in forming a new team identity.
With only two departing players from last year's SEC champion squad, this young Tiger team still has Something To Prove. But hanging on to last year's team motto wasn't going to happen.
A straight-sets loss at the hands of Northwestern State last weekend was enough for the team's seniors to unleash the new words to live by: Whatever It Takes.
"We wanted to establish a new identity for this team," said senior libero Sarah Meister. "#STP was awesome, and it worked for last year's team. But this team is very different. The group of girls is different. As a unit, we're not the team we were last year."
Meister credits fellow senior Whitney Little with the idea for the new hashtag, #WIT, a statement reflecting the work ethic that the team plans to put on display as the season goes forward. The young squad, Little said, will outwork opponents and do whatever it takes to win.
"We're so young yet we have experience," Little said. "We just have to remember that we have to do whatever it takes to win every point, win every game."
With the new attitude, Mizzou returns home to the Hearnes Center for this weekend's Tiger Invitational. Lipscomb, Illinois State, Oakland and Xavier combine to form a formidable field of opponents for Mizzou, which looks to repeat as champion of the tournament after a second-place finish in 2012.
Lipscomb comes to Columbia a week after topping Kansas in Lawrence, and the 2-1 Bison boast Atlantic Sun Player of the Week Brittany Estes. The Redbirds took two of three games in Eugene, Oregon last weekend, and Oakland carries a 2-2 record with them after an appearance in the Western Michigan Tournament. Xavier remains unblemished on the young season, claiming a 3-0 mark after winning the Queen City Invitational.
The tournament will include the Tigers' first home game of the season, and the team looks to improve on its play from last weekend. Mizzou is 35-3 all-time in Tiger Invitational contests, and coaches Wayne and Susan Kreklow are looking for win number 300 this weekend, currently sitting on 299.
Little reflected on the team's performance last weekend, saying that the Tigers will use their loss as motivation heading into this weekend's tournament.
"I think we'll look back and use that game to our advantage," she said. "We had our first loss early in the season. We know what it feels like. I think, just for this weekend, it's all about improving every game." She also said one thing that stood out from last week's play was the team's ability to bounce back from the loss and win a game later that day.
The focus now shifts to this weekend and protecting home court advantage, something Meister said is one of the biggest perks of playing at Mizzou.
"It's always easier when you're playing with our own fans because we have that support," she said. "I think we know what we need to do moving forward."
The whole team knows what they need to do: whatever it takes.
