|
Mizzou Volleyball Tops Defending MAAC Champion Fairfield
FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- The
Mizzou volleyball team topped defending Metro Atlantic Athletic
Conference Champion Fairfield (25-16, 25-11, 25-17) in its first true
road match of the season on Thursday night (Sept. 5) at Alumni Hall.
The win improves the Tigers to 5-0 on the season as senior setter Molly
Kreklow (Delano, Minn.) led Mizzou to a balanced attack that got kills
from seven different players and hit .341 as a unit. Kreklow spread 37
assists on 42 Tiger kills in the win. The loss for Fairfield was just
its eighth home loss in the last seven seasons.
“Fairfield is a
good team – they won their league and brought back six starters from
last year – so this is a very good win against a team a that was picked
to win their league again, so I credit the team for getting a good road
win,” head coach Wayne Kreklow said. “It was one of those situations
you are nervous about, bringing in a team into someone else’s gym, but
I thought we handled it really well. You never quite know what to
expect playing on the road, but I was pleased with our effort and
execution.”
Kreklow was key for the Tigers all night, anchoring
a great offense. Two-time All-American Lisa Henning (Blue Spring, Mo.)
tallied 10 kills on .304 hitting while freshman outside hitter Carly
Kan (Honolulu, Haw.) posted 10 kills on .471 hitting. The middle
hitting duo of All-SEC middle Whitney Little (Keller, Texas) and
freshman Emily Thater (Springfield, Mo.) was also outstanding,
combining for 12 kills on just 24 swings with five blocks. Junior Emily
Wilson (Omaha, Neb.) also had a very good match, tallying six kills on
.455 hitting in just two sets. Junior libero Sarah Meister (San Diego,
Calif.) led the way with 41 digs as Mizzou out-dug Fairfield, 41-33.
Henning and Kan pitched in eight digs apiece and frosh Loxley Keala
(Honolulu, Haw.) pitched in five digs with her family in attendance.
Mizzou
opened a 4-1 lead in the opening frame, but allowed Fairfield to hang
around, but after Fairfield went on top briefly at 7-6, the Tigers
rallied to take a 13-7 lead after an ace from Meister. That was all the
cushion that Mizzou needed, running away with the set, 25-16,
punctuated by a Thater kill, her fourth of the set as she led Mizzou
with 5.5 total points in the first, doing so on .500 hitting.
The
second set was controlled by Mizzou almost from the onset as Fairfield
used both of its timeouts before reaching 10 points as the Tigers
opened a 16-9 lead after a kill from Little. Following the timeout,
Mizzou continued to roll before closing out the set with a 25-11 win.
Kreklow had 14 assists and guided a well-balanced attack to 15 kills
and no errors on just 26 attacks in the second, good for a .577 clip as
the Tigers ran away with the set.
Fairfield hung tough out of
the intermission, but ultimately, the Tigers had too many weapons as
Kreklow continued to set a well-balanced offense. In fact, Mizzou
opened an 18-12 lead and then ran away with the set before subbing out
the starters while up 21-13. They wound up winning the set, 25-17.
|
