Wayne Kreklow (file photo/Mizzou Athletics)
Mizzou Volleyball saw its season end Friday afternoon falling in the NCAA Tournament regional semifinals 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-19) straight-set loss to No. 1 Penn State.
For the second consecutive year, the Tigers’ season finale occurred in the Sweet Sixteen. In 2016, Mizzou fell 3-1 to No. 2 national seed Minnesota, while dropping today’s match against the No. 1 national seed Nittany Lions.
“Obviously, we’re disappointed with the outcome. We knew coming in that it was going to be a tough task in squaring off against the nation’s No. 1 seed. They’re No. 1 for a reason. They’re really good. They have a lot of good players out there that do a lot of good things. I think it’s a little disappointing, because we all felt that we could’ve played a little better today. We didn’t play our best, but they had a lot to do with that. They served very impressively and kept us out of system a lot. They made it tough to sustain any consistent offensive rhythm.” said Tigers head coach Wayne Kreklow. “I was really proud though of the way we battled. I’m proud of this season these ladies had. Prior to the match, I looked at the date and saw it was Dec. 8. Four months ago on Aug. 8, we started official practice. It’s a long brutal season. It’s a tough thing to do well and I’m very proud of them for doing it. We made it into elite company, as there was only 16 teams left playing this weekend and we were one of them. They earned it.”
