COLUMBIA - The No. 4 Missouri volleyball team claimed a 25-22, 25-15, 25-18 win against IUPUI in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the Hearnes Center on Friday night.
The Tigers were paced by a double-double from two-time All-American Lisa Henning as she tallied a match-high 15 kills on .333 hitting with 10 digs. Freshman Carly Kan added 14 kills on .357 hitting with nine digs.
MU (35-0) will play No. 19 Purdue in the second round at 7:30 p.m. today.
"Well this time of the year, the name of the game is survive and advance," MU coach Wayne Kreklow said. "I didn't think we came out particularly sharp today, but I thought we found our rhythm midway through the third set and started playing like we had all season.
"We hadn't done anything for about 10 days, so we needed to get out and play someone. Now we have to shift our focus to a very good Purdue team."
Southeastern Conference Player of the Year Molly Kreklow spread 41 assists on 53 Tiger kills and also led MU to .328 hitting, the 30th time in 35 matches the Tigers have hit better than 300. Kreklow also added 14 digs for her 12th double-double of the season.
IUPUI (19-14) had a 13-9 lead in the first set before a 7-3 Tiger run tied the game at 16. MU then opened a 20-17 lead following a kill from Kreklow, but the Jaguars rallied to tie the set at 22. The Tigers scored the next three points to win the set.
MU jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the second set and the Tigers were able to cruise from there.
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