Mizzou volleyball faces ‘a tall order’ in Sweet 16 matchup at Penn State

The Missouri volleyball team faces No. 1 Penn State in the NCAA tournament’s round of 16 on Friday, and MU coach Wayne Kreklow hopes the results his team will produce are reminiscent of 2005, not 2010.

Those years are the other two times that Mizzou — which is making its fourth Sweet 16 appearance — has played in University Park, Penn., for this round of the NCAA tournament. That first time (2005) was the program’s first-ever Sweet 16 appearance, and the Tigers beat Hawaii and advanced to the tournament’s regional final for the first and only time in their history.

To get to the Elite Eight this year, they will have to pull off a major upset on Friday. Despite twice playing in this round of the tournament at Penn State, Mizzou has never before faced the Nittany Lions in the Sweet 16.

“We have a lot against us,” Missouri senior outside hitter Sydney Deeken said to reporters in University Park on Thursday. “We’re the underdog.”

This is Missouri’s second straight appearance in the round of 16. Last season, the Tigers lost to that year’s No. 2 seed, Minnesota, in Minneapolis.

Six of MU’s nine starters from that match against Minnesota are still on this year’s team, so Missouri at least has some experience in this environment.

The Tigers are also coming off of a weekend in which they thrived as underdogs. In the first round, Missouri beat Kansas, which was a contender to host as a top-16 seed until the final weekend leading up to tournament selection. Mizzou then beat No. 16 seed Wichita State in Wichita.

“Having to go against Kansas first then going against the host team — it was two nights with 7,000-plus people both times,” Kreklow told reporters in Pennsylvania. “It was a really great environment. I was really pleased with our whole group and getting through that. It wasn’t an easy draw.”

Penn State has strong depth. Six Nittany Lions were honored as American Volleyball Coaches Association Northeast Region All-Americans, which ties Texas for most athletes on any of the eight regional lists.

“Being able to be here and have a shot with Penn State is a tall order, but this time of year crazy things happen,” Kreklow said. “We’ll go out there and give it our best and see what happens.”

The semifinal and final of this year’s tournament will be at the Sprint Center on Dec. 14 and 16.

This story was originally published December 7, 2017 at 8:05 PM with the headline "Mizzou volleyball faces ‘a tall order’ in Sweet 16 matchup at Penn State."