Tigers’ freshman hitter rises above early nerves

In the early moments of Julianna Klein’s first home game playing for Missouri on Tuesday night, she hit her first serve wide for an error. Minutes later, she had another error in her first attempt at a kill.

Klein, a true freshman from Keota, Iowa, admitted she was nervous.

“It was my first time playing in front of all these people, but eventually I got relaxed,” she said.

For the first time since stepping onto the court as a Tiger, Klein showed she was still just a freshman.

In her first collegiate start Saturday against Villanova in Long Beach, Calif., Klein attacked from the start.

“I was nervous, but I just went out there and did my best and it turned out well,” she said.

That might be an understatement. Klein recorded seven aces in Missouri’s 3-0 win, the most any Missouri player has had since 2003. She became just the third Tigers player to reach the seven ace mark in a three-game match.

Although Klein says she gets nervous during matches, coach Wayne Kreklow says it doesn’t show.

“What she has done really well is handle it emotionally,” he said. “She just goes out and plays; she gets up and attacks the ball.”

Klein overcame her early match jitters Tuesday night to finish with eight kills, three digs and an ace in Missouri’s 30-28, 30-21, 30-22 victory over Arkansas-Little Rock.

Besides the challenge of playing against top-level college competition as a freshman, Klein has also had to adjust to a position change. She was a middle hitter throughout her high school career and has been moved to the outside at Missouri.

“It’s been tough to switch; playing the outside is a lot different from playing in the middle,” she said. “But I’m working hard and doing what the coaches tell me to do, and that makes it easier.”

Klein has adjusted so well to the switch that Kreklow said he feels he has to get her in the lineup consistently.

“After seeing what she’s capable of doing, we’re looking at ways to work her in and get her more playing time,” he said. “She provides us with such a spark.”

Coming from a tiny town in southeastern Iowa with a population around 1,000, Klein said she didn’t face the best competition during her high school career. But, she has had little problems stepping up to the level of the competition Missouri has faced thus far. She says that her practices have given her experience playing against great players.

“In practice, everybody’s good,” she said, “so you get the experience of playing against tough people everyday.”

Klein will gain more experience playing against tough competition over the next week. No. 13 Missouri (3-1) goes on the road for six straight games. The Tigers compete in the Shamrock Invitational in South Bend, Ind., starting at 3:30 p.m. today when they take on Idaho. Missouri faces Valparaiso on Saturday morning before meeting No. 21 Notre Dame Saturday night. The Notre Dame match can be seen tape delayed on CSTV at 5 p.m. Sunday.