Kelly Rikli quarterbacks one of the Missouri Valley Conferences best volleyball offenses and the first NCAA Volleyball Statistics report of the year backs that claim.
Rikli, the senior setter from Highlands Ranch, Colo., ranks No. 25 in the nation with 13.12 set assists per game. The team mark of 15.08 set assists per game is No. 28.Those marks and Illinois States 16.25 kills per game lead the Valley, but the kills per game are just shy of making the NCAAs Top 30.
A year ago, Riklis 1,575 set assists made her just the second setter in Redbird history to record 1,500 set assists in a season (Marisa Brickley did it twice, 1996 and 1997). She also is on a pace to join just Brickley and Stacey Anderson as the only setters in Redbird history to reach 4,000 career set assists.
Rikli has 3,239 career set assists heading into Fridays Missouri Valley Conference season opener at 7 p.m. at Drake.
