Oct. 24, 2001
No. 2 Nebraska Comes to Columbia
Tonight will definitely be a good night to tape "Ed" and "The West Wing" and head to the Hearnes Center as the University of Missouri volleyball team welcomes the No. 2 University of Nebraska Cornhuskers to Columbia. The Tigers are currently 16-5 on the year and 6-5 in the Big 12, placing them in a tie with Texas for fifth place. MU, which received 31 votes in the latest AVCA/USAToday Coaches poll, faces the Huskers for the second time this season. The Tigers were able to give the Huskers a run for their money in the first meeting of the season on Oct. 3. Mizzou actually had leads of 24-20 in Game 2 and 31-30 in Game 3 in Lincoln, but the Huskers proved to be too much, sweeping the Tigers in straight sets. Since that loss a little less than a month ago, Mizzou has posted a 6-2 record including wins at Texas and over then-No. 20 Colorado in Columbia.
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A Look at the Huskers The Huskers enter Wednesday night's match sporting an impressive 17-1 record and 10-0 Big 12 mark. As a matter of fact, the Huskers have won 51 of their last 52 matches and their last 30 Big 12 tilts. The defending national champion's roster includes the last two AVCA National Players of the Year in outside hitter Nancy Metcalf (1999) and Greichaly Cepero (2000). Metcalf currently averages a team high 4.30 kills and 3.07 digs per game. Cepero enters Wednesday night's contest averaging 12.81 assists per game and impressive 1.21 blocks per game, an extremely high mark for a setter. Middle blocker Jenny Kropp has also had an outstanding season for NU. She averages 2.45 kills and 1.91 digs per game to go with a .380 hitting percentage. Kropp is currently second in the Big 12 in solo blocks with 15 trailing only MU's Christi Myers, who has 20 solo stuffs on the season. The Tigers are due to take a match from the Huskers like that term paper your professor assigned at the beginning of the semester due at the end of the term and its' December 19 at 3:00 a.m. and you haven't started it yet. Nebraska has dominated the series winning 53 of 56 all-time meetings.
Tigers Volleyball Changes Start Time of KU Match
The start of the University of Missouri volleyball team's match against the University of Kansas, which is set for Nov. 3, has been rescheduled, it was announced last Thursday by the MU Athletic Department. Instead of starting at 7 p.m., first serve will be at 7:30 pm in the Hearnes Center. For ticket information on all Tiger home volleyball matches, call 1-800 CAT PAWS or 884-PAWS in Columbia.
A Grand Accomplishment
The fans at the MU volleyball match on Wednesday witnessed history as senior Naaron Branson put down her 1,000th career kill to give the Tigers a 15-8 lead in Game 1. After recording her 1,000th career dig in Game 1 last Saturday at Texas A&M, Branson is now only the second MU volleyball player to record 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in her career. The other Tiger in the 1,000 kill-1,000 dig club is Yvette Buhlig (88-90, 92) who is the all-time leader in both categories with 1,478 kills and 1,149 digs for her career.
Branson currently leads the squad in digs (239) and digs per game (3.32). She has had three huge matches the last three times out for Mizzou. A native of Fort Smith, Arkansas, Branson put down a personal season-best 21 kills and picked up a career-high 22 digs in the Tigers' five-game win against Texas, and tied a career-high with 22 kills in the Tigers upset win over Colorado on Wednesday.
Branson recorded her 1,000th career dig on the fifth of her 19 digs against Texas A&M while also putting down 14 kills and slating five block assists.
MU All-Time Kills List 1. Yvette Buhlig (88-90, 92) 1,478 2. Jodi Maune (95-98) 1,147 3. Renee Rosinski (95-98) 1,049 4. Sherri Gentry (86, 88-90) 1,030 5. Naaron Branson (98- ) 1,005 6. Sharon Zaehringer (84-87) 929 7. Gwen Mullens (91-94) 927 8. Lisa Morris (99- ) 901 9. Melinda Wrye (90-92) 906 10. Margaret Yanics (84-86, 88) 902MU All-Time Digs List 1. Yvette Buhlig (88-90, 92) 1,149 2. Gwen Mullens (91-94) 1,103 3. Margaret Yanics (84-86, 88) 1,038 4. Chandra Hopkins (95-98) 1,033 5. Naaron Branson (98- ) 1,018 6. Annette Luyten (97-00) 996 7. Sherri Gentry (86, 88-90) 972 8. Cindy Atteberry (90-93) 920 9. Stacy Harris (84-87) 859 10. Melinda Wrye (90-92) 845
Missouri's Naaron Branson Earns Big 12 Volleyball Player of the Week Honors
DALLAS - Missouri's Naaron Branson was named Big 12 Volleyball Player of the Week for the week of Oct. 15-21, the Big 12 office announced Monday. Branson is the first Missouri student-athlete to receive the honor this season. Branson, a 5-11 senior outside hitter, led the Tigers in an upset of No. 20 Colorado last Wednesday. In that match, Branson recorded 22 kills on a .545 hitting percentage. She also chipped in with seven digs and five block assists in the victory.
The Fort Smith, Ark., native posted her 1,000th career dig on the fifth of 19 digs in a 3-1 loss to No. 17 Texas A&M last Saturday. Branson became just the fifth player in Mizzou history to accomplish the feat. Against A&M, Branson also registered 14 kills to finish the match with a double double as well as five block assists.
Win Game 1 and It's Done
One of the keys to the Tigers' success over the past two seasons has been establishing an early advantage over their opponents. When Mizzou wins Game 1 of a match, it is 15-2 this season and an astounding 39-2 over the last two seasons. However, when Mizzou drops the opening stanza of a match, it is a not so good 1-10. Look for Mizzou to concentrate on getting off to a good start in Game 1.
Game 2 Blues
The Tigers have been the opposite of good...bad...in Game 2 at home this season. Mizzou is 4-4 at home in the second stanza of matches and 12-9 in Game 2 overall. Besides sporting a 1-2 mark in Game 5s in 2001, that is by far the Tigers worst game record of the five possible games.