Oct. 30, 2001
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Tigers Face ISU in Halloween Tilt
The University of Missouri volleyball team (17-6, 7-6 Big 12) will make the five-hour trek north to Ames, Iowa, on Wednesday for a Big 12 matchup with the Iowa State Cyclones (4-14 overall, 1-12 in the Big 12). Mizzou has won six of its last eight matches and is currently in a two-way tie for fifth place in the Big 12 with Baylor at 7-6. The Tigers also moved up a spot in the AVCA/USA Today Coaches Poll to No. 27 increasing their vote total to 40 from 31 after going 2-1 last week. Mizzou is one of six Big 12 schools you can find in the Top 40 in the nation, once again displaying how tough the competition in the Big 12 is.
Mizzou continues to improve its chances of returning to the NCAA tournament with every win in 2001. Although that last statement might seem to have been brought to you by the department of redundancy department, Mizzou looks to reach the 20 win plateau for only the ninth time in school history and could need 20 wins to advance to tournament play. After winning their 16th match of the season last Monday over Southern Illinois, the Tigers are now guaranteed their first back-to-back winning seasons since 1982-83.
A Look at the Cyclones
The Cyclones dropped both of their contests last week, falling 0-3 at Baylor and were swept at home by Colorado. Sophomore middle blocker Julie Mitchell had a solid week for ISU, collecting 19 kills (3.17 kpg.) while hitting .441. Mandi Harms once again was Iowa State' s top offensive threat, as she drilled 24 kills last week for an average of 4.00 kpg. Harms now owns a team best 184 kills and is averaging 3.07 kpg this season. The Cyclones opended the season strong winning three of their first four matches of the year. However, since its win over Wisconsin-Green Bay on Sept. 8, ISU has dropped 13 of their last 14 with their lone win coming over Oklahoma in Ames, 3-1. The eighth of those 13 setbacks came against the Tigers in Columbia on Oct. 8, 3-0.
The Iowa State-Missouri series has been a match up of streaks. Mizzou took 12 of the first 18 meeting between the two before Iowa State would go on to win 21 of the next 22. Although the Tigers have won every meeting since Oct. 22 of 1997 (nine straight matches), Mizzou still trails in the all-time series, 26-23.
Strange Things Are Afoot On Halloween
This marks only the sixth time in school history the Tigers will play on Oct. 31, which is better known as the birthdays of the late, great John Candy, television news host Jane Pauley, the fire ball that is CBS news anchor Dan Rather, and oh yeah...Halloween. The only thing that has been scary about Halloween in the past has been the Tigers' play. Mizzou is a paltry 1-4 on Oct. 31 with its last Ghouls day win coming against Southwest Missouri State in 1985. Don't be scared though, the Tigers have won eight straight matches over the Cyclones dating back to 1997.
Building a Tradition
2000 Big 12 Coach of the Year Susan Kreklow and her husband, associate head coach Wayne Kreklow, lead the Tigers into action on Wednesday against the Cyclones. The Kreklows are in their second year at the helm of the Tigers and sport a 41-12 mark (.773 winning percentage) at MU. They also led Mizzou to one of the best seasons in school history in 2000 at 24-7 and the highest conference finish by a Mizzou squad in school history (2nd).
The Kreklows continued to rewrite the Tiger record books in 2001 as Susan Kreklow won her 550th career match when the Tigers swept Oklahoma last Saturday. However, the AVCA does not recognize wins when coaching both men's and women's volleyball teams at the same time, which Susan did for three years winning 53 matches as the men's co-head coach with Wayne at Columbia College before coming to MU. That being said, Susan needs just three more wins to reach the 500 win plateau coaching women's collegiate volleyball.
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 this Saturday, has been rescheduled, announced 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.
Repeat Performance
It has been like de ja' vu all over again for outside hitter Lisa Morris this year. The 2000 All-Big 12 selection continues to impress in 2001 and is once again putting up All-Big 12 numbers. She is currently averaging 4.10 kills per game, ranking her fifth in the Big 12 in the catergory, but is down from her 4.40 average of 2000.
However, Morris has improved her consistency reaching double figures in kills in 20 of the Tigers 23 matches played so far this season compared to only 16 of the first 23 matches in 2000. Morris has also increased her production from the service line averaging 0.41 service winner per game compared to 2000's 0.37 per game pace.
The Termination Association 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 Texas A&M, Branson became 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 (1988-90, 1992) 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 (266) and digs per game (3.24). She has been en fuego the past six matches averaging 13 kills and 12.5 digs per match while recording a .337 hitting percentage. Junior Lisa Morris is also on pace to become one of the most prolific offensive players in MU history. Along with, Branson, she continues to assault the MU career-kills charts, currently ranking sixth on the chart with 939 kills.
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- ) 1,017 6. Lisa Morris (99- ) 939 7. Sharon Zaehringer (84-87) 929 8. Gwen Mullens (91-94) 927 9. Melinda Wrye (90-92) 906 10. Margaret Yanics (84-86, 88) 902All-Time Digs List 1. Yvette Buhlig (88-90, 92) 1,149 2. Gwen Mullens (91-94) 1,103 3. Naaron Branson (98- ) 1,041 4. Margaret Yanics (84-86, 88) 1,038 5. Chandra Hopkins (95-98) 1,033 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
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 16-3 this season and an astounding 40-3 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 5-5 at home in the second stanza of matches and 14-9 in Game 2 overall. Besides sporting a 1-2 mark in Game 5s in 2001, that is the Tigers' worst game record of the five possible games.
Game Record Winning % 1 19-4 .826 2 14-9 .560 3 15-8 .652 4 8-5 .615 5 1-2 .333 57-28 .670
Business is Starting to Pick Up The Tigers are one of the most efficient teams in the Big 12. After seeing its team hitting percentage drop to .250 following the Baylor match. Mizzou used two +.400 efforts (.433 against Iowa State and .403 against UMKC) to raise the percentage to .263 after the UMKC match. After hitting a salty .307 against the Sooners of Oklahoma on Saturday, the Tigers currently sport a mark of .253, good enough for second in the Big 12.
Tracking the Tigers
Last Time Out...
Missouri Volleyball's 17th Win Comes "Sooner" Rather than Later
Norman, Okla.- The University of Missouri volleyball team finished off another busy week on Saturday by taking out Oklahoma, 3-0 (30-24, 30-16, 30-19). The match was the third for Mizzou in six days. The Tigers have now won four of their last six matches and boast a 17-6 overall record and a 7-6 Big 12 mark while Oklahoma falls to 2-19 overall and 1-10 in the Big 12.
The Tigers would jump out to a 15-9 lead to start Game 1. The Sooners would fight back to as close as 15-13, but Mizzou would wrap up the game on the strength of Lisa Morris' six kills and go on a 15-11 run to end the game, 30-24. The Sooners would hang close once again with the Tigers to open the second stanza, trailing only 11-10. The Tigers would then go on a 19-6 run to take close out the Sooners, 30-16. Mizzou recorded a .500 hitting percentage in the game and limited Oklahoma to just seven total kills and six errors for a .037 percentage. Morris and junior Christi Myers paced Mizzou in the game putting down five kills apiece.
MU would use a run of 12-4 to open Game 3 and would not look back taking the game, 30-19, and the match 3-0 in just one hour and fifteen minutes. Morris finished the night with a match-high 16 kills, four digs, a .406 hitting percentage and a service ace while Myers pitched in with 10 kills, 13 digs and three total blocks. Senior defensive specialist Rachael Taylor played one of her best matches of the season picking up 12 digs and baffling the Sooners with three service aces. The Tigers recorded eight service aces on the night and also registered a .307 hitting percentage, limiting OU to just a .109 hitting percentage while not allowing any Sooner to reach double figures in kills.
The Tiger Triple and Double-Double Club
With a variable plethora of offensive weapons at the Tigers disposal, look for Mizzou to have several members of the Triple and Double-Double Club in 2001. Here is a list of the players that have posted double doubles so far this season
Chrissy Elder- 36 assists, 18 digs vs. WVU, 9/1 35 assists, 11 digs vs. Akron, 9/2 34 assists, 15 digs vs IUPUI, 9/7 65 assists, 10 digs vs TTU, 9/19 63 assists, 14 digs vs KSU, 9/26 54 assists, 12 digs vs. UT 10/13 51 assists, 10 digs vs. TAMU, 10/20 Lisa Morris- 15 kills, 10 digs vs. Akron, 9/2 26 kills, 11 digs vs IUPUI, 9/7 20 kills, 11 digs vs. SIU, 9/7 17 kills, 12 digs vs SEMO, 9/24 23 kills, 12 digs vs. KSU, 9/26 20 kills, 12 digs vs. KU, 10/1 19 kills, 14 digs vs. BU, 10/6 11 kills, 10 digs vs. UT, 10/13 14 kills, 10 digs vs. Colorado 18 kills, 16 digs vs TAMU, 10/20 Naaron Branson- 15 kills, 21 digs vs. Akron, 9/2 10 kills, 12 digs vs. W. Kent, 9/8 21 kills, 22 digs vs. UT, 10/13 14 kills, 19 digs vs. TAMU, 10/20 Christi Myers- 18 kills, 12 digs vs. OU, 9/29 15 kills, 10 digs vs KU, 10/1 14 kills, 11 digs vs. BU, 10/6 10 kills, 12 digs vs UT, 10/13 10 kills, 11 digs vs. Neb. 10/24 10 kills, 13 digs vs. Okla. 10/27 Triple-Doubles Christi Myers- 18 kills, 15 digs, 11 blocks vs. Texas A&M, 9/22