MU and KU Face Off in Border Battle
11/2/2001 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 2, 2001
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MU and KU Face Off in Border Battle Throw off the gloves and throw out the records when the University of Missouri volleyball team (18-6 and 8-6 in the Big 12) faces Big 12 rival Kansas in Columbia on Saturday. Mizzou has won seven of its last nine matches and is currently in fifth place in the Big 12. 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. The Tigers are also guaranteed their first back-to-back winning seasons since 1982-83.
Missouri Family Remembers Kent Heitholt The University of Missouri Department of Athletics offers its sincere condolences to the family and friends of Kent Heitholt, the late Sports Editor of the Columbia Daily Tribune, who was killed this past Thursday morning. Kent was truly one of the "Good Guys" in our industry and he will be missed. Not only was Kent a consummate professional, he was a dear friend to those who worked directly with him. The coaches and administration of the University of Missouri are deeply saddened by this tragedy.
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.
A Look at the Jayhawks The Jayhawks (13-12 overall, 3-11 in the Big 12) enter Saturday's matchup in the midst of a three-game losing streak with their latest loss coming at the hands of instate rival Kansas State on Wednesday in Lawrence. The Jayhawks opened the season on a tear by winning 11 of their first 13 matches. However, since its four game win over Colorado on Sept.29, KU has lost 10 of their last 12.
Junior middle blocker Molly Scavuzzo and sophomore outside hitter Sarah Rome lead the offensive charge for the Jayhawks averaging 3.88 and 3.93 kills per game, respectively. Senior setter Molly LaMere runs an offense that has recorded a .210 hitting percentage on the season and is averaging 15.54 kills per game.
The Tigers own a 35-29 lead in the all-time series with the Jayhawks including their latest conquest in the match up, a 3-1 win in Lawrence.
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 Saturday against the Jayhawks. The Kreklows are in their second year at the helm of the Tigers and sport a 42-13 mark (.764 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. However, the AVCA does not recognize both men's and women's volleyball victories when coaching them 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 two more wins to reach the 500 win plateau coaching women's collegiate volleyball.
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 4.15 kills per game, ranking her fifth in the Big 12 in the category, but is down from her 4.40 average of 2000. However, Morris has improved her consistency reaching double figures in kills in 21 of the Tigers' 24 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 0.39 service winner per game compared to 2000's 0.37 per game pace.
Sister Act If you look very close, you will notice that there is more than one Morris in the program and yes, they are related. Junior Lisa (MU) and freshman Lindsey (KU) Morris are both outside hitters and daughters of Mike and Karen Morris.
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 17-3 this season and an astounding 41-3 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 15-9 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 20-4 .833 2 15-9 .625 3 16-8 .666 4 8-5 .615 5 1-2 .333 60-28 .682
