Nov. 23, 2001
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Tournaments and Tigers and Bears
With its post-season fate to be determined on Monday, the University of Missouri volleyball team travels to Waco, Texas on Saturday to wrap up its regular season schedule against Baylor. The Tigers are still alone in fifth place in the Big 12 with a 20-9 overall mark and a 10-9 Big 12 record. Mizzou has won four of its last seven matches, but is coming off of a 0-3 sweep at the hands of the No. 19 Kansas State Wildcats in Columbia on Wednesday. The Tigers post-season fortune is still a point of much debate, but will be clarified on Monday at 2 p.m. CST when the NCAA air its 2001 NCAA Volleyball Tournament selection show. More details on the show will be released on Sunday. Mizzou will look to avenge an earlier season loss when they face the Bears on Saturday. Baylor claimed a 3-1 win over the Tigers in Columbia, Mo., on Oct. 6.
Four Tigers Named to Volleyball Academic All-Big 12 Team
DALLAS-The Big 12 Conference announced the names of 53 student-athletes who have been named to the 2001 Volleyball Academic All-Big 12 Team, the conference office announced Monday.
Among the 53 honored were four members of the University of Missouri volleyball team. Senior defensive specialists Katie Sowers and Rachael Taylor, and junior outside hitter Lisa Morris were named to the first team while senior outside hitter Naaron Branson was named to the second team. Taylor and Sowers are both three-time recipients of the honor while Branson and Morris have been named to the team twice.
Sowers currently is second on the team in digs per game (2.83) while Taylor leads the squad in service aces (36). Branson leads the Tigers in digs per game (3.43) and became only the second player in MU history to record 1000 kills and 1000 digs in her career. This is Morris' second award of the season. She was named to the Verizon Academic All-District VII first team earlier this month.
Tiger Tidbits
The University of Missouri volleyball team went 1-0 last week taking out Texas Tech, 3-0 in Lubbock, Texas...this marks the first time a Tiger team has won at Texas Tech in school history...with the sweep of the Red Raiders, the Tigers have now registered the first back-to-back 20-win seasons since 1982 (26-6) and 1983 (26-11) after going 24-7 last year...the win was also historical for head coach Susan Kreklow. The victory over the Red Raiders was the 500th women's collegiate volleyball win of her career. She sports a 500-102 (.831 %) record coaching women's volleyball.
A Look at the Bears
Baylor enters Saturday's match with a 17-11 overall record and a 8-11 Big 12 mark. After winning 16 of their first 22 matches of the season, the Bears have dropped five of their last six matches. The latest loss came on Wednesday against Texas Tech in a five-game thriller in Lubbock, Texas. The match was the seventh five-game match BU has played this season, sporting a 3-4 mark in the marathons.
Baylor is led offensively by sophomore sparkplug Stevie Nicholas. An outside hitter from Fullerton, Calif., Nicholas is averaging a Big 12-high 5.23 kills per game and is second on the squad in digs per stanza (3.11). The Bears have been lethal from the service line in 2001. They lead the Big 12 in service aces (147) and service aces per game (2.30). Nicholas paces the Big 12 in services aces as well with 54 service winners.
The Bears hold a 7-4 edge in the all-time series with the Tigers. However, Mizzou has won four of the last seven meeting between the two and took the season series from the Bears in 2000.
500 and Counting
2000 Big 12 Coach of the Year Susan Kreklow took home her 500th career women's collegiate volleyball victory on Wednesday at Texas Tech. Susan and her husband, associate head coach Wayne Kreklow, lead the Tigers into action on Saturday against the Bears. The Kreklows are in their second year at the helm of the Tigers and sport a 44-16 mark (.733 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 earlier this season. 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.
Making a Statement
Junior middle blocker Christi Myers has been the Tigers steadiest contributor during the 2001 season. She is averaging 3.41 kills, 2.34 digs and 1.24 blocks per game and leads the Big 12 in solo blocks with 22. Myers has also recorded ten double-doubles this season.
The junior middle blocker boldly went where no Missouri Tiger volleyball player had gone in the past two seasons on Sept. 22 against Texas A&M. The 6-1, 2000 All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selection recorded the first triple-double of her career against Texas A&M (18 kills, 15 digs and 11 total blocks.)
The 2001 season has been a microcosm of Myers' career up to this point. Myers currently holds the second-highest career hitting percentage (.298) in MU history and jumped into third on the kills per game list (3.21). Myers is also rewriting the Mizzou career blocking books. She is fourth in solo blocks (73), fourth in block assists (255) and third in blocks per game (1.09).
Don't Get So Defensive
Senior Defensive specialist Katie Sowers continues to be a quality defensive stopper for the Tigers as they approach the end of the regular season. Since equaling a career-high with 18 digs vs. Texas on Oct. 17, Sowers has averaged 10 digs per match. Sowers is currently second on the squad in total digs (289), digs per game (2.78) and is third in service aces (26).
Quick Like a Kat
After recording five service aces and 2.22 digs per game at the Tigers season opening tournament in West Virginia, junior defensive specialist Katherine Wingert (her teammates call her Kat) was sidelined with an injury for over month. Since returning to the Tiger line up on Oct. 22, Wingert had received situational playing time. However, with the injury to Lisa Morris, Wingert has been called upon to rotate into the back row and serve for Mizzou. She has executed that role very well the averaging 10.25 pickups per match over the last four matches.
There's No Place like Where ever We Are
The Tigers sported a 14-1 home mark last season while registering a 9-5 mark on the road and a 2-1 record in neutral court battles. This season, the Tigers have been equally as good on the road (7-4) as they were in the friendly confines of the Hearnes Center (8-5). The Tigers have also been outstanding on neutral courts sporting a sparkling 5-0 mark in those matches.
The Ace of the Staff
In baseball, a middle relief pitcher has the job of either maintaining a lead or stopping the other squads assault on the starting pitcher. Senior defensive specialist Rachael Taylor could be considered the middle reliever for the Tigers when she goes back to the service line. Five to 10 point runs are not uncommon when Taylor steps to the line with her laser-knuckle ball serve. The native of Kirkwood, Missouri, has recorded a team-high 37 service aces this season and equaled a season-best with three service winners against Texas on Nov. 10.
The Termination Association
The fans at the MU volleyball match on Oct. 22 witnessed history as senior Naaron Branson put down her 1,000th career kill to give the Tigers a 15-8 lead over Southern Illinois in Game 1. After recording her 1,000th career dig in Game 1 at Texas A&M on Oct. 20, 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 needs to pick up 11 digs against the Baylor to become the all-time digs leader in MU history. Branson currently leads the squad in digs (364) and digs per game (3.53). She also has recorded a team-best .292 hitting percentage against Big 12 Conference foes this season and is averaging a robust 3.63 digs per game in conference matches.
MU All-Time Kills Leaders 1. Yvette Buhlig (88-90, 92) 1,478 2. Jodi Maune (95-98) 1,147 3. Naaron Branson (98- ) 1,076 4. Renee Rosinski (95-98) 1,049 5. Sherri Gentry (86, 88-90) 1,030 6. Lisa Morris (99- ) 969 7. Christi Myers (99- ) 967 8. Sharon Zaehringer (84-87) 929 9. Gwen Mullens (91-94) 927 10. Melinda Wrye (90-92) 906
MU All-Time Digs Leaders 1. Yvette Buhlig (88-90, 92) 1,149 2. Naaron Branson (98- ) 1,139 3. Gwen Mullens (91-94) 1,103 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