Sept. 4, 2002
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FOR STARTERS:
The Missouri Tigers (2-1, 0-0) travels to Tuscaloosa, Ala. for their second tournament of the 2002 season this weekend. Last weekend, Mizzou was 2-1 at the Oregon State Volleyball Showcase in Corvallis, Ore. The Tigers defeated Idaho State and Idaho, but lost to Oregon State in the tournament finale. Joining MU this weekend at the Crimson Tide Tourney will be McNeese State, West Virginia and the host school, Alabama. The Tigers will open the weekend against McNeese State at 5 p.m. on Friday. On Saturday, Missouri will face West Virginia at 11 a.m. before facing Alabama at 7:30 p.m. Mizzou is 1-0 all-time series against West Virginia, defeating the Mountaineers 3-0 in 2001. This weekend will mark the first time the Tigers will face McNeese State and Alabama. Following this weekend's tournament, MU will travel to UMKC on Wed. Sept. 11 before hosting the Quality Inn Tiger Invitational on Sept. 13-14.
SCOUTING THE COWGIRLS
The Cowgirls have started the sesaon 2-2 after a 17-10 record last season. They finished third in the Southland Conference last year and are returning five starters from that squad. McNeese State defeated Jackson State and Prairie View by scores of 3-0, before losing to Southern Mississippi and Louisiana-Lafayette. Angela Eppers and Angela Brittain lead the Cowgirls attack. Eppers is averaging 3.47 kills/ game while Brittain averages 2.73. Lee McBride is in his thirteenth season at McNeese State and has compiled a record of 212-153.
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
West Virginia is coming off an 8-20 season in 2001, The Mountaineers return all but one starter from last year's squad. They have opened the season 2-1. After shutting out both Western Illinois and Liberty, they lost to Duquesne 3-1. Junior Dimitra Havriluk, who led the Mountaineers in kills (366), attacks (862) and digs (339) last year, leads the WVU returners. Also returning for West Virginia are senior Erica Montana, junior Kristi King, and sophomore Brandice Studnicka, all of whom saw significant playing time last season. The Mountaineers are coached by Veronica Hammersmith who has compiled a record of 494-444 in her 28 years with WVU.
SCOUTING THE CRIMSON TIDE
Alabama, the host school for this weekend's tournament, has started the 2002 season 4-0. The Crimson Tide was 22-9 last season and returns all of its starters from the 2001 team that finished second in the SEC. The Tide defeated Marshall, Florida State and Illinois State at the Barker GMC Classic in Normal, Ill. then defeated UAB. Jennifer Bibber, Erin Heffner and Erin Price return as the top offensive stars for Alabama along with setter Kenna Milner. Judy Green is in her seventh year at UA, compiling a record of 93-105.
SENIOR CLASS AIMS FOR RECORD
The 2002 senior class has amassed a career record of 56-40 heading into this weekend's tournament in Alabama. Seniors Christi Myers, Lisa Morris and Katherine Wingert are on pace to finish with the best record of any senior class at Missouri. Last year's graduating class finished 68-58, which is the best to date in Tiger volleyball history.
TIGER FANS HEAD TO THE HEARNES
Since Susan and Wayne Kreklow have taken over at Missouri, attendance at MU volleyball matches has grown rapidly. In just two season, the average attendance has increased an amazing 241%. Nine of the top ten crowds in Tiger volleyball history have taken place at the Hearnes Center in the two seasons since the Kreklows have arrived. The largest crowd in Tiger history was in 2000 against Nebraska when 2,009 fans flocked to the Hearnes Center. Last year's match with the Cornhuskers nearly matched the 2000 crowd, as 2,002 fans saw the MU-NU matchup in Columbia.
LOOKING UP TO THE TIGERS
The 2002 Tigers are one of the tallest, if not the tallest team in MU history. Of the 13 players on the roster, seven are over six feet tall, and three are 6-2 or taller. Redshirt freshman Lindsey Noll is not only the tallest player on the team, she is the tallest player in Missouri volleyball history at 6-5. Other six footers include: Lisa Boyd and Loretta McGovern at 6-2, Christi Myers and Mary Lauren Smith at 6-1, and Lisa Morris and Jenny Duitsman are listed at 6-0.
BIG 12 COACHES RANK TIGERS THIRD
The Missouri volleyball team was picked third in the Big 12 Conference Coaches' Preseason Poll. The poll, which is voted on by the conference head coaches, had the Tigers tied with Colorado with 72 points. Nebraska received 10 of the 11 first place votes (coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team). Texas A&M was second, followed by MU and Colorado. Last season the Tigers finished fifth in the league behind Nebraska, Texas A&M, Kansas State and Colorado. Also announced were the Big 12 Conference Preseason Team, Player of the Year, Newcomer of the Year and Freshman of the Year. Missouri redshirt freshman Shen Danru was voted the conference Newcomer of the Year. Danru is an outside hitter from Shanghai, China.
MU ROSTER TAKES ON A UNITED NATIONS LOOK
The Tiger roster has an international flavor with Shen Danru of Shanghai, China and Juliana Godoi of Sao Paulo, Brazil joining the team. Danru is the first player in MU history originally from the Eastern Hemisphere. She has already received recognition, being chosen by the Big 12 Conference coaches as the Preseason Newcomer of the Year. Godoi transferred to Mizzou from Columbia College. She was a third team All-American at Columbia College and was on the 1999 Cougar National Championship team coached by Susan and Wayne Kreklow. The Tigers assistant coaches Deng Yang and Chen Feng are both natives of China and each were members of the Chinese National Team.
MIZZOU ON THE RADIO
Beginning with the Quality Inn Tiger Invitational on Sept. 13-14, all of the Mizzou volleyball home matches will be broadcast on KCOU 88.1. The matches can also be heard via the World Wide Web at www.kcou.mu.org.
MYERS AND MORRIS MAKING A MOVE
A couple of the Tigers are making the move to the top of the charts in the Missouri record book. Christi Myers is currently fourth on the career kills list with 1,051, three spots ahead of teammate Lisa Morris (987). Myers and Morris are also near the top of the charts in career kills per game. Morris is second with an average of 3.58 followed by Myers in third averaging 3.33. Myers is second in career hitting percentage (.300), tied for second on the career block assists list (267), fourth in solo blocks (73) and third in total blocks (340). She is also third on the career blocks per game chart with an average of 1.08 blocks per game. Morris is moving up the career attacks list, as she is currently in third place with 2,747.
A FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH
Three redshirt freshman and one true freshman are making their first collegiate appearances this season for Missouri. Freshman Lindsey Hunter is from Papillion LaVista High School in Nebraska where she was the Nebraska Volleyball Gatorade Player of the Year in 2001 and was named a high school All-American by Student Sports Magazine and Volleyball Magazine. Hunter started two games as the Tigers' setter in the OSU Showcase and tallied 53 assists against Idaho and 59 against Oregon State. Redshirt freshman Shen Danru is from Shanghai, China and was selected as the Preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year heading into the 2002 season. Danru is the first player in MU volleyball history that is originally from the Eastern Hemisphere. Danru was named to the All-Tournament Team at the OSU Volleyball Showcase as she led the Tigers in kills, attacks and solo blocks in two of MU's three games last weekend. Another redshirt freshman, Lisa Boyd, hails from Farmington, Mo. and adds height to an already tall Tiger roster. The 6-2 Boyd was a three-sport athlete at Farmington High and will look to get on the court this season. Boyd is recovering from a stress fracture in her left foot and will be out of action until the middle of September. Lindsey Noll is another redshirt freshman for MU. To say that she will add height to the lineup would be an understatement. At 6-5, Noll is the tallest player in MU volleyball history. Noll led Mizzou in kills (17) against Oregon State in only her third game with the Tigers.
PARTNERS IN EDUCATION
As of March 2002, the University of Missouri Volleyball Team and Smithton Middle School in Columbia have joined together in Partners in Education. The students of Smithton and the student-athletes of the MU volleyball team will participate in various activities together. As Partners in Education, both groups of students will have the opportunity to learn and grow from each other throughout the rest of the this year and into the next.
THE KREKLOW TURNAROUND
Susan and Wayne Kreklow are in their third year at the controls of the Missouri volleyball team. They have quickly turned Missouri into a winning program. The first two years of the Kreklow era at MU have yielded two 20-win seasons and two trips to the NCAA Tournament. In 2000, the Kreklows' first year at MU, the Tigers were 24-7 and in year two of the Kreklow era, Missouri finished with a 20-11 record. That marked the first time since 1982-83 that MU had back-to-back 20-win seasons. It is also the first time in MU history that the Tigers have made back-to-back trips to the NCAA Tournament. Susan Kreklow was named the 2000 Big 12 Coach of the year by the conference coaches in just her first season leading the Tigers.
CHECKING THE LEADERBOARD
The Tigers are returning many of their top performers from a year ago. In fact the Tigers return 61% of their offensive production (1129/1850 kills) from last year . Among those are Christi Myers who was the team leader in kills (399), solo blocks (22), assisted blocks (114) and blocks per game (1.19) last season. Lisa Morris returns after leading the Tigers in kills per game in 2001 with an average of 4.10. Chrissy Elder was the team leader in assists per game, handing out an average of 12.75 assist per game last season.
ON TAP FOR THE TIGERS
This weekend, Mizzou travels to Tuscaloosa, Ala. to take part in the Crimson Tide Tournament. Along with the Tigers, McNeese, West Virginia and the host school Alabama will take part in the tournament. On Sept. 13-14 the Tigers will host the Quality Inn Tiger Invitational. North Carolina State, San Diego State, Arkansas-Little Rock and Eastern Illinois will join MU for the Invitational at the Hearnes Center. Following that, the Tigers will open up their Big 12 portion of the schedule on the road against Texas. The first home conference match will be on Sept. 25th against Texas A&M.