Sept. 12, 2002

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The University of Missouri will host the 2002 Quality Inn Tiger Invitational this weekend at the Hearnes Center. Four teams will join the Tigers in the tournament, which features three of which qualified for the NCAA Tournament a year ago. Eastern Illinois and San Diego State made it to the post season tournament, along with Mizzou which made its second consecutive trip. Arkansas-Little Rock and North Carolina State round out the tournament field. Mizzou enters the weekend 6-1 and is coming off a 3-0 victory over UMKC on Wednesday. North Carolina State has a record of 1-8 San Diego State is 3-4, Arkansas-Little Rock is 3-2 and Eastern Illinois is 3-3. Following the weekend, Missouri will open Big 12 conference play on the road against Texas on Wed. Sept. 18 at 7 p.m.

SCOUTING THE WOLFPACK
North Carolina State picked up its first win of the season on Tuesday, defeating High Point 3-2. The Wolfpack is now 1-8 heading into the season. Maya Mapp leads the NC State offense with 2.48 kills per game, just ahead of Amy Cochran who averages 2.43 kills per game. Lindi Sheppard is averaging 8.61 assist per game. Caroline Frede leads on defense, averaging 2.27 digs per game. Mary Byrne is in her second season as the Wolfpack coach. This weekend will be the first time that the Missouri has faced North Carolina State.

SCOUTING THE AZTECS
The Aztecs enter the weekend with a 3-4 record. They are one of the three teams in this weekend's tournament that qualified for the NCAA Tournament last season. San Diego State offense is led by Rochelle Currier. She is averaging 3.17 kills per game and is hitting .210 on the year. Currier also leads the Aztecs in digs per game with an average of 3.39. Melissa Wright, the Aztec setter, averages 10.58 assists per game. Mark Warner is in his eight season leading San Diego State and has a record of 120-110. This weekend will mark the first time MU and SDSU will face each other.

SCOUTING THE TROJANS
The Trojans are 3-2 entering the Tiger Invitational after being picked to finish second in the Sun Belt Conference. Ivana Kuzmic is averaging 2.85 kills per game, followed by Larisa Durmisevic with 2.58 kills per game. Maialla Hurga has an average of 8.95 assist per game. Leading in digs is MacKenzie Eisler is averaging 3.21 digs per game. The Trojans are coached by Van Compton, who has a 255-172 record at UALR. Mizzou leads the all-time series with the Trojans, 3-0. The last meeting between MU and Arkansas-Little Rock was in 2000, with Mizzou taking the 3-0 victory.

SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
Eastern Illinois is 3-3 and joins Missouri and San Diego State as 2001 tournament qualifiers participating in this weekend's Tiger Invitational. Leading the Panther offense are Karen Liss averaging 3.28 kills per game and Erica Gerth who averages 3.20. Lindsey Perkins is averaging 11.64 assists per game. Gerth also lead EIU in digs, averaging 3.40 digs per game. Mizzou has faced EIU 12 times before, with the Panthers holding an 8-4 lead in the series. Their last meeting was in 1995, with the Tigers defeating Eastern Illinois 3-2. LAST TIME OUT The Tigers improved to 6-1 on the season with a 3-0 victory over the University of Missouri-Kansas City on Wednesday. The win was the 50th victory for Susan and Wayne Kreklow at Mizzou. The Tigers had little trouble with the Kangaroos, defeating UMKC 30-19, 30-14 and 30-19. Christi Myers led the Tiger offense with 13 kills followed by Shen Danru with 11. Jenny Duitsman had a hitting percentage of 1.000, with nine kills on nine attacks. Lindsey Hunter had 41 assist for Mizzou. As a team, MU hit .321. Chrissy Elder led Missouri in digs with 11 on the night.

MIZZOU ON THE RADIO
Beginning with this weekend's Quality Inn Tiger Invitational, 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.

DANRU NAMED BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Shen Danru was named the Big 12 Player of the Week on Monday for her performances at the Crimson Tide Invitational. A native of Shanghai, China, Danru was named the tournament MVP at last weekend's Crimson Tide Invitational in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and led the Tigers to the tournament title. Danru averaged 16.7 kills per match, 11.7 digs per match and had a hitting percentage of .425 in MU's three tournament matches. Against West Virginia, she tallied 15 kills for a .565 hitting percentage. She followed that performance with a .471 hitting percentage in the tournament championship victory over Alabama. Danru, who was named the Preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, is averaging 4.52 kills per game and has a .303 hitting percentage on the season. She is also averaging 3.22 digs per game.

HITTING THE RECORD BOOKS
In the Tigers match against West Virginia at the Crimson Tide Invitational, Mizzou finished with a hitting percentage of .525. That was just short of the all-time best hitting percentage for a Tiger team in a three-game match. In 1988, Missouri had a hitting percentage of .526 against UMKC. Against West Virginia, MU had 63 kills and 99 total attacks. Four MU players hit over .500 and three were over .600. Mary Lauren Smith and Jenny Duitsman each had a hitting percentage of .677 and Christi Myers hit .600. Shen Danru finished with a hitting percentage of .565.

MIZZOU RECEIVES SEVEN VOTES IN NEW POLL
The Tigers received seven votes in the latest USA Today/AVCA Top 25 Poll. That ranks Missouri No. 37 in the nation. MU received 58 votes in the preseason poll, ranking it 34th. Three Big 12 Conference schools are ranked in the top 25 and three others, including the Tigers, received votes.

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 1,095, three spots ahead of teammate Lisa Morris (988). Myers enters the weekend just 13 kills from taking over third place on the list. 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 (.303), tied for second on the career block assists list (279), fourth in solo blocks (76) and third in total blocks (355). 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 2,752.

THE TIGER HONOR ROLL
The season is early, but the Tigers have already begun to chalk up the honors. The accolades began when Shen Danru was selected by the Big 12 Conference Coaches as the Preseason Newcomer of the Year. Then just this week, Danru was chosen as the Big 12 Volleyball Player of the Week. Danru has also earned All-Tournament Team selections at both of the Tigers first two tournaments of the season. She was also named the tournament MVP at the Crimson Tide Invitational last weekend in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Christi Myers has also been named to the All-Tournament Teams at the OSU Showcase and the Crimson Tide Invitational. Mary Lauren Smith joined Danru and Myers on the All-Tournament Team in Tuscaloosa, giving the Tigers three of the six selections.

HUNTER LENDS ASSISTANCE
Freshman Lindsey Hunter is leading the Big 12 Conference in assists per game with an average of 14.95. The next highest in the conference is Texas' Caron Blotch with a 12.05 assist per game average. Hunter's 59 assists in MU's match against Oregon State is tied for the most assists in one match by a Big 12 Conference player this season. Laura Grote of Texas Tech had 59 against Ball State. However, Grote's came in a five game match and Hunters came in only four games. As a team, Mizzou leads the conference with 15.87 assists per game.

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.\

THE KREKLOW TURNAROUND
Susan and Wayne Kreklow are in their third year at the controls of the Missouri volleyball team. The Kreklows picked up win number fifty at Mizzou on Wednesday night with the victory over UMKC. 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.

SENIOR CLASS AIMS FOR RECORD
The 2002 senior class has amassed a career record of 60-40 heading into this weekend's tournament. With eight more victories they will become the winningest class ever at MU. 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 10 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 Columbi

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.

ON TAP FOR THE TIGERS
The Tigers open their home portion of the schedule this weekend with the Quality Inn Tiger Invitational. Following that, the Tigers will begin Big 12 Conference play on the road against Texas. The first home conference match will be on Sept. 25th against Texas A&M. Mizzou then closes out September with a trip to Colorado on Sept. 28.