Sept. 24, 2002

Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

Listen To Game Action Here

Missouri will open its home portion of the Big 12 schedule with a matchup against Texas A&M Wednesday. The Tigers (11-1, 1-0) defeated No. 24 Texas last week 3-0 in Austin in the conference opener for both teams. The win was the ninth straight victory for the Tigers this season and the fifth straight win over Texas. Texas A&M (9-2, 1-1) is ranked No. 20 and is coming off a 3-2 loss to Colorado on Saturday. Last season the Aggies advanced to the NCAA Tournament Regional Finals before losing to Stanford 3-0. In the latest USA Today/AVCA poll, the Tigers received 116 votes and were just six votes from cracking the Top 25. Entering the matchup with the Aggies, the Tigers are leading the Big 12 in assists per game (15.93) and kills per game (17.55). MU and A&M have met 15 times before, with the Aggies holding a 13-2 lead in the series, including wins in the last three meetings.

SCOUTING THE AGGIES
Texas A&M enters the matchup with Mizzou 9-2 on the season and 1-1 in the Big 12 Conference. The Aggies are coming off a 3-2 (23-30, 30-22, 30-28, 28-30, 15-11) loss to Colorado on Saturday in Boulder, Colo. The only other loss for Texas A&M came to No. 16 Wisconsin, 3-1, on Sept. 7. The Aggies opened up Big 12 play last Wednesday with a 3-0 (30-24, 30-26, 30-26) win over Kansas. Melissa Munsch leads the Aggies with 3.83 kills per game to go along with a team leading 3.33 digs per game average. A.D Achilefu is third on the Aggies in kills per game (2.87), second in hitting percentage (.344), second in digs per game (2.53) and second in blocks per game (0.87). The Aggies are ranked No. 20 in the latest USA Today/AVCA Top 25 after opening the season at No. 17. They were picked second in the Big 12 Preseason poll, behind Nebraska and one spot ahead of Missouri. Laurie Corbelli is in her tenth season guiding the Aggie program and has compiled a record of 224-77 at A&M. Last season Texas A&M advanced to the regional finals of the NCAA Tournament before falling to eventual National Champion Stanford 3-0. The Aggies hold a 13-2 lead in the all-time series with MU and have won the last three meetings.

MIZZOU ON THE RADIO
Throughout the 2002 volleyball season 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.

SENIOR CLASS AIMS FOR RECORD
With just four more victories, the 2002 senior class will become the winningest class ever at MU. Seniors Christi Myers, Lisa Morris and Katherine Wingert have amassed a career record of 65-40 heading into the matchup with Texas A&M. Last year's graduating class finished 68-58, which is the best to date in Tiger volleyball history.

LAST TIME OUT
The Missouri Tiger volleyball team extended its winning streak to nine matches last Wednesday by defeating Texas 3-1 in their Big 12 Conference opener in Austin, Texas. For the second time this season, Mizzou lost game one of the match, but rallied to win the next three and take the victory. After dropping game one 30-26, the Tigers bounced back to take game two by a 30-23 score. Mizzou then took a 2-1 lead in the match by winning game three, 30-24. MU followed that with a convincing 30-21 win in game four. Mary Lauren Smith led the Tigers in kills with 19 on the night and hit .600. Lisa Morris added 12 and Shen Danru had 11. Lindsey Hunter, the Big 12 Conference assists leader, had 46 assist for Missouri on the night. Hunter also led MU in digs with 11 against Texas. With its ninth straight victory, Missouri improved to 11-1 on the season and 1-0 in the Big 12 Conference. Head Coach Susan Kreklow and Associate Head Coach Wayne Kreklow are 3-0 in conference openers since arriving at Mizzou in 2000. Missouri has now won the last five meetings with Texas and has not lost to the Longhorns since the Kreklows arrived at MU in 2000.

HUNTER LENDS ASSISTANCE
Freshman Lindsey Hunter is currently the national leader in assist per game and has a commanding lead over second place. Hunter is averaging 14.68 assist per game. The next highest is Morgan Shields of Wisconsin with a 14.11 average. Hunter's 59 assists in MU's match against Oregon State is the second best in the Big 12 Conference this season. Texas A&M's Lexy Beers had 60 assists in the Aggies game against Colorado. However Beers' 60 came in a five game match, while Hunter's 59 was in a four game victory for MU. As a team, Mizzou leads the Big 12 Conference with 15.93 assists per game.

MIZZOU NEARS THE TOP 25
The Tigers came just six votes shy of climbing into the Top 25 this week. Mizzou received 116 votes, placing them No. 26 in the USA Today/AVCA poll released on Monday. Three Big 12 schools are ranked in the Top 25, including the Tigers next two opponents (Texas A&M is 20th and Colorado is 23rd). Nebraska is also ranked in the polls, at No. 4. Texas fell out of the Top 25 after MU downed the Longhorns last week in Austin. They received 17 votes in the latest poll.

MYERS MAKES A MOVE
The name of Christi Myers is quickly moving up several list in the Missouri record books. Last weekend, Myers moved into second on the career kills list at MU, having 1,159 kills in her career. Myers has a ways to go to catch first place as Yvette Buhlig totaled 1,478 kills in her four years as a Tiger. Myers is also second on the career hitting percentage list and nearing first place. She currently has a .307 hitting percentage, only 0.01 percentage points out of first place. She is also second on the block assists charts (297). Myers is third on the career kills per game list (3.36), fourth in solo blocks (76), third in total blocks (373) and third in blocks per game (1.08). Myers had a hitting percentage of .714 in Mizzou's win over Eastern Illinois, setting a new career high. That is also the best hitting percentage by any player in the Big 12 Conference this season. Myers is fourth in the Big 12 Conference in hitting percentage and is 5th in kills per game, averaging 3.91.

MORRIS CLIMBS THE CHARTS
Lisa Morris is in the top 10 in three categories in the Missouri Volleyball career record books. With 1,026 career kills heading into the matchup with Texas A&M, Morris is in seventh place. She is one spot ahead of teammate Christi Myers on the kills per game list with an average of 3.58. She is also climbing the total attacks list, currently in second place with 2,841 career attacks. Morris has been hampered by injuries early in the 2002 season, but has returned to the court and now with her back in the lineup, her name will continue the move up the charts.

DANRU GAINING RECOGNITION
Shen Danru was named the Big 12 Player of the Week on Sept. 9 for her performances at the Crimson Tide Invitational. A native of Shanghai, China, Danru was named the tournament MVP at the Crimson Tide Invitational in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and led the Tigers to the tournament title. She was also named the tournament MVP at the Quality Inn Tiger Invitational and helped the Tigers to another team title. Danru was also named to the All-Tournament team in the season opening tournament in Corvallis, Ore. Danru, who was named the Preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, is averaging 4.20 kills per game and has a .305 hitting percentage on the season. She is also averaging 3.05 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.

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 earlier this month with MU's 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.

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 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.

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
Following Wednesday's match against the Aggies, Mizzou will take to the road for a meeting with No. 23 Colorado in Boulder, Colo. on Saturday. After that the Tigers will return home to host the Iowa State Cyclones on Oct. 2 before hitting the road again to take on Texas Tech (Oct. 5) and No. 5 Nebraska (Oct. 9).