Sept. 27, 2002

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The Tigers hit the road this weekend as they travel to Boulder, Colo. to take on the Colorado Buffaloes. Missouri (12-1, 2-0) is coming off back-to-back wins over ranked opponents and will look to make it three straight with a win over No. 23 Colorado. Mizzou has won ten straight matches this season, and in the last week defeated No. 24 Texas 3-1 and No. 20 Texas A&M 3-1. The Buffaloes (8-5, 2-1) lost their last time out, a five game defeat to Kansas on Wednesday. In the preseason Big 12 Coaches Poll, the Tigers and Buffaloes were picked to tie for third in the league. Missouri is 2-0 for the first time ever in the Big 12 Conference and the 2-0 start is the best conference start for the Tigers since they started 2-0 in 1985 in the Big 8 Conference. The Tigers travel to Colorado having never won in Boulder. Last season, MU and CU split the series, with each team winning on its home court.

SCOUTING THE BUFFALOES
Colorado enters Saturday's match with an 8-5 record and ranked No. 23 in the nation. Last Wednesday, the Buffaloes snapped a six match win streak as they lost to Kansas 3-2 (19-30, 30-21, 29-31, 30-28, 15-13). They are now 2-1 in the Big 12 Conference. The Colorado attack is led by Monique Gerlach and Megan Barkman. Gerlach is averaging 3.63 kills per game and has a hitting percentage of .356. Barkman has a 2.60 kills per game average and is hitting .295. CU holds a 28-3 lead in the all-time series with Mizzou, however the two teams have split the season series in each of the past two years. Last year the Tigers took the 3-1 win in Columbia, but fell 3-0 to the Buffaloes in Boulder. Pi'i Aiu is in his sixth season as the Buffs' head coach. He has compiled a record of 106-62 at Colorado.

LAST TIME OUT
Missouri made it two straight wins over the state of Texas as it won its tenth straight match of the season Wednesday night defeating No. 20 Texas A&M 3-1. Missouri lost the first game of the match 30-25, but as they have done twice before this season, the Tigers rebounded to win the next three games and take the victory. The Tigers (12-1, 2-0) edged out the Aggies in games two (30-27) and three (30-28) before controlling game four with a 30-16 win. Mary Lauren Smith led Mizzou with 20 kills, while Christi Myers and Lisa Morris each had 16. With her hitting percentage of .433, Myers took over first place on the all-time career hitting percentage charts at MU (.309). Morris moved into sixth place on the all-time MU kills list with 1,042 career kills. Lindsey Hunter, the national leader in assists, had 59 assists in the match to match her career high and improve her season average to 14.69 assists per game. Lindsey Noll finished with a team best .462 hitting percentage and Shen Danru and Sara Parks led Mizzou with 14 digs each.

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 three 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 66-40 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.

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 opponent, Colorado, who is 23rd. Nebraska is No. 4 in the polls and Texas A&M is No. 20. Texas fell out of the Top 25 after MU downed the Longhorns last week in Austin. They received 17 votes in the latest poll.

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%. The top nine crowds in Missouri volleyball history have taken place since the Kreklows arrived at Mizzou in 2000. Earlier this season, 1,393 fans saw the Tigers claim the Tiger Invitational title by defeating Eastern Illinois. That crowd was the eight largest in MU history. Last Wednesday, the ninth largest crowd (1,376) attended the Tigers win over Texas A&M. 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.

HUNTER LENDS ASSISTANCE
Freshman Lindsey Hunter is currently the national leader in assists per game and has a commanding lead over second place. Hunter is averaging 14.69 assist per game. The next highest is Morgan Shields of Wisconsin with a 14.11 average. Hunter has recorded a career-high 59 assists twice this season, and both came in MU wins (Aug. 31 against Oregon State and Sept. 25 against Texas). Hunter's 59 assists in a match is the second best in the Big 12 Conference this season. Texas A&M's Lexy Beers had 60 assists in the Aggies match against Colorado. However Beers' 60 came in a five game match, while both of Hunter's 59 assist matches came in a four game victories for MU.

MYERS MAKES A MOVE
The name of Christi Myers is quickly moving up several list in the Missouri record books. On Wednesday, Myers became the all-time leader in career hitting percentage at Missouri, currently at .309. Last weekend, Myers moved into second on the career kills list at MU, with 1,175 kills. Myers has a ways to go to catch first place as Yvette Buhlig totaled 1,478 kills in her four years as a Tiger. She would need to average 15.95 kills per match to catch Buhlig. Myers is also second on the block assists charts (300). Myers is third on the career kills per game list (3.37), fourth in solo blocks (77) third in blocks per game (1.08) and third in total blocks (377). She need just one more block to move into second on in career total blocks. 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 second in the Big 12 Conference in hitting percentage (.394) and is seventh in kills per game, averaging 3.88.

MORRIS CLIMBS THE CHARTS
Lisa Morris is in the top 10 in three categories in the Missouri Volleyball career record books. With 1,042 career kills heading into the matchup in Colorado, 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 2,879 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, she will continue the move up the charts.

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.

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. She is fourth in the Big 12 Conference in kills per game with a 4.05 average and is second in the conference in aces averaging 0.66 aces per game. Danru, who was named the Preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, has a .277 hitting percentage on the season and is averaging 3.09 digs per game.

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 Saturday's match at Colorado, the Tigers will return home to take on Iowa State on Wednesday. After that, Mizzou will have two road conference matches, at Texas Tech on Oct. 5 and at Nebraska on Oct. 9.