Oct. 30, 2002

Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

The No. 21 ranked Missouri volleyball team will travel out of the Big 12 Conference this Thursday, taking on Southeast Missouri in Cape Girardeau, Mo. The Tigers are 18-4 and 8-3 in the Big 12 Conference after defeating Texas on Saturday 3-2. Mizzou is ranked for the fifth straight week, this week at No. 21. The Tigers have been ranked as high as No. 19 earlier this season, which marks the highest ranking for a MU team since 1982. The Tigers are coming off a 3-2 win over Texas on Saturday. The win was the second of the year over the Longhorns and moved Mizzou into a tie for third in the Big 12 Conference. Southeast Missouri is 13-10 on the season and is coming off a 3-0 win over Eastern Kentucky on Saturday. Last year Mizzou downed SEMO 3-1 in Columbia and the Tigers lead the all-time series with the Otahkians 8-2. Following Thursday's match, the Tigers will travel to Oklahoma on Saturday before returning home to face Kansas State on Nov. 6.

SCOUTING THE OTAHKIANS
The Tigers will take on Southeast Missouri State out of the Ohio Valley Conference on Thursday. The Otahkians are 13-10 on the season and are 8-3 in the OVC. SEMO had a six match winning streak snapped last Friday when it lost to Morehead State 3-2. Southeast Missouri then defeated Eastern Kentucky 3-0 on Saturday. Bobbi Carlile leads SEMO with a 4.56 kills per game average and is averaging 2.67 digs per game. Emily Johnson is averaging 3.86 kills per game and 3.76 digs per game. Cindy Gannon is in her fourteenth year as the Otahkian head coach, compiling a record of 337-173. The Tigers lead the all-time series with Southeast Missouri 8-2 and have won the last two meetings. Last season, the Tigers defeated SEMO 3-1 (30-14, 27-30, 30-14, 30-16).

LAST TIME OUT- MISSOURI 3, TEXAS 2
The No. 19 Missouri volleyball squad held on to defeat Texas 3-2 on Saturday at the Hearnes Center. The Tigers took the 3-2 (30-24, 30-28, 14-30, 19-30, 15-13) win to improve to 18-4 on the season and 8-3 in the Big 12 Conference. After winning the first two games, MU then dropped the next two and were trailing in the fifth game before rallying to finish with an 8-4 run and taking the match victory. Mary Lauren Smith paced Mizzou with 18 kills on the night. Christi Myers followed with 15 and Shen Danru and Jenny Duitsman had 13. Lindsey Hunter had 57 assists and now has a season average of 14.34 assists per game. Two Tigers had double digits in digs. Juliana Godoi had 13 and Sara Parks added 10. For the second straight Saturday, Missouri broke its all-time attendance record. Last week, 2,083 fans saw the Tigers defeat Kansas and on Saturday, 2,155 set the new mark as the largest crowd in Tiger volleyball history.

RECORDS ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN
The 2002 Tigers are on pace to set several team and individual season records. At its current pace, Mizzou would finish with 1,865 kills for the season, passing the record set by last year's team of 1,850. The Tigers are also on pace to set a new assists record. At the current rate, Missouri would finish the season with over 1,700 assists, again passing last year's squad, which totaled 1,652. Individual records that are in jeopardy include the single season assists mark. Lindsey Hunter is on pace to finish with more than 1,500 assists, passing Heather Gerber's 1,493 assists in 1998. Also, Hunter's 14.34 assists per game average would set (pun intended) a new record, overtaking the current record of 13.23 set by Gerber. Shen Danru is on pace to finish with 58 aces, which would put her second on the all-time season best, just three shy of the record. Jenny Duitsman and Christi Myers currently have hitting percentages of .405 and .369 respectively. The all-time best season hitting percentage is .368 set by Yvette Buhlig in 1992.

PULLING RANK
The Missouri Tiger volleyball team is ranked No. 21 in the latest USA Today/AVCA Top 25 poll released on Monday. Mizzou is 18-4 on the season and 8-3 in the Big 12 Conference. Mizzou's highest ever ranking was in 1982 when the Tigers reached the No. 18 spot. Missouri made its first appearance in the polls on Sept. 30 at No. 21. Two other Big 12 teams join Mizzou in the Top 25. Nebraska is No. 4 and Texas holds the No. 24 spot. Kansas State also received votes in the latest poll. The Tigers are 4-1 against teams that were ranked when they played. MU defeated then-No. 24 Texas, then-No. 20 Texas A&M and then-No. 23 Colorado, all in consecutive matches. Last week the Tigers defeated Texas for the second time this season. UT was No. 23 last week and dropped to No. 24 on Monday.

DOUBLE TROUBLE TIMES THREE
Three Tigers have recorded double-doubles so far this season, led by Shen Danru who has twelve. Her best outings came against Alabama (18 kills and 16 digs), Texas A&M (16 kills and 18 digs) and Kansas State (17 kills and 16 digs). Danru leads the Tigers in both kills and digs on the year. Christi Myers has had four double-doubles with her best match coming against Idaho when she had 19 kills and 16 digs. Lindsey Hunter has three double-doubles this season, coming against Oregon State (12 digs and 59 assists), McNeese State (10 digs, 38 assists) and Texas (11 assists and 46 digs).

TIGER FANS HEAD TO HEARNES
To steal a line from "The Voice of the Tigers" Mike Kelly, MU fans have been "taking it to the house" this year. Missouri is averaging 1,356 fans on the season, which ranks 15th in the nation. The Tigers rank third among Big 12 schools in attendance. Missouri set a new attendance record last Saturday for the second straight week as 2,155 fans saw Mizzou's 3-2 win over Texas. A week earlier 2,083 fans attended the Tigers' match against Kansas. Since Susan and Wayne Kreklow have taken over at Missouri, attendance at MU volleyball matches has grown rapidly. In just two seasons, the average attendance has increased over 240% The top ten crowds in Missouri volleyball history have taken place since the Kreklows arrived at Mizzou in 2000.

MAKE IT QUICK
Of Missouri's 18 victories on the year, 12 have come in three game sweeps. Four of the wins have come in four games and only twice has Mizzou been pushed to a fifth game. One of the five game matches for MU came against Colorado, when MU dropped the first two games before fighting back to win the next three games.

DEJA VU, ALL OVER AGAIN
For the second straight season, Lisa Morris has had her year cut short. Morris, who is second on the career kills per game and total attacks lists at Missouri, will be out for the remainder of the season after tearing her ACL in Mizzou's victory over Texas last Saturday. Morris is a senior, meaning the injury will also end her career at MU. Last year Morris missed the last six Tiger matches due to a blood clot in her right sholder. Morris is in the top 10 in three categories in the Missouri Volleyball career record books. With 1,071 career kills, Morris is in fifth place at Mizzou. She is one spot ahead of teammate Christi Myers on the kills per game list with an average of 3.57 She is also in second place with 2,961 career attacks.

MY OH MYERS
The name of Christi Myers is quickly moving up several lists in the Missouri record books. Myers has taken over first place on the career hitting percentage charts with a .311 mark. Earlier this season, Myers moved into second on the career kills list at MU and went over 1,200 kills for her career against Texas Tech. She now has 1,278 kills at Mizzou. 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 the all-time leader in block assists with 336. She is third on the career kills per game list (3.38), second in total blocks (417), tied for third in solo blocks (81) third in blocks per game (1.10), and third in total attacks (2,856). 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 with a .369 percentage for the year.

HUNTER LENDS ASSISTANCE
Freshman Lindsey Hunter is currently second in the nation in assists per game. Her average of 14.34 is also leading the Big 12 Conference. Hunter set a new career high at Colorado with 63 assists. The 63 assists is the third best outing by anyone in the Big 12 Conference this season. She holds a commanding lead in the Big 12 Conference in assists per game as Laura Grote is next with a 12.49 assists per game average.

SMITH GOES NATIONAL
Missouri junior Mary Lauren Smith was selected as the AVCA/Sports Imports National Player of the Week on Sept. 30 for her performances against Texas A&M and Colorado. Smith is the first Missouri player ever to receive this honor. Smith was also featured in the "Faces in the Crowd" section of the Oct. 21 issuse of Sports Illustrated. The Atlanta, Ga. resident, posted back-to-back 20-kill matches to lead MU to victories over No. 20 Texas A&M and No. 23 Colorado. Smith had a hitting percentage of .432 against the Buffaloes and hit .394 against the Aggies for a .414 hitting percentage for the week. She also averaged 4.44 kills per game in the two match stretch. Smith is currently second on the team with a 3.75 kills per game average on the year and has a hitting percentage of .302. Additionally, she has recorded 38 total blocks for the season.

IN A CLASS BY ITSELF
With Missouri's victory over Oklahoma on Oct. 12, the 2002 senior class became the winningest class in MU volleyball history. The seniors currently stand at 72-51 at Mizzou. Previously, the most wins belonged to last year's senior class which finished 68-58.

SHEN-ANIGANS
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 leading the Tigers to another team title. In addition, Danru was named to the All-Tournament team in the season opening tournament in Corvallis, Ore. She is fifth in the Big 12 Conference in kills per game with a 4.04 average and is fourth in the conference in aces averaging 0.47 aces per game. Danru, who was named the Preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, has a .240 hitting percentage on the season and is averaging 3.12 digs per game.

KREKLOW TOPS THE CHARTS
Missouri head coach Susan Kreklow is the winningest active coach among Division I volleyball coaches. Kreklow's winning percentage of .830 is the best among active coaches with at least five years of coaching experience. She is also second in total wins among active coaches with 518 in her career. These numbers reflect her records as the head coach of the Missouri and Columbia College women's volleyball teams. She also coached the Columbia College men's team for three seasons. When those records are added in, she has a combined record of 571-132.

A SEPTEMBER TO REMEMBER
Mizzou was a perfect 11-0 in the month of September, including three wins over ranked opponents. The stretch of eleven straight wins vaulted MU into the national rankings. The only other time a Missouri volleyball team had an unbeaten month, came in September of 1982, when the Tigers went 17-0.

THE COMEBACK IN BOULDER
The Tiger volleyball team came away with a thrilling come from behind 3-2 victory over Colorado on Sept. 28. After dropping the first two games of the match, Mizzou rallied to win the next three and pick up its eleventh straight victory. Colorado took game one by a 30-25 score and followed that with a 30-23 win in the second game. The Tigers rebounded to win game three 30-27 and then took game four 30-17. The Tigers opened game five with a 6-0 run. CU then came back to tie the score at eight, but MU closed out the match with 7-3 run for the match victory. Mary Lauren Smith led Mizzou with 20 kills. It was the second straight match in which she had at least 20 kills. Lindsey Hunter had a career high 63 assists in the match. The win was the third straight Tiger victory over a ranked opponent and it was the first ever victory by a Mizzou team in Boulder.

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.

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 last month with MU's victory over UMKC. Missouri's win over Baylor on Oct. 16 was the sixtieth win for them at MU. They have quickly turned Missouri into a winning program. The first two years of the Kreklow era at MU 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.

A FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH
Three redshirt freshman and one true freshman have made their first collegiate appearances this season for Mizzou and made immediate impacts. All four freshman and redshirt freshman were in the starting lineup against No. 5 Nebraska on Oct. 9 due to injuries on the team. 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 is second in the nation in assists per game with an average of 14.34 assists per game and set a new career high against Colorado with 63 assists. She is on pace to break the school record for most assists in a season. 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 and was named the Big 12 Player of the Week on Sept. 9. She leads the team in aces per game (0.47) and digs per game (3.12) and kills per game (4.04). Lindsey Noll is another redshirt freshman for MU who has made an impact quickly. At 6-5, Noll is the tallest player in MU volleyball history. She is averaging 2.68 kills per game and is hitting .268 for Missouri this season. She had a career-high 19 kills in MU's win over Oklahoma. 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. Boyd returned to the court against Colorado after sitting out the first 13 matches due to an injury to her foot. She has started twice for MU and is averaging 1.65 kills per game.

ON TAP
Following Thursday's match, the Tigers will travel to Oklahoma on Saturday before returning home to face Kansas State on Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. at the Hearnes Center.