Nov. 5, 2002

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Two Top 25 teams will face off on Wednesday at the Hearnes Center as No. 20 Missouri hosts No. 25 Kansas State. The Tigers are 20-4 overall and 9-3 in the Big 12 conference. They are third in the conference standings, one spot behind Kansas State (15-6, 11-2). Missouri is ranked in the USA Today/AVCA Coaches Poll for the sixth straight week, while Kansas State is in the poll for the first time this season. MU is No. 20, up one spot from last week. The Tigers have won six of their last seven matches, with the only loss coming to Kansas State on Oct. 23 in Manhattan, Kan. KSU defeated Mizzou 3-0 (31-29, 30-27, 39-37) in the earlier meeting and have won 16 of the last 17 meetings between the two teams. The lone victory for MU in the last eight years came in 2000, a 3-0 win in Columbia. KSU is on a nine match win streak and last week picked up wins over Texas Tech and Iowa State.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Kansas State enters Wednesday's match 15-6 and 11-2 in the Big 12. The Wildcats have won their last nine matches and 11 of the last 12, including a 3-0 (31-29, 30-27, 39-37) victory over Missouri on Oct. 23 in Manhattan, Kan. KSU climbed into the Top 25 this week for the first time this season. The Wildcats are No. 25 after defeating Texas Tech (3-2) and Iowa State (3-0) last week. Kansas State leads the all-time series with MU 29-25 and have won 16 of the last 17 meeting between the two teams.

MISSOURI v. KANSAS STATE- PART 1
If there is one place that the Missouri Tiger volleyball team would rather not go, it is Manhattan, Kan. The Tigers' losing streak in Manhattan grew to nine after a 3-0 (31-29, 30-27, 39-37) loss to Kansas State on Oct. 23. Missouri had a three match winning streak snapped with the defeat to Kansas State. Game one was a back-and-forth battle, featuring 18 ties, before the Wildcats were able to pull out the 31-29 victory. The second game was similar to the first with the lead shifting between the teams, but KSU held the lead when it counted. Just when it seemed things couldn't get much tighter, it did. Mizzou fought off seven Wildcat game points and had four game points of its own in game three before KSU came away with the 39-37 win to claim the match victory. Shen Danru led Mizzou with her twelfth double-double of the year (17 kills and 18 digs). Mary Lauren Smith had 14 kills and Christi Myers had 12. Lisa Morris added 11. Lindsey Hunter had 57 assists for MU, extending her lead in the Big 12 in assists per game.

LAST TIME OUT- MISSOURI 3, OKLAHOMA 1
The No. 21 ranked Missouri Tigers picked up their 20th victory of the season last Saturday as it downed Oklahoma 3-1 (30-22, 30-17, 24-30, 30-22). Mizzou improved to 20-4 overall and 9-3 in the Big 12 Conference. Oklahoma dropped to 4-17 overall and 2-11 in conference play. After winning the first two games, the Tigers dropped the third game to OU, forcing a game four. Mizzou rebounded to take game four 30-20 and earn the 3-1 win. Shen Danru had her fourteenth double-double of the year, as she recorded a career-high 21 kills and added 11 digs. Christi Myers and Mary Lauren Smith added 13. Lindsey Hunter tallied 48 assists on the night for MU. Hunter also added 11 digs for her fourth double-double of the season. Mizzou finished with a season-high 16 services aces led by Danru, who tied a career high with five and Juliana Godoi, who set a career high with four. Missouri has won the last six meetings against the Sooners dating back to 1999. The Tigers have now won twenty matches for the third straight season. The last time a Mizzou team had three consecutive 20-win seasons was 1981-83.

TWENTY SOMETHING
With its win over Oklahoma last Saturday, Mizzou picked up its twentieth victory of the season, marking the third consecutive season the Tigers have recorded twenty wins. The last time MU had three straight 20-win seasons came back in 1981-83. Mizzou is currently 20-4 on the year with eight matches left in the regular season. Last season the Tigers finished 20-11 and the year before they were 24-7.

THE STATS DON'T LIE
Proving that the stats do mean something, when the Tigers lead in the major statistic categories, they usually come away with a victory. Mizzou is 18-0 when it has a better hitting percentage than its opponents and is 17-0 when it has more aces than the opposition. The Tigers are 17-1 when it has more kills then their opponents, 18-1 when they have more assists and 15-1 when they out-dig the opponent. On the flip side, Mizzou has a losing record in matches in which the opposition has a better hitting percentage. The Tigers also hold losing records when they have fewer kills, fewer digs, fewer assists and fewer aces than the opponent.

ACES WILD
The Tigers tied a school record for aces in a four-game match by recording a season-high 16 against Oklahoma last Saturday. Shen Danru led MU, as she tied a career high with five aces against the Sooners. Juliana Godoi added a career high four, while Lindsey Hunter and Jenny Duitsman each recorded two. That match came after the Tigers recorded 15 aces against Southeast Missouri State last Wednesday. Danru, Godoi, Hunter, Duitsman and Christi Myers all recorded three aces a piece in the Tigers' 3-0 win over SEMO. Danru leads MU with a 0.53 aces per game average and ranks second in the Big 12 Conference in that category.

PULLING RANK
The Missouri Tiger volleyball team is ranked No. 20 in the latest USA Today/AVCA Top 25 poll released on Monday. Mizzou is 20-4 on the season and 9-3 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. 5 and Kansas State makes it first appearance in the poll this year at No. 25. Texas and Kansas also received votes this week. 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. On Oct. 26, the Tigers defeated then-No. 23 Texas for the second time this season. The only loss to a ranked opponent this season came at No. 5 Nebraska.

MAKE IT QUICK
Of Missouri's 20 victories on the year, 13 have come in three game sweeps. Five 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.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 1,878 kills for the season, passing the record set by last year's team of 1,850. Also, at the current rate, Missouri would finish the season with 1,714 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 1,532 assists, passing Heather Gerber's 1,493 assists in 1998. Also, Hunter's 14.20 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 59 aces, which would put her second on the all-time season best, just two shy of the record. Jenny Duitsman and Christi Myers currently have hitting percentages of .370 and .365 respectively. The all-time best season hitting percentage is .368 set by Yvette Buhlig in 1992.

DEJA VU, ALL OVER AGAIN
For the second straight season, Lisa Morris has had her year cut short due to an injury. 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 on Oct. 26. 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 shoulder. Morris is in the top 10 in three categories in the Missouri Volleyball career record books. With 1,076 career kills, she 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 3.55 She is also in second place with 2,978 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 1,300 kills for her career against Oklahoma last Saturday. She now has 1,301 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 341. She is third on the career kills per game list (3.38), second in total blocks (425), third in solo blocks (84) third in blocks per game (1.10), and third in total attacks (2,903). 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 .365 percentage for the year.

HUNTER LENDS ASSISTANCE
Freshman Lindsey Hunter is currently second in the nation in assists per game. Her average of 14.20 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 has also recorded four double- doubles this season. She holds a commanding lead in the Big 12 Conference in assists per game as Laura Grote of Texas Tech is next with a 12.65 assists per game average.

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 74-51 at Mizzou. Previously, the most wins belonged to last year's senior class which finished 68-58.

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 that honor. Smith was also featured in the "Faces in the Crowd" section of the Oct. 21 issue 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 third on the team with a 3.68 per game average on the year and has a hitting percentage of .290. Additionally, she has recorded 42 total blocks for the season.

DOUBLE TROUBLE TIMES THREE
Three Tigers have recorded double-doubles this season, led by Shen Danru who has fourteen. Her best outing came last Saturday when she recorded a career-high 21 kills and added 15 digs. She also had good showing 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 also recorded four double-doubles this season, coming against Oregon State (12 digs and 59 assists), McNeese State (10 digs, 38 assists), Texas (11 digs and 46 assists) and Oklahoma (11 digs and 48 assists).

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 OSU Volleyball Showcase in Corvallis, Ore. Last week she recorded two double-doubles and now has fourteen for the season. Against Oklahoma, she had a career high 21 kills and added 15 digs. Danru also tied a career high with five service aces against the Sooners. She is fifth in the Big 12 Conference in kills per game with a 4.12 average and is second in the conference in aces averaging 0.53 aces per game. Danru, who was named the Preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, has a .251 hitting percentage on the season and is averaging 3.16 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 .820 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 520 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 573-132.