Nov. 15, 2002

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No. 24 Missouri will travel to Ames, Iowa on Saturday to take on Iowa State. The Tigers are 21-6 on the season and 10-5 in the Big 12 Conference. MU snapped its two-match losing streak on Wednesday, defeating Colorado 3-1. Missouri has won the last 11 meetings against the Cyclones including a meeting earlier this season where Mizzou downed ISU 3-0 (30-17, 30-26, 30-19). The Cyclones enter Saturday's match 10-18 on the year and 1-15 in conference action. They have lost their last five matches and 16 of their last 17. The Tigers are in third place in the Big 12 Conference, trailing Nebraska and Kansas State. Mizzou is ranked No. 24 and is in the Top 25 for the seventh consecutive week. Following its matchup with ISU, Missouri will return home to take on Baylor at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in the Hearnes Center.

SCOUTING THE CYCLONES
The Cyclones enter Saturday's match having lost their last five matches and 16 of their last 17. Mandi Harms leads ISU with 3.22 kills per game and 1.16 blocks per game. Brittany Dalager is averaging 4.19 digs per game and has a 2.86 kills per game average. Linda Crum is in her fourth season at ISU and has a record of 19-91. Iowa State leads the all-time series with MU 26-25, but the Tigers have won the last 11 meetings.

MISSOURI v. IOWA STATE- PART 1
The No. 21 ranked Tiger volleyball squad picked up its twelfth straight win on Oct. 2, by defeating Iowa State 3-0 (30-17, 30-26, 30-19) in Columbia. MU won behind a balanced attack as three Tigers reached double digits in kills. Shen Danru led with 12, followed by Christi Myers and Mary Lauren Smith, who each had 10. Lisa Boyd, who was making only her second appearance of the year after being sidelined by an injury had nine kills. Danru had her second consecutive 18-dig match, which is her career high. Lindsey Hunter, continued to lead the nation in assists per game as she had 43 assists on the night. The Tiger senior class tied the record for most wins by a class with the win over ISU, tying last year's class that finished 68-58. The win extended MU's win streak over Iowa State to 11 and was the ninth straight three-game sweep for Mizzou.

LAST TIME OUT- MISSOURI 3, COLORADO 1
The No. 24 Missouri Tigers snapped their two-match losing streak by defeating Colorado, 3-1 on Wednesday in the Hearnes Center. After dropping the first game to the Buffaloes 30-25, the Tigers rolled to wins in the next three games by scores of 30-18, 30-23, 30-16. Christi Myers led Mizzou with 22 kills, tying a career high. It was the second straight match in which Myers has had at least 20 kills, after she recorded 20 against Texas A&M last Saturday. She finished with a .588 hitting percentage and two aces. In addition to Myers' two aces, Juliana Godoi had three and Lindsey Hunter and Shen Danru each had two. As a team, MU finished with 11 service aces against Colorado. Mary Lauren Smith had 17 kills and Danru added 13. Danru also had 10 digs for her 16th double-double of the season. Hunter added a career-high seven kills for a .778 hitting percentage, another career high. She also totaled 61 assists and had 13 digs for her sixth double-double of the year. Four Tigers reached double digits in digs. Along with Hunter's 13 and Danru's 10, Sara Parks and Chrissy Elder each recorded 11. Smith led MU with five block assists, followed by Lindsey Noll with four. The Tigers have won four of the last six meetings with the Buffaloes and with Wednesday's win, sweep the season series with CU for the first time in school history. The victory was the 21st of the season for MU, marking only the second time in the last ten years that Missouri has won more than 20 matches in a season.

TWENTY SOMETHING
Missouri's win over Oklahoma on Nov. 2 was its 20th victory of the year, marking the third consecutive season the Tigers have recorded 20 wins. The last time MU had three straight 20-win seasons came back in 1981-83. Mizzou is currently 21-6 on the year with five 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 19-0 when it has a better hitting percentage than its opponents and is 18-2 when it has more aces than the opposition. The Tigers are 18-3 when they have more kills then their opponents, 19-2 when they have more assists and 16-1 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 on Nov. 2. 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 0.52 aces per game average and leads the Big 12 Conference in that category.

PULLING RANK
The Missouri Tiger volleyball team is ranked No. 24 in the latest USA Today/AVCA Top 25 poll released on Monday. Mizzou is 21-6 on the season and 10-5 in the Big 12 Conference. Mizzou's highest ever ranking was in 1982 when the Tigers reached the No. 18 spot. This week marks the seventh straight week, MU has appeared in the polls. Missouri made its first appearance on Sept. 30 at No. 21. Two other Big 12 teams join Mizzou in the Top 25. Nebraska is No. 5 and Kansas State moves up to No. 20. Texas A&M and Texas also received votes this week. The Tigers are 4-2 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 Tigers have suffered losses to No. 5 Nebraska and No. 25 Kansas State.

MAKE IT QUICK
Of Missouri's 21 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 1,896 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 1,730 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 1,549 assists, passing Heather Gerber's 1,493 assists in 1998. Also, Hunter's 14.21 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 60 aces, which would put her second on the all-time season best, just one shy of the record.

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. She leads the Tigers in double-doubles on the year with 16. 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 leads the conference in aces averaging 0.52 aces per game and is fourth in the Big 12 Conference in kills per game with a 4.04 average. Danru, who was named the Preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, has a .225 hitting percentage on the season and is averaging 3.11 digs per game.

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 .315 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 1,358 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. On Wednesday, Myers went over 3,000 career attacks and currently has 3,015 for her career. Myers is also the all-time leader in block assists with 350. She is second in total blocks (436), third in solo blocks (86) third in blocks per game (1.10), and third in kills per game (3.43). 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 third in the Big 12 Conference in hitting percentage with a .373 percentage for the year.

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 75-53 at Mizzou. Previously, the most wins belonged to last year's senior class which finished 68-58.

HUNTER LENDS ASSISTANCE
Freshman Lindsey Hunter is currently second in the nation in assists per game. Her average of 14.21 is also leading the Big 12 Conference. Hunter set a new career high at Colorado with 63 assists. The 63 assists is the fifth 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 13.08 assists per game average.

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. This week, Morris was named to the Verizon Academic All-District Second Team. Last year she was a first team selection and two years ago she was named to the Second Team. 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 behind teammate Christi Myers on the kills per game list with an average of 3.55 She is also in third place with 2,978 career attacks.

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. native, 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 3.71 per game average on the year and has a hitting percentage of .276. Additionally, she has recorded 48 total blocks for the season.

DOUBLE TROUBLE TIMES THREE
Three Tigers have recorded double-doubles this season, led by Shen Danru who has 16. Her best outing came against Oklahoma 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 six double-doubles this season, with her best outings coming against Colorado (61 assists and 13 digs) Texas A&M (57 assists and 15 digs) and Oregon State (59 assists and 12 digs).

KREKLOW TOPS THE CHARTS
Missouri Head Coach Susan Kreklow is the winningest active coach among Division I volleyball coaches. Kreklow's winning percentage of .825 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 521 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 574-134.

ON TAP
Following Wednesday's match with Colorado, the Tigers have four matches remaining on their regular season schedule. The Tigers will then return home next Wednesday to face Baylor at 7 p.m. in the Hearnes Center.