Volleyball Feature-- Lisa Morris
11/22/2002 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 22, 2002
By John Pizzitola
Media Relations Student Assistant
The Missouri women's volleyball team may be a player short on the court, but despite her career-ending injury, senior Lisa Morris works just as hard from the sidelines to help her team.
Morris' career at Mizzou has been plagued by injury. In 1999, Morris made it through her first season healthy and was named to the academic All-Big 12 first-team. Morris' sophomore year was her breakout season as she became the first Tiger to be named first-team All-Big 12 in 2000. She was also named to the academic All-Big 12 first-team for the second straight year.
By her junior season, injury began to catch up with Morris as her season was cut short by a blood clot in her right shoulder. Despite the injury, Morris was once again named to the academic All-Big 12 first-team for the third consecutive year.
Morris' senior year was also interrupted by injury early on when she was forced to sit out due to a strained abdomen. Ultimately her year and career ended when she tore her anterior cruciate ligament on Oct. 26 against Texas. Before the season-ending blow, Morris was averaging 3.43 kills per game and had a hitting percentage of .267.
As one of three seniors on the team, Morris has been looked upon as a leader for the Tigers, both on and off the court. But now as she is forced to lead the team from the sidelines, Morris has taken on a new style of leadership for the team.
"I think I've had to approach it (leading) differently," Morris said. "I'm limited since I can't be on the court. So I have to focus for every match on what I can do to help each of these players that get to play, play better."
Academic success and excellence on the volleyball court have always been strong characteristics of Morris. Along with being a three-time academic All-Big 12 selection, Morris was recently named to the 2002 Verizon Academic All-District second team. It is also the third time she has been named to the Academic All-District team.
Morris currently ranks in the top five in three categories of the Mizzou record books. With 1,076 career kills, she is in fifth-place in MU history. She is also in second-place in kills per game with a career average of 3.55 and is third in career attacks with 2,987.
All the awards she has received and records that she has set are nice to have, but Morris says that they are just by-products of her hard work and determination.
"It's pretty exciting," Morris said. "I'm not really worried about the academic honors or all the individual stuff. I work hard in school, but I don't work hard so I can be on those all-academic teams. It's just kind of a nice honor that goes along with it."
On Oct. 18, Missouri took on the Jayhawks from Kansas. To most Missouri fans and players, this rivalry is one of despise for the Jayhawks, but for Morris it's a family get together of sorts. Morris' younger sister, Lindsey, plays outside hitter for Kansas, and when MU and KU met at the Hearnes Center, the Morris sisters were able to battle each other, as they were frequently on the court at the same time.
"Actually it's kind of funny," said Morris. "When I was on the bench, I'd see my sister go in and I'd see her do something good and I'd say, 'Oh, that was a great shot.' My teammates would have to remind me that, 'hey, tonight she's the enemy.' We are very supportive of each other so it wasn't like 'I hope she plays poorly,' or 'I hope her team doesn't do well.'"
Having last season cut short by injury has made this season's injury easier for Morris to cope with.
"I think in some ways it has made this easier to deal with," Morris said. "Several times I have gone through the whole thought process of 'Oh, I'm done. I can't play anymore so how am I going to still contribute?' It's kind of like I already knew what it was I needed to do now that my role has changed.
"Having been through it before made it easier. But, the fact that I worked so hard to get this season back that I almost didn't have at all, and to just have it cut short again is tough."
Morris' coaches and teammates have been able to help her through the tough times of suffering a career ending injury, and have been able to show her that, though she may be injured, she is still a critical part of the team.
"My teammates have done a really good job making sure I still feel like a part of the team," Morris said. "They always want me in the huddle. During the matches when I have something to say, everyone listens. They understand that I'm just trying to help and that I'm not trying to be an extra coach or overstep any boundaries. I'm just trying to be there and help in any way I can, and they are very receptive to that."
