Nov. 26, 2002

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No. 19 Missouri will host No. 5 Nebraska on Wednesday in the Hearnes Center. The Tigers are 24-6 on the year and 13-5 in the Big 12 Conference. This season marks only the second time since 1983 that MU has won at least 24 matches in a year. Mizzou has won its last four matches including a 3-2 victory over Kansas last Saturday. The Tigers will be taking on its eighth ranked opponent in Nebraska. MU is 5-2 against ranked teams this season. Nebraska enters the match 26-1 and 18-0 in the Big 12. The Cornhuskers have not lost to a Big 12 opponent in 68 regular season matches and have not lost to Missouri since 1982. The Huskers have already wrapped up the Big 12 Conference title, its sixth Big 12 title in the seven years of the league.

SCOUTING THE CORNHUSKERS
Nebraska enters Wednesday's match ranked No. 5 in the nation with a 26-1 record and an 18-0 Big 12 Conference mark. The Cornhuskers clinched the Big 12 title with its 3-0 win over Baylor last Saturday. The conference title is the sixth crown for NU in the seven seasons of the Big 12. The Cornhuskers have won 68 consecutive regular season conference matches. Senior Amber Holmquist was named the Big 12 Player of the Week and the AVCA/Sports Imports National Player of the Week her efforts last week. Holmquists averaged 2.17 blocks per game, 5.17 kills per game and had a hitting percentage of .622. Holmquists leads Nebraska in blocks per game (2.05) and is second in kills per game (3.46). Laura Pilakowski is the team leader in kills per game (3.78) and Greichaly Cepero leads in assists with a 12.44 assists per game average.

MISSOURI v. NEBRASKA- PART 1
The No. 23 ranked Missouri volleyball team had the tough task of taking on the No. 5 ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers with a depleted lineup on Wednesday in Lincoln, Neb. Mizzou battled hard, but NU proved to be too much for Missouri, as the Cornhuskers took the 3-0 win. Despite being without four of its players, including three starters, Missouri battled the Cornhuskers throughout the match. The lead switched hands several times in the early goings of game one, with MU building a 12-9 lead. The teams were tied at 18, before Nebraska finished on a 12-7 run to take the opening game 30-25. In game two, Mizzou again jumped out to an early advantage, leading 5-3 and forcing the Huskers to use a timeout. Nebraska rebounded and went on to take a 2-0 lead in the match by winning game two 30-20. The Tigers once again kept it close in game three, but Nebraska came away with the 30-22 win and the 3-0 match victory. Three Tigers originally from the state of Nebraska made return visits to their home state. Lindsey Hunter (Papillion, Neb.) had 28 assists for the Tigers, Sara Parks (Papillion, Neb.) led MU in digs with 13 and Jenny Duitsman (Lincoln , Neb.) had a team high .583 hitting percentage. Mizzou was without four key players on Wednesday night due to injuries. Seniors Christi Myers (shins), Lisa Morris (abdomen) and Katherine Wingert (appendix) and junior Mary Lauren Smith (illness) were unable to play against Nebraska. Due to the injuries, the MU starting lineup consisted of a true freshman and three redshirt freshman.

SELECTION SUNDAY
The Tigers will find out their postseason fate on Sunday as the selections are announced for this season's NCAA Tournament. Mizzou will be looking to make its third consecutive trip to the tournament. The selections will be announced at 8 p.m. on Sunday on ESPN News.

LAST TIME OUT- MISSOURI 3, KANSAS 2
LAWRENCE, Kan.-- The latest edition of the Missouri and Kansas Border War Series was nothing short of a war. The Tigers came away with the victory in the five-game battle 22-30, 30-25, 31-29, 23-30, 15-12. Christi Myers led Mizzou with a career-high 26 kills and a hitting percentage of .449 . Myers has reached the 20-kill mark in four of the Tigers last five matches. She also tied a career-high with five solo blocks against the Jayhawks. Shen Danru recorded her 18th double-double of the season, finishing with 15 kills and 13 digs. Lindsey Hunter had 62 assists and 11 digs to pick up her eight double-double of the year. With the 62 assists, Hunter needs only 20 more to set a new Mizzou season record for assists in a season. Juliana Godoi set a career-high in digs on Saturday with 22 for MU. Sara Parks added 16 digs and Chrissy Elder had 13, a career-high for her. With Saturday's win, MU has still not loss a five-game match this season, improving to 4-0. Missouri improves to 24-6 on the season and reaches the 24-win mark for only the second time since 1983. The Tigers have now won six of the last seven meeting with KU, including both matches this year.

PULLING RANK
The Missouri Tiger volleyball team is ranked No. 19 in the latest USA Today/AVCA Top 25 poll released on Monday. Mizzou is 24-6 on the season and 13-5 in the Big 12 Conference. Mizzou's highest ever ranking was in 1982 when the Tigers reached the No. 18 spot. This week is the second time this year that Missouri has climbed into the Top 20. It was No. 19 in the Oct. 21 poll also. This week marks the eighth 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. 22. Texas also received votes this week. The Tigers are 5-2 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.

THREE NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-BIG 12
Seniors Lisa Morris and Katherine Wingert and redshirt freshman Shen Danru have been named to the Academic All-Big 12 First Team. It is the fourth first-team honor for Morris and the first selection for Wingert and Danru. Morris has been named to the Academic All-Big 12 First Team in each of her four season as Mizzou. Wingert has received the 4.0 GPA award her six previous semesters and is a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars. Danru earns her first Academic All-Big 12 honor as a redshirt freshman. She was named the Preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and earned Big 12 Player of the Week honors on Sept. 9.

DOUBLE TROUBLE TIMES THREE
Three Tigers have recorded double-doubles this season, led by Shen Danru who has 18. Danru leads the Tigers in both kills and digs on the year. Her best outings came against Oklahoma when she recorded a career-high 21 kills and added 15 digs. She also had strong showing against Alabama (18 kills and 16 digs), Texas A&M (16 kills and 18 digs) and Kansas State (17 kills and 16 digs). Lindsey Hunter has recorded eight double-doubles this season including four outings in which she has reached the 60-assist mark. She had back-to-back 61-assist matches and back-to-back double-doubles in MU's two wins against Colorado and Iowa State. She recorded 62 against Kansas last Saturday. Christi Myers has had four double-doubles with her best matches coming against Idaho when she had 19 kills and 16 digs and Texas A&M where she had 20 kills and 15 digs.

MY OH MYERS
Christi Myers set a career-high with 26 kills against Kansas last Saturday. It was the fourth time in MU's last five matches that she has recorded at least 20 kills. In Mizzou's two matches last week, Myers averaged 5.12 kills per game and had a hitting percentage of .507 for the two matches. Myers' name has quickly been moving up several lists in the Missouri record books. She has taken over first-place on the career hitting percentage charts and is widening her lead. She currently holds a .320 career hitting percentage, well past the old record of .308. Earlier this season, Myers moved into second on the Mizzou kills list and went over 1,400 kills for her career against Kansas last week. She now has 1,420 kills. Myers needs 59 kills to catch Yvette Buhlig, who is in first place with 1,478 kills in her four years as a Tiger. Two weeks ago, Myers went over 3,000 career attacks and currently has 3,131 for her career. Myers is also the all-time leader in block assists with 355. She is second in total blocks (446), third in solo blocks, (91).

RECORDS ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN
The 2002 Tigers are on pace to set several team and individual season records. Mizzou needs just 54 more kills to pass last years team that finished with 1,850 kills. At its current pace, MU would finish with 1,916 kills for the season Also, at the current rate, Missouri would finish the season with 1,747 assists. MU needs only 14 more assists to pass last year's squad, which totaled 1,652. Individual records that are in jeopardy include the single season assists mark. Lindsey Hunter needs 20 more assists this season to pass Heather Gerber for most assists in a season by a Tiger player. Hunter is on pace to finish with 1,573 assists, passing Gerber's 1,493 assists in 1998. Also, Hunter's 14.04 assists per game average would set a new record, overtaking the current record of 13.23 set by Gerber. Shen Danru needs just five more service aces to set the record for most aces in a season, which is 61 set by Yvette Buhlig in 1990. Christi Myers currently has a hitting percentage of .389 on the year. The record at Mizzou is held by Buhlig, who hit .368 in 1992. Myers is second on that list with a .363 mark in 2000.

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 77-53 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 14.04 is also leading the Big 12 Conference. Hunter needs just 20 more assists to break the record for most assists in a season by a MU player. She has recorded eight double-doubles this season and had 62 against Kansas last Saturday, one off her career high. She had back-to-back 61-assist matches in MU's victories over Colorado and Iowa State. Hunter set a new career high at Colorado with 63 assists, which is the fifth 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 over Laura Grote of Texas Tech, who has a 13.19 assists per game average.

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 a perfect 20-0 when it has a better hitting percentage than its opponents, 17-1 when they out-dig the opponent and 20-2 when it has more aces than the opposition. The Tigers are 22-2 when they have more assists and 21-3 when they have more kills then their opponents. 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.

KREKLOW TOPS THE CHARTS
Missouri Head Coach Susan Kreklow is the winningest active coach among Division I volleyball coaches. Kreklow's winning percentage of .826 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 523 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 577-134.

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 24-6 on the year with two matches left in the regular season. Last season the Tigers finished 20-11 and the year before they were 24-7.

SHEN-ANIGANS
Shen Danru is currently second in the Big 12 Conference in aces, averaging 0.52 aces per game and is fifth in the Big 12 in kills per game with a 3.88 average. Danru has 56 aces on the season and needs just six to break the record for most aces in a season. She leads the Tigers in double-doubles on the year with 18. 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. Danru, who was named the Preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, is averaging 3.04 digs per game. She 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.