Aug. 28, 2003

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Mizzou opens the 2003 season by hosting the 2nd Annual Quality Inn Tiger Invitational this weekend...Montana State, Toledo and Arkansas join MU in the tournament...Susan Kreklow begins her fourth season as the Tiger head coach and has led Missouri to three straight 20-win seasons and three NCAA Tournament appearances...the Tigers are the defending champion of the Tiger Invitational...Missouri opens the 2003 season ranked No. 21 in the USA Today/AVCA Top 25...the ranking is the first time in school history that MU has been in the preseason poll...last year the Tigers finished No. 20 in the final poll after going 26-8 on the year and advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Scouting Montana State
Missouri opens its season against Montana State out of the Big Sky Conference. The Bobcats were 21-10 last season and finished third in the Big Sky with a 10-4 conference mark. Miya Malauulu begins her first season as the head coach at MSU. Mizzou and Montana State have met once before, with the Tigers taking a 3-1 victory in September of 1982. One more note on MSU, the Bobcats Director of Athletics is former Missouri Associate Director of Athletics Peter Fields.

Scouting Toledo
Toledo will look to improve on its 11-19 record last year and its 3-15 record in the Mid-American Conference. The Rockets are led by Kent Miller who is in his seventh season on the UT bench. Miller has compiled a 64-113 record with Toledo. The meeting between the Tigers and Rockets on Saturday will be the first ever matchup between the two teams.

Scouting Arkansas
Arkansas is coming off a 27-6 record in 2002 and finished second in the Southeastern Conference with a 14-2 league record. The Razorback received 14 votes in the USA Today/AVCA Preseason poll. Chris Poole has compiled a record of 223-94 in nine seasons as the Arkansas head coach. He has an overall career record of 491-170 in 17 years of coaching. The Tigers and Razorbacks have met twice before with Arkansas taking victories in both matches.

A Look Back...
2002 was another year of first for Missouri as it recorded its first postseason win by defeating Northwestern in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers qualified for their third straight NCAA Tournament and compiled a 26-8 record. Mizzou was ranked in the top 25 for the final 11 weeks of the season. It climbed as high as No. 19 twice during the year and finished at No 20 in the final poll. Christi Myers became the first All-American in MU history as she was named to the third team. Myers and Lindsey Hunter were each named All-Central Region and Myers, Hunter, Mary Lauren Smith and Shen Danru were selected All-Big 12 Honorable Mention. Hunter set a school record with 1,690 assists on the year and finished second in the nation with a 14.08 assists per game average. Danru also set a school record by recording 64 service aces on the year. Smith led MU in the postseason, as she recorded at least 20 kills in each of the Tigers NCAA Tournament matches. Earlier in the year, Smith was named the AVCA/Sports Imports National Player of the Week and was featured in the "Faces in the Crowd" section of the Oct. 21 issue of Sports Illustrated after recording back-to-back 20-kill matches against ranked opponents. Along with Myers, MU lost two other seniors, Lisa Morris and Katherine Wingert.

...and A Look Ahead
Eight Tigers that were on the roster last season return to Missouri this year and all eight saw significant playing time in 2002. The Tigers, who enter the season ranked No. 21 in the nation, are looking to make their fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament. Seniors Mary Lauren Smith and Juliana Godoi will be leading the 2003 squad along with sophomores Shen Danru and Lindsey Hunter. Also returning are juniors Sara Parks and Jenny Duitsman and sophomores Lisa Boyd and Lindsey Noll. Six new faces have joined the Tigers as part of a very talented freshman class. Middle blockers Nicole Wilson, Melissa Allbery and Kijuana Sherrod along with outside hitter Jessica Vander Kooi are joined by defensive specialists Abbie Booth and Katie Patterson. As usual, Mizzou's schedule is loaded with strong competition. Following three early season tournament, MU will begin Big 12 Conference play against Baylor on Sept. 17.

Pulling Rank
Missouri opens the season ranked No. 21 in the USA Today/AVCA Preseason Top 25. It marks the first time in which MU has been ranked in the preseason poll. The Tigers finished the 2002 season ranked No. 21 after spending the final 11 weeks of the season in the top 25. They climbed as high as No. 19 twice in 2002, the highest ever ranking for a MU team. Three other Big 12 Conference teams are in the top 25. Nebraska is No. 7, Kansas State is No. 15 and Texas is No. 23. Texas A&M is receiving votes.

Up Next
The Tigers will travel for the first time in the 2003 season next weekend as they participate in the Utah Classic in Salt Lake City. Mizzou will face Utah Valley State, Washington State and Utah at the tournament.