Sept. 16, 2003
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Missouri took part in its third and final tournament to open the season last weekend at the Marquette Challenge...MU was 2-1 in the tournament, falling to Ohio, 3-1, before defeating Bradley and Marquette, each in three-game sweeps...the Tigers fell out of the USA Today/AVCA Top 25 this week for the first time this season...the last time Mizzou was not ranked was just over a year ago on Sept. 13, 2002...this week marks the opening of the Big 12 Conference portion of the schedule...Missouri finished third in the Big 12 last season with a 14-6 record...MU opens Big 12 play against Baylor...last year Mizzou had two 3-0 wins over the Bears...Susan Kreklow is 4-2 in her previous six matchups with BU.
Scouting Baylor
Baylor is 6-5 on the season and won the Jacksonville Classic last weekend. The Bears defeated Florida International (3-1) and Jacksonville (3-0), but fell to Wyoming (3-1) in Jacksonville. Tisha Schwartz leads BU with a 4.64 kills per game average. She also has a team-leading 2.45 digs per game mark. Desiree Guilliard-Young is hitting .371 and has a 1.17 blocks per game average. Five starters return from last years' squad that finished 9-21 overall and 2-18 in the Big 12. Mizzou swept the season series against the Bears last year, picking up three-game sweeps in both matchups. After winning just one of the first seven meetings with Baylor, MU has won five of the last seven meetings. Brian Hosfeld is in his eighth season at Baylor and has compiled a 124-115 record.
A Look Back
The Tigers finished 2-1 in their third and final fall tournament of the 2003 season. MU fell to Ohio before defeating Bradley and Marquette at the Marquette Challenge in Milwaukee, Wisc.
Ohio opened the tournament by defeating Mizzou 3-1 (31-29, 30-26, 28-30, 30-25), handing the Tigers their second straight loss. The Bobcats claimed the win despite being out-hit by Missouri. Shen Danru hit .389 and had her third double-double of the year with 18 kills and 17 digs. Lisa Boyd had 11 kills and a .318 hitting percentage and freshman Nicole Wilson hit .375 with nine kills.
MU got back on the winning track on day two of the tournament with three-game sweeps in each of its two matches. The Tigers downed Bradley 30-18, 30-16, 30-22 led by Danru who had 10 kills and a .474 hitting percentage. Missouri had five players hit better than .400 including Jenny Duitsman (.750), Lindsey Hunter (.600), Jessica Vander Kooi (.500) and Lindsey Noll (.429). The Tigers hit a season-high .446 as a team.
Mizzou closed out the tournament with a 30-22, 30-25, 30-26 win over Marquette. Mary Lauren Smith had 15 kills and a .379 hitting percentage, while Noll added 12 kills and hit .550. Noll also added two solo blocks and a block assists. Lindsey Hunter had 37 assists and added four service aces against the Golden Eagles.
Danru and Smith were named to the Marquette Challenge All-Tournament Team. The selection was the third All-Tournament Team selection for Danru this season and second for Smith.
Pulling Rank
Missouri fell out of the USA Today/AVCA Coaches Top 25 for the first time in just over one year. The Tigers received 50 points in the latest poll.
The Tigers opened the year at No. 21 and had climbed to as high as No. 18 two weeks ago.
This week marks the first time since Sept. 13, 2002 that MU was not included in the top 25.
Each of the two teams to defeat Missouri this season are also receiving votes in the poll. Utah revieved 38 points and Ohio picked up nine.
Two Big 12 teams are ranked with Nebraska at No. 8 and Kansas at No. 10. Texas A&M is among those receiving votes.
Aces Wild
Missouri tied a Utah Classic tournament record on Sept. 5 by recording 12 service aces, while holding Utah Valley State to just one. Jessica Vander Kooi led Mizzou with five aces in the match. The Tigers tied a school record for service aces in a three-game match with 17 in their season-opening match against Montana State. Lindsey Hunter led Mizzou with seven, followed by Shen Danru with six. Hunter and Danru each set career highs with their performances. Montana State, on the other hand, did not record a single ace in the match. MU leads the Big 12 Conference in aces with an average of 2.93 per game, nearly one ace ahead of second place Nebraska. Danru and Hunter each are averaging 0.76 aces per game to lead Mizzou.
Record Setter
Lindsey Hunter became the single season record holder for assists at Mizzou last season by recording 1,690 as a freshman. Hunter led the Big 12 Conference and was second in the nation with a 14.08 assists per game average. She was an honorable mention selection to both the All-Central Region team and the All-Big 12 Conference team. Hunter had at least 25 assists in every match in which she started. She recorded a then-career-high 64 assists against Northwestern in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but topped that mark with 69 assists against Northern Iowa in round two. She was second on the team in double-doubles last year and averaged 2.18 digs per game. Hunter has been named to the All-Tournament team in the first two of the tournaments this season. In the season opening Quality Inn Tiger Invitational, she was named the tournament MVP after averaging 13.00 assists per game. She then averaged 11.56 assists per game at the Utah Classic to earn an All-Tournament spot.
Freshman Orientation
Freshman Jessica Vander Kooi has made an immediate impact for Mizzou. She made her first collegiate appearance in the season opener and has started every match for MU this year. In the Tiger Invitational, Vander Kooi averaged 2.30 kills per game and hit .340 in the three matches. She also averaged 2.30 digs per game. In the Tigers' first match at the Utah Classic, Vander Kooi led MU in aces (5), digs (10) and blocks (4). Two other freshman, Nicole Wilson and Abbie Booth, have seen their first playing time at Mizzou in the first three weeks of the season. Wilson is averaging 2.20 kills per game and is hitting .329 in 15 games played. She also averages 0.80 blocks per game.
Shen-anigans
Shen Danru has picked up where she left off last season. Danru was been named to the All-Tournament team in all three of Missouri's fall tournaments to open the year. She leads the Tigers in kills per game (3.97), digs per game (3.62) and aces per game (0.76). It did not take long for Shen Danru to make an impact for the Tigers last year as she led the team in kills, attacks, aces, aces per game, digs and digs per game. She set a new Missouri record with 64 service aces on the year, breaking the old record of 61. She also led Mizzou in double-doubles with 21 on the season. Danru set a career high in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, by recording 23 kills in MU's win over Northwestern. She matched that career high in MU's second round matchup against Northern Iowa. Danru was an All-Big 12 Conference honorable mention selection.
A Bit About Boyd
Lisa Boyd had started every match for Mizzou this season and leads the Tigers with a .348 hitting percentage. She hit at least .330 in five of Missouri's first six matches this year. She had a season and career-high .667 mark against Toledo in the Tiger Invitational. She hit .375 in the three matches at the Utah Classic and has a career-high 12 kills to lead the team against Utah Valley State. She had 10 kills and a .429 hitting percentage against Utah in the final match of the tournament. For the season, Boyd has a 2.30 kills per game average. She missed much of last season with injuries, playing in just 18 matches.
The Krek-Low Down
Missouri Head Coach Susan Kreklow is the winningest active coach among Division I women's volleyball coaches. Her winning percentage of .810 is the best among active coaches with at least five years of coaching experience. Kreklow is also second in total wins among active coaches with 532 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 are added in, she has a combined record of 586-138.
Chart Climbers
Several Mizzou volleyball career records were broken last season and more records could fall this year. Lindsey Hunter is fourth on the all-time career assists charts after just one season with the Tigers. Her 1,690 assists last year is the best season mark in Tiger history. Hunter also holds the career record for assists per game with a 14.01 average. Shen Danru is the current record holder in career kills per game average with a 3.91 mark and Mary Lauren Smith is fifth in that category with a 3.15 average.
Up Next
Mizzou opens up the home conference schedule on Saturday against Oklahoma. The match will begin approximately one hour after the end of the Missouri vs. Middle Tennessee State football game, which will start at 1 p.m.