Oct. 10, 2003

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After back-to-back road matches, Mizzou returns to the Hearnes Center on Saturday to take on Texas ... the Tigers are coming off a 2-3 defeat to Kansas State on Wednesday in Manhattan. Kan. ... MU is 12-4 on the year and 5-2 in the Big 12 Conference ... Texas brings a 9-6 overall record and a 4-2 Big 12 mark into Saturday's match ... Mizzou currently holds a six-match winning streak over the Longhorns and has not lost to UT since Susan and Wayne Kreklow took over at Missouri ... the Tigers are just over halfway through their 2003 schedule ... they continue to lead the Big 12 Conference in hitting percentage and aces ... Jessica Vander Kooi is coming off a career night against KSU where she had 21 kills and 11 digs.

Scouting the Longhorns
Texas brings a 9-6 record into Saturday's match and is 4-2 in the Big 12 Conference. The Longhorns are coming off a four-game victory over Baylor on Wednesday. Of the six losses, four have come against ranked opponents. Mira Topic leads UT's attack. She is second in the Big 12 Conference with a 4.48 kills per game average and has a .268 hitting percentage. Bethany Howden is fourth in the Big 12 with an average of 4.29 kills per game. Erin Larson leads the team with a 3.40 digs per game average. Brandy Magee is third in the conference with a .354 hitting percentage and her 1.21 blocks per game mark is fifth in the Big 12. Jerritt Elliot is in his third year as the Texas head coach, compiling a 49-29 record. Last year Texas advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Five starters from that squad return this season.

The MU-UT Series
After Texas won the first eight meeting in the series, Missouri has responded by winning the last six. MU has won all six contests since Susan and Wayne Kreklow arrived at Mizzou. The last win for the Longhorns in the series came in November of 1999. Last year, the Tigers defeated UT in four games in Austin before winning a five-game thriller in front of a record crowd at the Hearnes Center.

A Look Back
MANHATTAN, Kan.-- Despite a strong effort by the Mizzou volleyball team, it could not end its losing streak to Kansas State, as the Wildcats downed MU 3-2 (30-23, 28-30, 30-28, 28-30, 15-10) on Wednesday. The Tigers have now lost six in a row to KSU and have not won in Manhattan in their last 10 visits. KSU won the battle at the net in game one, leading it to the opening-game victory. The Wildcats out-hit Mizzou .438 to .158 and out-blocked the Tigers 5.0 to 1.0. In game two, Mizzou led by as many as nine at 21-12. However Kansas State then went on a 12-3 run to tie the score at 24, before the Tigers were able to finish with a 6-4 run to tie the match at one game a piece. In game three, Missouri again built an early lead at 10-4, including five straight points behind the serve of Shen Danru. But as the did in game two, the Wildcats began to cut into the MU lead. A 7-1 rally cut the Tiger lead to one and another push late in the game gave Kansas State the lead at 28-27. KSU held onto the lead for the game-three win. Kansas State built a lead in the fourth game after scoring 10 straight points midway through the game to lead 17-10. Missouri then started its comeback, taking the lead on the heels of a 14-5 run. Mizzou then went on to the win to force a fifth game. The deciding game was won by KSU after it built an early lead in the game and held on for the 15-10 win for the match victory. Jessica Vander Kooi led MU with a career-high 21 kills along with 11 digs for her second double-double of the year. Juliana Godoi had a season-best 18 digs to lead the Tiger defense along with Sara Parks who added 10 digs. Nicole Wilson had a career-high in both solo blocks (2) and block assists (9).

Up Next
Missouri will travel to Lincoln, Neb. on Wednesday to face Nebraska at 8 p.m. The Tigers have next weekend off before hosting Colorado at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 22 in the Hearnes Center.