Mizzou Continues Tournament Play
9/10/2003 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 10, 2003
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Mizzou concludes its three tournament stretch to open the season with this weekend's Marquette Challenge. The Tigers went 3-0 to win the Quality Inn Tiger Invitational to open the year, then went 2-1 at last weekend's Utah Classic. Lindsey Hunter and Shen Danru each earned All-Tournament Team honors in Utah. This weekend, MU will matchup with Bradley, Ohio and Marquette in Milwaukee. Missouri is 12-3 all-time against the other three teams in this weekend's tournament. The latest USA Today/AVCA Top 25 has Missouri ranked No. 23, down from last week when the Tigers were No. 18. MU has been ranked in 14 consecutive polls dating back to last September.
Aces Wild
Missouri tied a Utah Classic tournament record last Friday, by recording 12 service aces and it held Utah Valley State to just one ace. 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 3.16 per game, nearly one ace ahead of second place Nebraska. Danru and Hunter hold the top spots in the Big 12 in aces per game with 0.89 and 0.74 aces per game averages, respectively.
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 both of the Tigers 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 averaged 11.56 assists per game at last weekend's Utah Classic to earn the All-Tournament spot.
Pulling Rank
Following its lost to Utah last weekend, Mizzou dropped to No. 23 in the USA Today/AVCA Top 25. Mizzou has now been ranked in 14 straight polls.
Last week, MU was ranked No. 18 which is the highest ever for Mizzou. The previous high was No. 19 which it reached twice during the 2002 season.
The Tigers were ranked in the preseason Top 25 for the first time in school history this season, coming in at No. 21.
Two other Big 12 Conference schools are in the poll. Nebraska is No. 5 and Kansas State is No. 12. Texas A&M was among those who received votes in this weeks' poll.
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 last weekend's 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 two weeks of the season.
Shen-anigans
Shen Danru has picked up where she left off last season. Danru has been named to the All-Tournament team in both the Quality Inn Tiger Invitational and the Utah Classic. She leads the Tigers in kills per game (4.16), digs per game (3.53) and aces per game (0.89). It did not take long for Shen Danru to make an impact for the Tigers last year as she led the Tigers 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 .402 hitting percentage. She has hit at least .330 in five of Missouri's 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 2.47 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 530 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 584-137.
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.
