Sept. 9, 2004

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The Tigers open up their 2004 home schedule with the 3rd Annual Quality Inn Tiger Invitational this weekend. Nine matches will be played over the two days of the tournament with Mizzou playing at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday, opening against Creighton at 2 p.m. on Friday. Missouri has won the Tiger Invitational in each of the two previous seasons. Last weekend, the Tigers opened up the season by spliting two matches at the Badger Challenge in Madison, Wis. Mizzou defeated No. 23 Wisconsin 3-1 on Friday on the Badgers home court, before falling to Purdue on Saturday by a 3-1 score. Heading into the weekend, Missouri Head Coach Susan Kreklow has a career record of 599-148 and will have the chance to pick up win number 600 during the Tiger Invitational. Following this weekend, the Tigers will jump right into Big 12 Conference play as they travel to Lincoln, Neb., to face Nebraska next Wednesday.

SCOUTING CREIGHTON
Creighton enters the Tiger Invitational with a 3-1 record after playing in the Lobo Invitational in Albuquerque, N. M. last weekend and defeated North Dakota on Wednesday. The Blue Jays defeated Montana 3-2 to open the year by winning the last thee games of the match to comeback from a 0-2 deficit. They then lost to Northern Colorado in four games before taking a three-game sweep over New Mexico. On Wednesday, CU defeated North Dakota 3-0 to move to 3-1 on the season. Ashley Williams leads Creighton with a .325 hitting percentage and 1.27 blocks per game. She also averages 2.87 kills per game, which is second best on the team. Carolyn Decker has a team-high 3.31 kills per game mark and is hitting .232 after the first weekend of play.

SCOUTING ARKANSAS ST.
Arkansas State brings a perfect 5-0 record into the Tiger Invitational. The Lady Indians defeated Louisiana Tech, Jackson State, Stephen F. Austin and Austin Peay at the ASU/American State Bank Classic. All of the ASU wins were three-game sweeps except for its win over Stephen F. Austin, which was a five-game match. On Tuesday, Arkansas State defeated Southeast Missouri State for its fifth win of the year. Giedre Tarnauskaite leads Arkansas State with a 3.75 kills per game average. She also averages 3.25 digs per game. Phillipa Soulsby leads the team with a .389 hitting percentage. Four Lady Indians are averaging over 3.00 digs per game led by Tessa Millikan's 4.41 average.

SCOUTING MISSISSIPPI ST.
Mississippi State went 3-1 at the Hibernia Bank Classic in Lafayette, La. last weekend to open the season. Cooper Rachel is averaging 3.86 kills per game followed by Jami Hester's 3.23 kills per game mark. Hester also leads MSU with a 2.46 digs per game average. Erin Seago has a team best .386 hitting percentage followed by Christina Fulenwider, who has a .250 mark and is averaging 1.07 blocks per game.

SCOUTING IDAHO
The Idaho Vandals are undefeated, going 3-0 at the University of Pittsburgh Tournament. The three victories were three-game sweeps over Portland, Pittsburgh and Howard. Two Idaho players are averaging over 4.00 kills per game. Sarah Meek has a 4.56 kills per game average and is hitting .395. Kati Tikker has a 4.11 kills per game average. Mandy Becker has a 13.67 assists per game mark after the first weekend of the season. Megan Brown leads Idaho with a 4.67 digs per game mark, followed by Brooke Haeberle has a 3.44 digs per game average.

SERIES RECORDS
Missouri is 0-1 all-time against Arkansas State, losing the lone meeting between the two in 1988. MU and Idaho have split the two previous meetings, with the Tigers taking the last matchup, a 3-0 win in 2002. This weekend will be the first time Mizzou has ever faced Creighton and Mississippi State.

LAST TIME OUT
Mizzou opened the season with a split of its two matches at the Badger Challenge in Madison, Wis. The Tigers opened with a 3-1 win over No. 23 Wisconsin on the Badgers' home court on Friday. After spliting the first two games, MU won the third by a 37-35 score and used the momentum from that win to help take a 30-13 win in game four. The win was the 599th career win for Mizzou Head Coach Susan Kreklow, moving closer to another milestone, as she needs just one more victory to reach 600 wins. On Saturday, MU fell to Purdue in a five-game battle. The teams split the first two games and MU took the match lead with a win in game three, but dropped the last two games of the match to fall to the Boilermakers.

HONOR ROLL
Mizzou's Lindsey Hunter and Jessica Vander Kooi were named to the All-Tournament team at last weekend's Badger Challenge in Madison, Wis. Hunter had 54 assists in the Tigers' win over Wisconsin in the opener and recorded 61 assists against Purdue on Saturday. Vander Kooi had 18 digs and had a .412 hitting percentage against Wisconsin and followed that with 20 kills and 22 digs against Purdue.

FRESHMEN ORIENTATION
A pair of Tigers got their first collegiate action for MU at last weekend's Badger Challenge. Freshmen Na Yang and Tatum Ailes started both matches last weekend and turned in impressive performances. Yang recorded double-doubles in both matches. She had 14 kills and 14 digs against Wisconsin on Friday and followed that with 17 kills and 19 digs on Saturday against Purdue. Ailes averaged 4.44 digs per game in the two matches. She led MU with 18 digs in the season opener, then had 22 digs to tie for the team lead against Purdue.

THE 600 CLUB
After the first weekend of the 2004 season, MU Head Coach Susan Kreklow needs just one more win to reach 600-career victories as a head coach. Heading into the Tiger Invitational, Kreklow has a career record of 599-148, which includes 10 season as head coach of the Columbia College women's team, three years with the Columbia College men's team and five season at Mizzou.

FOR OPENERS
With its win over Wisconsin last Friday night, Mizzou improved to 18-10-1 all-time in season openers since 1976. The Tigers have won their last six opening games of the year and seven of their last eight. Susan and Wayne Kreklow are a perfect 5-0 in season openers at MU.