Sept. 17, 2004

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Missouri returns to Columbia for its first Big 12 Conference home match of the season on Saturday at the Hearnes Center. The Tigers (4-3, 0-1 Big 12) will take on Baylor (6-4, 0-1) at 5 p.m. The all-time series between MU and Baylor is tied at eight wins each heading into this weekend's match. Mizzou has swept the season series the past two seasons, including two 3-1 victories last year. On Wednesday, the Tigers dropped their Big 12 opener to Nebraska in Lincoln. Baylor is also 0-1 in the Big 12 after falling to Texas in its first conference action of the year. Heading into the weekend, Missouri leads the Big 12 with 17.48 kills per game and 15.78 assists per game. Saturday's match is the first of four-straight home matches for the Tigers. On Tuesday, Southeast Missouri State will be in Columbia, followed by Kansas State next Saturday and Iowa State on Sept. 29.

SCOUTING BAYLOR
Baylor enters Saturday's match with a 6-4 record on the year. The Bears are 0-1 in the Big 12 Conference after losing their conference opener to Texas on Wednesday by a score of 3-0. After opening the year 1-3, Baylor had won five-straight matches before the loss to the Longhorns on Wednesday. Stella Odion averages 3.44 kills and 2.94 digs per game to lead the team in both categories. Nicole LeBlanc is second on the team in kills per game (3.37), digs per game (2.37) and hitting percentage (.307). Desiree Guilliard-Young leads the Bears with a .447 hitting percentage and has a 3.29 kills per game average. Three Baylor players average over 1.00 blocks per game led by Adeline Meira's 1.73 average. Guilliard-Young averages 1.31 blocks per game and LeBlanc has a 1.11 mark. Jim Barnes is in his first year as the Baylor head coach.

SERIES RECORDS
The all-time series between Mizzou and Baylor is tied at eight wins each heading into Saturday's match. Missouri is 5-3 against the Bears in Columbia and the Tigers are 6-2 against BU since Susan and Wayne Kreklow took over in 2000. MU has won the last four meetings, including two 3-1 wins last season, and has taken wins in seven of the last nine matches against Baylor.

LAST TIME OUT
LINCOLN, Neb.-- In a match that was closer than the 3-0 win would indicate, Mizzou fell to No. 8 Nebraska 30-27, 30-24, 31-29 in Lincoln, Neb. on Wednesday in the Big 12 Conference opener. Nebraska scored the first four points of game one and held the lead the entire game, but was unable to take complete control of the game. The Cornhuskers held a 28-23 lead late in the game when Mizzou scored five straight points to cut the NU lead to one. However, Nebraska was able to score the final two points of the game to take a 1-0 lead in the match. Missouri used four service aces to hold the lead for most of the early portion of game two. The Tigers led by as much as three before Nebraska rallied to take the lead at 22-21. The Huskers would go on to take the 30-24 win and a 2-0 lead in the match. Just as it did in the second game, MU held the lead for much of the early part of game three, until Nebraska took the lead at 17-16 held the lead at 23-19 when Mizzou scored three straight points to cut the lead to one at 23-22. After a Husker time out, Nebraska would go on a 9-2 run to hold match point at 29-25. However, the Tigers held off NU, scoring the next four points to tie it at 29 before the Huskers could score the final two points and take the game and match victory. Missouri had eight aces on the night, led by sophomore Nicole Wilson and junior Lindsey Hunter who each had three. Sophomore Jessica Vander Kooi led MU with 14 kills and added 11 digs. Freshman Tatum Ailes had a team-high 12 digs.

CONFERENCE CALL
Mizzou leads the Big 12 Conference in kills per game with an average of 17.48 per game. The Tigers are also second in assists per game (15.78), second in aces per game (2.04) and third in digs per game (16.63). Individually, Nicole Wilson is third in the Big 12 with a .406 hitting percentage and leads the conference with a 0.74 aces per game average. Lisa Boyd's hitting percentage of .393 is fifth best in the conference. Lindsey Hunter leads the Big 12 with a 13.74 assists per game average and is ninth in the conference standings in aces per game (0.44). Freshman Tatum Ailes is averaging 3.96 digs per game which is fifth best in the league. Shen Danru leads MU with a 4.26 kills per game average which places her sixth in the Big 12 in that category.