Sept. 2, 2004

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The Tigers will open up the 2004 season with this weekend's Badger Challenge in Madison, Wis. Mizzou will begin play against Wisconsin, the host school of the Challenge, on Friday at 7 p.m. On Saturday, Missouri will play Purdue at 5 p.m. Georgia Tech will also participate in the Badger Challenge, but will not face Mizzou. The Tigers are coming off a 19-11 season last year, advancing to their fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament. Five of the six starters from last year's squad return this season including three that earned All-Big 12 Conference and All-Central Region honors. Along with the returners, four talented freshman have joined the MU roster. Following this weekend's action in Wisconsin, Mizzou will return home to host the 3rd Annual Quality Inn Tiger Invitational on Sept. 10-11 at the Hearnes Center. The Tigers will play at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday. SCOUTING WISCONSIN
The Badgers are ranked No. 23 in the USA Today/AVCA Top 25 heading into the season. Wisconsin was picked third in the Big Ten Conference Preseason Poll. The Badgers ended the 2003 season ranked No. 21 after compiling a record of 22-11. Four of the seven starters from last year return and eight total letterwinners are back from 2003. Pete Waite is in his sixth year as the UW head coach and 17th year overall as a head coach. SCOUTING PURDUE
Purdue opened it's season on Wednesday with a 3-1 win over Butler. Last season, the Boilermakers finished 14-17 and were 7-13 in the Big Ten Conference, finishing eighth in the conference standings. Purdue returns 12 letterwinners from last year's squad, including all seven of its starters. It was picked eighth in this season's Big Ten Preseason Poll. Dave Shondell enters his second year with the Boilermakers after taking over prior to the 2003 season. SERIES RECORDS
Mizzou will be looking for its first win ever over both Wisconsin and Purdue this weekend. The Tigers have an all-time series record of 0-3 against Wisconsin and are 0-1 versus the Boilermakers all-time. WHAT RETURNS
Nine players from last year's team return for Mizzou this season, including three that earned All-Big 12 Conference and All-Central Region recognition. The 2004 Tigers combined to make 154 starts for Missouri last year. Junior Lindsey Hunter, who has received Big 12 and Central Region honors in each of her first two seasons at Mizzou returns at setter. Fellow junior, outside hitter Shen Danru has earned Big 12 recognition in each of her first two seasons at MU and will lead a deep group on the outside. Joining Danru at that position is sophomore Jessica Vander Kooi who was named the Big 12 and Central Region Freshman of the Year in 2003. At middle blocker, senior Jenny Duitsman, juniors Lindsey Noll and Lisa Boyd and sophomore Nicole Wilson will lead a very deep and experienced group in the middle. Combined, those four made 64 starts for MU last season. Melissa Allbery, who redshirted last season while recovering from a shoulder surgery also returns at middle blocker. Abbie Booth returns as a defensive specialist after spending her freshman season working alongside departed senior Juliana Godoi, who was the 2003 Big 12 Conference Defensive Specialist of the Year. WHAT'S NEW
Along with the nine returners for the Tigers, MU will welcome a talented group of freshmen. Tatum Ailes joins Mizzou as a defensive specialist after leading Bellevue (Neb.) West High School to the Nebraska Class A State Championship last year. Na Yang becomes the second player from to Eastern Hemisphere to play at Missouri, joining teammate Shen Danru. Yang is a 6-3 outside hitter from Shan Dong, China. Outside hitter Ashley Ebert joins Missouri from Pleasant Hill (Mo.) High School. She led Pleasant Hill to the Class 3A runner-up finish. Jilly Jaksich will join the group of Tiger defensive specialists. Jaksich is from Papillion LaVista High School in Nebraska, which is the same high school as fellow Tiger Lindsey Hunter. FOR OPENERS
When Missouri takes on Wisconsin on Friday, it will be looking to extend its winning streak in season openers to five. The Tigers are 17-10-1 in season opening games since 1976. They have won their first game of the season in six of the last seven years and are 4-0 in season openers under the Kreklows. TOURNEY TIME
Since 2000 and the arrival of Coaches Susan and Wayne Kreklow, the Tigers are 30-3 in regular season tournament play. MU was 8-0 in 2000 and 6-0 in 2001 before going 9-1 in 2002. Last season, the Tigers were 7-2, including winning the Quality Inn Tiger Invitational. EUROPEAN ADVENTURE
Two Tigers spent part of last spring in the Czech Republic participating in the European Spring Cup. Juniors Lindsey Hunter and Lindsey Noll were part of the USA Select Team which was comprised of top collegiate players, including many that are considered part of the USA Volleyball pipeline of potential National Team athletes. Hunter and Noll spent ten days with the USA team competing against 15 European National Teams in Brno, Czech Republic. BIG 12 PRESEASON
The Big 12 Conference Coaches have picked Mizzou fifth in the Preseason Coaches Poll. MU ended last year sixth in the league with a 19-11 record. The Preseason All-Conference Team was also selected by the Big 12 Coaches and included Missouri junior setter Lindsey Hunter. Hunter was an All-Big 12 First Team Selection in 2003 after earning All-Big 12 Honorable Mention the previous season. NATIONAL EXPOSURE
Junior setter Lindsey Hunter earned another honor last summer when she was selected to take part in the USA National Training Team program. Hunter was named to the USA A2 Training Team. She was the starting setter for the team, which won the U.S. Open Championships in Atlanta, Ga. Hunter was also named to the All-Tournament Team of the Championships. The USA Team was a perfect 4-0 in the tournament and was forced to five games in only one match, with the other three wins coming in three games. The A2 team is primarily selected by invitation based on past performances in USA Volleyball programs such as the A2 team, the Pan American Games team and the Junior National Team. The setters were selected through an invitation weekend tryout at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. MAKING THE TREK SOUTH
The state of Nebraska has produced some great volleyball players, and recently several of those players have made their way to Mizzou. This season, nearly half of the Tigers' roster hails from the Cornhusker state, as six of the 13 players on the squad are from Nebraska. Two Tigers (Jenny Duitsman and Nicole Wilson) are from Lincoln and two more (Lindsey Hunter and Jilly Jaksich) are natives of Papillion. Melissa Allbery is from Gretna and freshman Tatum Ailes joins MU from Bellevue. ON THE DOCKET
The Tigers once again face a challenging schedule as the competition within the Big 12 Conference and a strong non-conference schedule have the Tigers ready to take on the nation's best. Following this weekend's tournament in Wisconsin, MU will return home to host the Quality Inn Tiger Invitational. The Big 12 Conference season will begin on Sept. 15 with Mizzou heading to Lincoln, Neb. to face Nebraska. The home portion of the Big 12 schedule will get underway on Sept. 18 when Baylor visits Columbia. Defending Big 12 Champion Kansas State will be at the Hearnes Center on Sept. 25. The Tigers and Wildcats will also close out the regular season on Nov. 27 in Manhattan, Kan. The Border Showdown will continue with the Tigers taking on Kansas on Oct. 16 in Lawrence and again on Nov. 3 in Columbia. The Tigers will face two teams (Creighton and Mississippi State) for the first time in school history in 2004. MU compiled a record of 12-8 in 2003 against its 2004 opponents, seven of which qualified for the NCAA Tournament last season. A NEW MILLENIUM = A NEW MIZZOU
Since the year 2000 and the arrival of coaches Susan and Wayne Kreklow, Tiger Volleyball has experienced an impressive turnaround. After finishing ninth in the Big 12 Conference in 1999, Missouri has ended the last four seasons near the top of the Conference, including two top-three finishes and an all-time best second place Big 12 finish in 2000. The Kreklows have compiled a record of 89-37 in their four years on the MU sidelines and have taken the Tigers to four NCAA Tournament appearances in four years. Prior to 2000, Mizzou had not reached the postseason tournament. UP NEXT
The Tigers will open up their home portion of their 2004 schedule next weekend as they host the 3rd Annual Quality Inn Tiger Invitational. Creighton, Mississippi State, Idaho and Arkansas State will join Mizzou in the tournament. The Tigers will play at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday. Play will begin at 11:30 a.m. on Friday. Four matches will be played on Friday and five more matches will take place on Saturday, beginning at 9 a.m.