Tiger Volleyball to Face Buffaloes on Saturday
10/1/2004 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 1, 2004
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After closing out it's four-match home stand with a sweep of Iowa State on Wednesday, Missouri will take to the road for four of its next five matches. That stretch will begin with a trip to Boulder, Colo. on Saturday to face Colorado at 8 p.m. (CST). The Tigers are 7-4 on the year and 2-2 in the Big 12 Conference, while CU takes an 8-4 overall mark and a 3-2 Big 12 record into Saturday. Mizzou is coming off a sweep of Iowa State on Wednesday to close the home stand 3-1. The Buffaloes have won two straight after defeating Texas Tech 3-1 in Lubbock on Wednesday. Heading into the weekend, Missouri continues to lead the Big 12 Conference in both kills per game (17.70) and assists per game (15.88). Following Saturday's match in Boulder, MU will take on Oklahoma on Wednesday in Norman, Okla., before returning to the Hearnes Center to take on Texas A&M on Oct. 9, when the Tigers will look to "Bust the House" and set a new attendance record.
SCOUTING COLORADO
Colorado has won back-to-back matches to move to 8-4 on the year and 3-2 in the Big 12 Conference. It is ranked No. 25 in the latest USA Today/CSTV Top 25 Coaches' Poll.
Three of the Buffaloes' four losses have come to teams ranked in the Top 25. They defeated Kansas State, ranked No. 16 at the time, 3-0 on Sept. 15 in Boulder.
Following the win over KSU, Colorado dropped matches at Texas and at home to No. 7 Nebraska before takings wins over Baylor and Texas Tech.
Allie Griffin leads CU with 4.30 kills per game, 1.05 blocks per game and a .329 hitting percentage.
Ashley Nu'u is third in the Big 12 with a 12.75 assists per game average.
The Buffaloes are third in the Big 12 Conference in hitting percentage (.269), assists per game (14.77) and kills per game (16.16).
Pi'i Aiu is in his eighth year as the CU head coach, compiling a record of 142-80 leading the Buffs.
SERIES RECORDS
Colorado holds a 29-6 lead in the all-time series with Mizzou and is 16-1 in Boulder against the Tigers.
However, Missouri has won three of the last four and five of the last seven in the series.
In September of 2002, the Tigers picked up their first-ever win in Boulder with a 3-2 victory.
Last season, MU swept the Buffaloes in Columbia before Colorado took a 3-2 win in Boulder later in the year.
LAST TIME OUT
COLUMBIA, Mo.-- The Mizzou Volleyball team recorded its 15th straight win over Iowa State with a 3-0 (30-23, 30-18, 30-16) win on Wednesday at the Hearnes Center. The Tigers have not lost to the Cyclones since 1996.
Mizzou fell behind 3-1 to start game one, but quickly came back, scoring three straight points to take a 4-3 lead. The Tigers would not trail for the rest of the game, building a lead of as much as eight points before taking the 30-23 win and a 1-0 lead in the match.
Missouri out-hit the Cyclones .333-.178 in the game and three Tigers, Jessica Vander Kooi, Lisa Boyd and Nicole Wilson, had five kills to lead the team in the opening game.
In game two, the Tigers held Iowa State to a .000 hitting percentage on their way to a 30-18 win. Mizzou had a lead as large as 11 in the game.
Shen Danru had six kills and Tatum Ailes had 10 digs to lead Missouri in the second game.
Game three was much of the same, as the Tigers built a lead and held its largest lead at the end of the game, a 14-point decision to close out the match.
Vander Kooi led Mizzou with 13 kills and a .423 hitting percentage. Boyd followed with 12 kills and a .391 hitting mark.
Ailes set a career-high with 23 digs to lead Mizzou. Danru had 10 kills and 10 digs to record her sixth double-double of the season.
CONFERENCE CALL
Missouri is well represented in the Big 12 Conference statistical categories. As a team, MU leads the conference in both kills (17.70) and assists (15.88).
The Tigers are third in digs (16.17) and fourth in hitting percentage (.269).
Individually, Nicole Wilson continues to lead the Big 12 in hitting percentage with a .426 mark and is third in aces per game with a 0.55 average.
Lindsey Hunter has a conference-best 13.93 assists per game average and her 0.40 aces per game are 10th best in the Big 12.
Lisa Boyd is fifth in the conference standings with a .387 hitting percentage.
Shen Danru is fifth in kills per game (4.23) and Jessica Vander Kooi is ninth (3.78). Tatum Ailes is seventh in digs per game (4.22).
NIC AT NIGHT
Sophomore Nicole Wilson not only leads the team with a .426 hitting percentage, that mark is also the best in the Big 12 Conference.
She has hit below .300 just once this season and has hit over .500 four times including a season-high .615 against Southeast Missouri State on Sept. 21.
Wilson has reached double-digits in kills in all but five matches this season and has had nine kills in three of the five single-digit kill outings.
Another category in which Wilson leads is aces per game. She leads the team and is third in the Big 12 with a 0.55 average.
She had a career-high six aces against Arkansas State on Sept. 10 and has had at least three aces in five matches.
A RECORD SETTER
In just her third season at Missouri, junior setter Lindsey Hunter has already moved into third on the career assists chart at MU.
She has 3,660 assists heading into the match against Colorado, which is 152 behind second place Cindy Attebery (1990-93). Heather Gerber holds the school record with 4,955 assists from 1997-2000.
Hunter set the season assists record in 2002, recording 1,690 as a freshman. Last season she had 1,413 assists, which is fourth all-time.
She currently leads the Big 12 Conference in assists per game with a 13.93 average. Hunter has led the Big 12 in that category in each of her two previous seasons.
SHEN SPLINTS
Junior Shen Danru leads the Tigers with a 4.23 kills per game average, which is fifth best in the Big 12.
She has led Mizzou in kills per game since her freshman year in 2002.
Danru has moved into fifth place at MU with 1,101 career kills. With eight more kills, she would move into fourth place and 48 kills would put her third all-time at Mizzou.
Yvette Buhlig holds the school record with 1,478 career kills form 1988-92.
Danru is also in the top ten in career digs as a Tiger, as her 864 digs place her eighth in school history.
She holds second and fourth place on Missouri's season kills list, recording 477 as a freshman in 2002 and 259 as a sophomore last season.
In addition, she is the school record holder for aces in a season with 64 in 2002 and her 405 digs last season is second best in Mizzou history.
JVK IS AOK
Last year's Big 12 Conference Freshman of the Year Jessica Vander Kooi has a 3.78 kills per game average and a 3.17 digs per game mark heading into Saturday.
In Mizzou's last three matches, Vander Kooi averaged 4.78 kills and 3.78 digs per game.
Vander Kooi has seven double-doubles on the year to lead the team. Included in those six double-doubles was a 20-kill, 22-dig performance against Purdue on Sept. 4, both season highs.
Along with being named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year in 2003, she was also selected the Central Region Freshman of the Year, making her a finalist for National Freshman of the Year.
