Oct. 12, 2004
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Listen
To Game Action Here (Pay-per site)
Mizzou will take its four-match winning streak on the road, as it travels to Austin to face Texas at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The Tigers extended their winning streak with a 3-1 win over No. 15 Texas A&M last Saturday. It was the third ranked opponent that Missouri has defeated this season. With a 10-4 overall record and a 5-2 Big 12 Conference mark, MU sits in third place in the conference standings. Texas is at the top of the Big 12 with a 15-0 overall record and is 7-0 in the conference. The Longhorns are ranked No. 9 in the latest poll. The Tigers are just outside of the Top 25, receiving 69 votes, which places it 27th. The next Mizzou win will be the 100th at Missouri for Head Coach Susan Kreklow. Since arriving at MU in 2000, Susan and Wayne Kreklow have compiled a record of 99-41 and led the Tigers to four-straight NCAA Tournaments. Next up for Mizzou is a trip to Lawrence, Kan. on Saturday to face the rival Jayhawks.
SCOUTING TEXAS
The No. 9 ranked Texas Longhorns are 15-0 on the season and 7-0 in the Big 12 Conference.
Thirteen of the Longhorns 15 wins have been three-game sweeps, including the first eight matches of the year.
Mira Topic, an All-America Honorable Mention selection in 2003, leads UT and the Big 12 Conference with 5.52 kills per game and is averaging 6.00 kills per game in conference matches. She is hitting .354 on the year and has a 3.31 digs per game and 0.73 blocks per game average.
Another All-America Honorable Mention last season, Bethany Howden, has a 4.13 kills per game average and is hitting .395, which is third best in the Big 12.
Alyson Jennings leads the Longhorns with 3.57 digs per game and Michelle Moriarty has an 11.91 assists per game average.
SERIES RECORDS
Texas holds a 9-7 lead in the all-time series with Mizzou, but the Tigers have won seven of the last eight.
MU is 3-5 in Austin, including a 3-2 loss last season after the Tigers took the first meeting of the year, a 3-0 win in Columbia.
The Longhorns won the first eight matches in the series, before Mizzou won seven straight. Texas broke the Tigers' streak with the win last year in Austin.
LAST TIME OUT
COLUMBIA, Mo.-- A record crowd of 2,683 saw the Mizzou Volleyball team take a 3-1 (30-18, 30-22, 27-30, 30-21) win over No. 15 Texas A&M on Saturday at the Hearnes Center. The win was the third for the Tigers over a ranked opponent this season.
Lisa Boyd led MU with a career-high 21 kills and hit .486 on the night. Jessica Vander Kooi had 18 kills and Shen Danru followed with 15. Lindsey Hunter tied her season high with 68 assists, one short of her career high.
With a 15-13 lead in game one, Mizzou scored four straight points to build a six-point lead and continued to add to that lead. The Tigers led by as much as 12 before taking the 11-point victory and a 1-0 lead in the match.
The Tigers had 23 kills, compared to Texas A&M's 11 and held the Aggies to a .128 hitting percentage. Vander Kooi and Danru each had six kills and four digs to lead the Tigers. Danru hit .750 in the game, making no errors on eight attempts.
Vander Kooi had five kills in the second game, leading the Tigers to a .500 hitting percentage in the game and a 2-0 match lead with a 30-22 win. Hunter, who had 16 assists in the opening game, added 14 more in game two.
Trailing late in game three, the Tigers rallied to tie the score at 27, before Texas A&M scored the game's final three points to force the match to a game four.
Boyd led Mizzou in the third game with nine kills and Tatum Ailes had a team-high six digs in game three.
The Tigers trailed to begin game four, but tied it at 15 on an Vander Kooi ace. The next three points also went to Missouri, giving MU an 18-15 lead. Mizzou would hold the lead for the remainder of the game, taking the 30-21 win and the match victory.
The attendance surpassed the previous record of 2,344 which was set last season, also against Texas A&M.
CENTURY MARK
With the next Mizzou victory, Susan Kreklow will record her 100th win as the Tigers' head coach.
Since arriving at Missouri in 2000, Susan and Wayne Kreklow have led the Tigers to a 99-41 record and four-consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament.
Earlier this season, Kreklow recorded her 600th career win and currently has a record of 608-151, good for an .801 winning percentage.
PULLING RANK
The Tigers defeated their third ranked opponent of the year last Saturday, with a 3-1
win over No. 15 Texas A&M.
The previous Saturday, MU swept No. 25 Colorado in Boulder.
Mizzou's first win over a ranked team came in the season opener, when it defeated then-No. 23 Wisconsin 3-1 in Madison, Wis.
The win over Colorado and Wisconsin, each came on the opponent's home court.
CONFERENCE CALL
Missouri is well represented in the Big 12 Conference statistical categories. As a team, MU leads the conference in kills per game (18.14) and assists per game (16.48).
The Tigers are also third in digs per game (16.16) and hitting percentage (.276).
Individually, Nicole Wilson is second in the Big 12 in hitting percentage with a .404 mark and is fifth in aces per game with a 0.46 average.
Lindsey Hunter has a conference-best 14.54 assists per game average.
With a .376 hitting percentage, Lisa Boyd is fourth in the conference standings.
Shen Danru is fifth in kills per game (4.22), Jessica Vander Kooi is eighth (4.06) and Tatum Ailes is third in digs per game (4.18).
UP NEXT
The Tigers remain on the road on Saturday with a trip to Lawrence, Kan. to take on the Jayhawks. MU returns home next Wednesday to host Texas Tech at 7 p.m.