Oct. 5, 2004

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Coming off back-to-back sweeps last week, Mizzou will take on Oklahoma at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in Norman. The Tigers swept Iowa State last Wednesday before recording a 3-0 win over Colorado in Boulder on Saturday. MU is 8-4 on the year and 3-2 in the Big 12 Conference heading into the matchup with Oklahoma, while the Sooners are 8-5 overall and 0-5 in the Big 12. Despite winning the last eight matches against Oklahoma and 10 of the last 11, MU trails the Sooners 31-25 in the all-times series. Last year the Tigers swept OU in Columbia, before taking a 3-2 win in Norman. Following Wednesday's trip to Oklahoma, Missouri returns to Columbia to host Texas A&M at 7 p.m. on Saturday at the Hearnes Center. Saturday is "Bust the House" night at the Hearnes Center, as the Tigers will look to break their attendance record of 2,344 set last year against Texas A&M.

SCOUTING OKLAHOMA
It has been a tale of two seasons for Oklahoma this year. After opening the year 8-0 in non-conference play, the Sooners have started the Big 12 season 0-5 and stand at 8-5 on the year. Oklahoma was 8-0 when the conference season began on Sept. 15. It dropped four-game matches to Texas Tech, Iowa State, Baylor and Kansas State before falling in three games to Texas last Saturday. Joanna Schmitt leads OU with a 3.88 kills per game average. She also has a 2.51 digs per game mark. The Sooners average 2.66 blocks per game as a team and have four players that average over 1.00 blocks per game led by Jennifer Adams' 1.16 mark. Laura Tomes (1.15), Anna Stadel (1.12) and Keri Coats (1.04) follow Adams. Santiago Restrepo is in his first season as the Oklahoma head coach.

SERIES RECORDS
Oklahoma leads the all-time series with Missouri 31-25 and is 17-9 in matches played in Norman. The Tigers have not lost to OU since Susan and Wayne Kreklow arrived at Mizzou in 2000, winning the last eight meetings. MU has won 10 of the last 11 matches in the series.

LAST TIME OUT
BOULDER, Colo.-- Mizzou recorded its second sweep of the week, with a 30-26, 30-24, 33-31 over No. 25 Colorado on Saturday in Boulder, Colo. The Tigers have won four of the last five matches against the Buffaloes and six of the last seven. The win is the second for MU over a ranked opponent this season. It defeated No. 23 Wisconsin in the season opener on Sept. 3. Missouri showed why it led the Big 12 Conference with a 17.70 kills per game average heading into the match. The Tigers had 22 kills in game one on Saturday on its way to a 30-26 victory. Shen Danru's led the Tigers with eight kills and Jessica Vander Kooi had seven. Mizzou took a 2-0 lead in the match with a 30-24 win in the second game. The Tigers recorded 21 kills in game two as Vander Kooi had eight kills in the game to lead the team. A 20-kill game three for MU, included fighting off two Colorado game points, before the Tigers scored game and match point with a Lindsey Noll kill. Vander Kooi finished with 17 kills and 13 digs to lead Mizzou in both categories. Lisa Boyd had 14 kills and Danru added 12. Hunter had 55 assists and added 12 digs for her fifth double-double of the season.

PULLING RANK
The Tigers defeated their second ranked opponent of the year on Saturday, with a 3-0 win over then No. 25 Colorado in Boulder. Both wins against Top 25 teams have come on the opponent's home floor. 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.

CONFERENCE CALL
Missouri is well represented in the Big 12 Conference statistical categories. As a team, MU leads the conference in kills per game (17.93) and assists per game (16.16). The Tigers are also third in digs per game (16.28) and hitting percentage (.268) and fifth in aces per game (1.65). Individually, Nicole Wilson is second in the Big 12 in hitting percentage with a .414 mark and is third in aces per game with a 0.51 average. Lindsey Hunter has a conference-best 14.23 assists per game average. With a .350 hitting percentage, Lisa Boyd is ninth in the conference standings. Shen Danru is fifth in kills per game (4.21) and Jessica Vander Kooi is eighth (3.91). Tatum Ailes is fourth in digs per game (4.14).

NIC AT NIGHT
Sophomore Nicole Wilson not only leads the team with a .414 hitting percentage, that mark is also second best in the Big 12 Conference. She has hit below .300 just twice this season and has hit over .500 four times including a season-high .615 against Southeast Missouri State on Sept. 21. Wilson has had at least nine kills in 10 of MU's 12 matches this season. Another category in which Wilson leads is aces per game. She leads the team and is third in the Big 12 with a 0.51 average. She had a career-high six aces against Arkansas State on Sept. 10 and has had at least three aces in five matches.

JVK IS AOK
Last year's Big 12 Conference Freshman of the Year Jessica Vander Kooi has a 3.91 kills per game average and a 3.26 digs per game mark heading into Saturday. In Mizzou's last four matches, Vander Kooi is averaging 5.00 kills per game, 3.92 digs per game and has a .415 hitting percentage. Vander Kooi has eight double-doubles on the year to lead the team. Included in those eight 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.

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 3,715 assists heading into the match against Oklahoma, and is 97 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 14.23 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 4.21 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 fourth place at MU with 1,113 career kills. With 36 more kills she would move into 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 871 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.

LOOKING UP TO THE TIGERS
With an average height of 6-0 1/8, the Tigers are the seventh tallest team in the country, according to research done by richkern.com. That average makes the Tigers the third tallest team in the Big 12 Conference. Mizzou has eight players over six feet tall and four that are at least 6-3. At 6-5, Lindsey Noll is the tallest player in MU history. Na Yang, Nicole Wilson and Melissa Allbery are not far behind at 6-3.

UP NEXT
MU will head to Oklahoma on Wednesday before returning home to face Texas A&M on Saturday, which is "Bust the House" night at the Hearnes Center, as the Tigers will look to break their attendance record of 2,344 set last year against Texas A&M. The Tigers will then travel to Texas (Oct. 13) and Kansas (Oct. 16).