Nov. 9, 2004

Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

Missouri heads to Iowa State on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. match against the Cyclones. The Tigers are in fourth place in the Big 12 Conference with a 10-4 record in the Big 12 and a 15-6 overall mark. Six matches remain on the schedule for MU, who trails only Nebraska, Texas and Texas A&M in the conference standings. Iowa State enters Wednesday's match 1-14 in the conference and 8-16 overall on the season. The Cyclones have lost eight in a row and 14 of their last 15 on the year. With its sweep of ISU back on Sept. 29, Mizzou extended its winning streak over the Cyclones to 15 matches. The last win for Iowa State in the series came in 1996. During the stretch of 15 MU wins over the Cyclones, 12 of the victories have been three-game sweeps, including 11 of the last 12 meetings. Mizzou will return to the Hearnes Center to take on Texas at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Note the special day and time for that match.

SCOUTING IOWA STATE
The Cyclones are 8-16 on the season and 1-14 in the Big 12 Conference. They have lost eight straight and 14 of their last 15 matches. Their lone conference win came on Sept. 17, a 3-1 victory over Oklahoma. Iowa State is second in the Big 12 in digs per game led by Katie Churm's 4.06 and Brittany Dalager's 3.74 digs per game mark. Dalager also leads ISU with a 0.33 aces per game mark. Katie Jessen has a team-leading 2.96 kills per game average followed by Nicole Lorenzen's 2.66 kills per game. Linda Crum is in her sixth year as the Cyclone head coach. THE MU-ISU SERIES Mizzou leads the all-time series with Iowa State, 29-26 and has won the last 15 matches between the two teams. The last Cyclone victory came in November of 1996. Prior to MU's stretch of 15 straight wins, Iowa State had won 16 consecutive over the Tigers. Earlier this season, Mizzou defeated the Cyclones 3-0 (30-23, 30-18, 30-16) in Columbia.

LAST TIME OUT
LUBBOCK, Texas-- The Mizzou volleyball team won its fifth in a row over Texas Tech, with a 3-1 (27-30, 30-21, 30-26, 30-28) win on Saturday in Lubbock, Texas. The Tigers have won seven of their last eight matches against the Red Raiders. Mizzou improves to 15-6 on the season and 10-4 in the Big 12 Conference, while Tech falls to 8-13 overall and 4-11 in the conference. Jessica Vander Kooi led Mizzou with 20 kills on the night, along with 12 digs for her team-leading 16th double-double of the year. Tatum Ailes had 20 digs to lead MU defensively. Shen Danru had 14 kills and nine digs for Missouri. With the nine digs, she moves into seventh place on the career digs list at Mizzou. She has 979 for her career and needs just 17 more to move into sixth place. Tied at 27 in the opening game, Texas Tech scored the final three points of the game to take a 1-0 lead in the match. Lisa Boyd hit .500 with six kills in the first game but as a team, Mizzou hit just .205, while the Red Raiders had a .356 hitting percentage. Missouri trailed in game two 15-14, before put together a 9-0 run to take a 23-15 lead. The Tigers scored 16 of the final 22 points of game two to take a 30-21 win and even the match at one game a piece at the intermission. MU improved its hitting percentage to .333, while holding the Red Raiders to just a .064 percentage. The Tigers took control of the third game early on in the game, leading by as much as six at 19-13. Texas Tech made several attempts at a rally, but each time MU was able to put an end to the run and taking a 30-26 win and a 2-1 advantage in the match. Game four was close from start to finish, with Mizzou scoring the final three points of the game to close out the match with a 30-28 game-four win. With their win, combined with Kansas State's loss to Nebraska on Saturday, the Tigers are now alone in fourth place in the Big 12 Conference.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Several Tigers are on pace to move into the Mizzou season record books this year. Lindsey Hunter currently has 1,086 assists on the year, which puts her in ninth in season assists at MU. At her current pace, she would finish the season with 1,396 assists, placing her fifth. Hunter already holds the top spot with 1,690 as a freshman in 2002. She had 1,413 last year which is fourth most in school history. The 14.29 assists per game average Hunter currently holds would become the new record, passing her mark of 14.08 in 2002. Jessica Vander Kooi is on pace to finish with 414 kills, which would be eighth on the Missouri season kills list. She is also on pace to record 978 attacks, which would be 10th most at MU. At her current pace, Shen Danru would finish with 387 kills, which would place her 10th and 1,023 attacks, which would be the eighth most in school history. If Lisa Boyd and Nicole Wilson were to maintain their hitting percentages of .390 and .387 respectively, they would take over the top two spots in the Tiger record book in season hitting percentage. Tatum Ailes is averaging 4.11 digs per game, which would be a new school record, easily passing the old record of 3.55 set by Naaron Branson in 2001.

CONFERENCE CALL
Missouri is the conference leader in kills per game with a 17.64 average and assists per game with a 16.09 mark. Jessica Vander Kooi leads the team and is eighth in the Big 12 with a 4.04 kills per game average. Lindsey Hunter leads the conference with a 14.29 assists per game average. She has led the Big 12 in assists per game since beginning her career at MU in 2002. The Tigers are third in hitting percentage with a .279 mark and hold two of the top three spots individually. Lisa Boyd leads the Big 12 with a .390 hitting percentage and Nicole Wilson is third with a .387 mark. Wilson is also in fifth in aces per game with an average of 0.41. Tatum Ailes is fourth in the league standings in digs per game with a 4.11 average.

ON THE DEFENSIVE
Missouri has a history of great defensive specialists play and that continues this year. Since 2000, the Tigers have had two Big 12 Defensive Specialists of the Year (Katie Sowers in 2001 and Juliana Godoi in 2003). This year freshman Tatum Ailes and sophomore Abbie Booth have provided more strong play at the DS position. Ailes has started every match at libero this season and is fourth in the Big 12 with a 4.11 digs per game average. She had 20 digs against Texas Tech on Saturday, which was the third match this year she recorded at least 20 digs. Her career high came in the first meeting with Iowa State when she had 23. Booth had a career-high 19 digs to lead MU against Texas A&M on Oct. 27. Since the Tigers' match against Iowa State on Sept. 29, Booth has been a regular in the lineup and has made six starts. She has reached double digits in digs four times including 13 in Mizzou's first meeting with Kansas this season. Booth is averaging 2.31 digs per game on the year.

GOING NATIONAL
Mizzou's 17.64 kills per game average not only leads the Big 12, but is fourth best in the nation. The Tigers also rank seventh in the nation in assists with 16.09 assists per game and their .279 hitting percentage ranks 19th. Lindsey Hunter's has a 14.29 assists per game average which is fourth best in the nation. Lisa Boyd is 18th nationally with a .390 hitting percentage and Nicole Wilson's .387 mark is 21st best.

JVK IS AOK
Last year's Big 12 Conference Freshman of the Year Jessica Vander Kooi is leading the Tigers with 4.04 kills per game average and has a 3.20 digs per game. She leads the team with 16 double-doubles on the year, including a 20-kill and 22-dig performance against Purdue on Sept. 4. Vander Kooi has reached 20 kills twice this season, the second time coming last Saturday at Texas Tech. She has recorded double-digits in kills in all but one match this season. 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.

HITTING THEIR MARK
The Tigers' .279 hitting percentage on the season is third best in the Big 12 Conference. Lisa Boyd and Nicole Wilson lead Mizzou and are near the top of the Big 12 standings in hitting percentage. Boyd leads the conference with a .390 mark. She has hit over .300 in 15 matches this season and has had four matches in which she hit at least .500, including two .800 hitting percentages. Wilson is third in the Big 12 with a .387 mark and has hit over .300 in all but five matches this year. She has hit at least .500 six times, with a season-high .615 against SEMO.

UP NEXT
The Tigers will return home for a special Sunday match as they host Texas at 1 p.m. at the Hearnes Center this Sunday. Mizzou will then host Nebraska on Nov. 17, travel to Baylor on Nov. 20, host Oklahoma on Nov. 24 and close out the regular season at Kansas State on Nov. 27.