Sept. 5, 2005
COLUMBIA, Mo. -
The Big 12 Conference named Missouri senior Lindsey Hunter as Big 12 Volleyball Player of the Week on Monday, marking her first career conference weekly honor. Hunter led the Tigers to sweeps over No. 9 Tennessee on Sunday and Utah on Friday to take MVP honors of the Tiger Invitational. In addition, the AVCA announced the latest CSTV/AVCA National Top 25 Coaches' Poll in which Missouri jumped from 21st to 14th in the national rankings, achieving the highest poll spot in Mizzou's history.
Hunter Named Big 12 Player of the Week
Hunter, a native of Papillion, Neb., tallied 100 assists in two Tiger victories last weekend, including the upset of No. 9 nationally-ranked Tennessee. Hunter, winning her first conference player of the week honor of her career, led the Tigers to sweeps over Utah (30-28, 30-22, 30-21) and the Lady Vols (30-27, 30-23, 30-20) at the Tiger Invitational in Columbia, Mo.
In the season opener against the Utes, Hunter recorded 45 assists, two service aces and six digs. It marked the 80th time of her career to post 40-plus assists in a match. She also guided three Tigers -- Jessica Vander Kooi (13), Na Yang (11) Shen Danru (10) -- to double-digit kills in the win. Missouri compiled 55 kills in the match.
Hunter, a 2004 AVCA All-American, dished out 55 assists versus No. 9 Tennessee while leading No. 21 Mizzou to a .353 team-hitting percentage. The squad hit at a .500 efficiency in game three to clinch the match. Five Mizzou players reached double-digit kills in the upending of the Lady Vols. Hunter also contributed five digs, three block assists, three kills and a service ace. It was the Tigers' first Top-10 victory since 2003 when they defeated then No. 10 Nebraska in Lincoln. It also accounted for the only sweep over a Top-10 opponent in school history.
On the week, Hunter averaged 16.67 assists, 1.83 digs and directed Missouri to a .307 hitting percentage. She currently leads the Big 12 in the assists category, while Missouri is the top-ranked team in assists (18.33 apg) and tied for first with Colorado in kills at 19.17 per game.
Hunter is the first Tiger since Shen Danru to be named Big 12 Player of the Week, as Danru in September 2003 averaged 5.14 kills and 4.14 digs per game in a two-match series that included a sweep of Texas Tech.
Tigers Move to 14th in National Poll
The Tigers started the season with a No. 21 ranking on the AVCA/CSTV's National Top 25 poll, and on Monday that ranking jumped seven spots. After the team's sweeps of Utah and No. 9 Tennessee, the nation's coaches moved Mizzou to 14th in the country. The win over the Lady Vols was arguably the biggest upset in collegiate volleyball over the past weekend.
The Tigers' previous high-ranking was in 2003, when the Tigers reached 18th in the country before succumbing to a 3-0 road sweep from Utah.
Mizzou will next face UMKC (1-5) tomorrow night at 6:30 p.m. in the Hearnes Center. For ticket info, multimedia options, or more on Missouri Volleyball, visit mutigers.com.