Sept. 6, 2005
Recap |
Box Score
COLUMBIA, Mo.--The No. 14 Missouri volleyball team will continue their season tonight, playing host to UMKC in the Hearnes Center at 6:30 p.m. The first 150 fans through the gate receive a free media guide. The Tigers are coming from a euphoric weekend in which Mizzou swept Utah and No. 9 Tennessee for the crown of the Tiger Invitational. In addition, as released yesterday, the Tigers rose seven spots in the national poll, from the preseason 21st ranking.
UMKC at #14 Missouri
Septmber 6, 2005, 6:30 pm, Hearnes Center -- Columbia, Mo.
TV: none.
Radio: KCOU 88.1 FM ... also heard on mutigers.com via KCOU's website
Live Video: Mizzou All-Access via mutigers.com
Promotion: First 150 fans receive free media guide ... truely, a top-notch item
Scouting UMKC...
The Kangaroos stand 1-5 on the season, winning their first match of the new year against Marist in the Cal State-Fullerton Titan Classic last weekend. In that tournament, UMKC junior Vanessa Portela was named to the all-tournament team. Portela, a resident of Sao Paulo, Brazil, had 44 kills and eight digs in the four-match weekend.
The All-Time Series...
UMKC and UMC (Missouri) have met 30 times, and the Tigers have taken 27 of those meetings including each of the last eight, dating back to 1994. Of course UMKC and UMC are both part of the University of Missouri System that houses two other campus in the state including ones in Rolla and St. Louis.
Last Time Out ... 95 Minutes
Well, I guess you could call it a good weekend. Sweeping Utah and No. 9 Tennessee was relatively quick work for the Tigers, as Mizzou took down both teams in 1 hour, 35 minutes, roughly the same time as it would take to watch the movie "Bring It On".
Against Utah the Tigers won 30-28, 30-22, and 30-21. Three Tigers finished the match with double-digit kill totals including junior Jessica Vander Kooi who tallied a match-high 13 kills. Sophomore Na Yang record 11 kills with a .476 hitting percentage. Game one was the most completive of night, as the Utes tied the Tigers at 26 all. Junior Nicole Wilson hit two service aces to make the score 29-26. Wilson also had headlines in game three, hitting an errorless 4-for-5 in the frame, grabbing a solo block and a block assist.
In the sweep of the Lady Vols, the Tigers showed no mercy and no hints of future attackers. Five Tigers racked up double-digit kill totals, amazing for a three-game match. Hunter dished out 55 assists (18.3 apg), the highest total the Big 12 has seen this season for a three-game match. Na Yang led the Tigers with 15 kills. Shen Danru and Jessica Vander Kooi recorded kill-dig double-doubles.
As a team, Mizzou posted a .353 hitting percentage against Tennessee, hitting .500 in game three.
Movin' On Up
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.
Hunter Named Big 12 Player of the Week
Lindsey 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.
Setting for Success
In three seasons at Missouri, senior Lindsey Hunter has made a name for herself as one of the most dominating setters in the Big 12 and throughout the country, leading the Big 12 in assists per game all three seasons. She has been named to the National-A2 Training Team twice and in 2004, Lindsey ranked fourth in the nation in assists per game with 14.43. In the first round of the NCAA tournament in 2004, Lindsey recorded 62 assists against Arkansas. Lindsey's success on the court has only been equaled in the classroom and she was named an Academic All-American in 2004. Already, the 2005 season is looking bright for Lindsey as a preseason All-Big 12 selection.
Number 9 ... Number 9 ... Send Another One Down The Line
The Tigers have played considerably well against teams ranked No. 9 in the country recently, and that will be tested again this weekend. Last year the Tigers lost to No. 9 Texas in Austin on October 13, then rebounded to defeat the No. 9 Longhorns in the Hearnes Center on November 14. Last weekend, Missouri took down No. 9 Tennessee. This upcoming weekend, the Tigers will travel to Bozeman, Mont., and play in Montana State's Holiday Inn Classic. The pinpoint match on the docket will be the Tigers meeting with No. 9 Wisconsin, on Saturday at 11:00 a.m., local time. The Badgers will be looking to avenge a 3-1 loss suffered at the hands of the Tigers from the beginning of 2004.
Nine Days ... Six Matches
It's that time of year. Volleyball season usually starts with a lot of tournaments before teams hit conference play and this year is no exception. The Tigers after having two matches last weekend will welcome UMKC to the Hearnes on tonight and then will travel to Bozeman, Mont., for the Holiday Inn Classic at Montana State next weekend, playing in matches against No. 9 Wisconsin, Montana State, and Northern Colorado.
It's Baby Time!
The Tiger volleyball family has a new member. Assistant coach Deng Yang delivered a 7 lb., 14 oz., baby boy on Wednesday (August 31st) at 5:15 p.m. Yang, and husband, Chen Feng, named the new Tiger, Logan Chen.
The Career Record Watch Board
Senior Shen Danru already holds the Missouri career records in kills per game and total attacks, but is actually very close to the top in THREE more categories. With 1,361 kills, Danru is 117 kills from Yvette Buhlig's all-time record; with 152 service aces, Danru needs 12 to surpass Buhlig in that category as well; and with 1,059 digs, Danru is only 110 scoops from Naaron Branson's all-time record.
Also worth watching in senior Lindsey Hunter's all-time assist total. Hunter currently has 4,634 assists and the Mizzou all-time record is Heather Gerber's 4,955. Before the season began, only 16 players have ever eclipsed the 6,000 total assist mark in NCAA history. With a small schedule than normal, it may be tough for Hunter to reach a number like that. But, if Hunter would stop setting today her 13.59 school-record assists per game would set SIXTH all-time in NCAA history.
The Ol' Switcheroo
In their sixth season as coaches of the University of Missouri Women's Volleyball Team, Wayne and Susan Kreklow are swapping positions. After five seasons working as Associate Head Coach of the Missouri Women's volleyball team, Wayne Kreklow will take on the title of Head Coach while his wife Susan will assume the position of Associate Head Coach to the team. The Kreklow's have been very successful in their previous seasons at Missouri, turning the Missouri Women's Volleyball team into a force in the Big 12. Before coming to Missouri, the Kreklows were co-head coaches at Columbia College for both the men's and women's teams.
Since Missouri does not proclaim the Kreklows as co-head coaches, the NCAA will consider their win-loss records separately. Susan's win-loss record stands at 109-46 through five seasons. The .703 winning percentage is the best in school history for a coach's career. Prior to Missouri, Susan was head coach of Columbia College's women's team from 1990 to 1993 and co-head coach with Wayne from 1994 to 1999. As a women's coach, Susan accumulated a winning record of 565-132 (.811) over 15 seasons. Susan was also co-head coach with Wayne for Columbia College's men from 1997 to 1999, giving Susan an overall record of 618-156 (.798).
Wayne brings to Missouri a 267-29 (.902) women's head coaching record from his days with Susan at Columbia College which will stand as his NCAA-official coaches' record through six seasons. Added to a 53-24 (.688) record from coaching Columbia College's men's team, Wayne is 320-53 (.858) overall as a head coach. Prior to joining his wife at Columbia College in 1994 as co-head coach, Kreklow was an assistant coach at Missouri under Craig Sherman for five years.
The Kreklow Revolution
In their previous five seasons at Missouri, Wayne and Susan Kreklow have revolutionized Tiger Volleyball. In their first season at Missouri in 2000, the Tigers jumped from ranking ninth in the Big 12 to second and Susan Kreklow was named the 2000 Big 12 Coach of the Year. In 2002, the Tigers finished No. 20 in the USA Today/AVCA Coaches Poll, the highest year ending ranking in Missouri history. Through the Kreklows' leadership, Missouri has been to five consecutive NCAA tournaments, certainly a different look from the years of winning only four to five conference games a season.
Mizzou Volleyball... Dig It!
After having a successful career at Bellevue West High School in Bellevue, Nebraska, Tatum Ailes has brought that success to Mizzou. Last year as a freshman, she not only set school records for digs in a season with 432 and digs per game in a season with 4.19 but also set the mark for digs per game in a career. The latter record broke the old record by over 15 percent proving her dominance defensively last season. Ailes also had at least two aces three times in a game including her personal-best six aces against Kansas. If her first year was any indication, Tatum Ailes should be poised to have a great career here with Mizzou Volleyball.
Super Seniors
For three seasons, they have dominated the Big 12 conference with their abilities to hit, assist, and kill and as Lisa Boyd, Shen Danru, and Lindsey Hunter enter their final season at Missouri, they show no signs of slowing down on or off the court. Since coming to Missouri, Lisa Boyd has been a two-time Academic All-Big 12. In 2004, she was the Big 12 leader in hitting percentage and took over the Missouri record for hitting percentage with an astounding .384. Shen Danru has also left her mark on Missouri, being named, in each of her three seasons, to the Academic All-Big 12 and the All-Big 12 teams. She is not only the school record holder in career kills per game and attacks but last season moved into second on the all-time list of service aces. Not to be outdone by her senior counterparts, Lindsey Hunter has added her own touch to Missouri Volleyball as a two-time USA National A2 team member and a two-time All-Big 12 First Team selection. Hunter has led the Big 12 in assists since joining the Tigers and in 2004, was named Academic All-Big 12. Already in 2005, Hunter has been named to the Preseason All-Big 12 team. No doubt the 2005 season holds many more accomplishments for the three super seniors as they prepare to say goodbye to the Tigers and as Missouri prepares to say goodbye to three of its volleyball legends.
Spanning the Globe
In 2001, Missouri added its first ever Eastern Hemisphere player with Shen Danru, a freshman out of Shanghai Sports School who had been part of China's Junior National Team in 1999. Since beginning her career at Missouri, Danru has set a new school record in career kills per game and attacks. Following in Danru's footsteps is Na Yang, a sophomore from Shan Dong, China who played with Danru on the 1998 Chinese World Teenage Championship Team. A promising player, Yang started in 12 games as a freshman and had double-doubles in kills and digs last year in four matches. In 2005, Missouri adds two more China natives to its team in Lei Want and Yi Zhang. Wang played twice with the Chinese Junior National team and attended Shanghai Sports School. Zhang was named MVP of the Chinese Youth Volleyball team in 2000 and in her first semester at Missouri in the winter of 2005 had a GPA over 3.7 and topped over 300 students to be at the top of her math section. For 10 days in May 2005, the Missouri Volleyball team visited China, playing matches against Bei Hang University and Beijing University.
Home, Sweet, Home
One of the great aspects of Tiger Volleyball is its home crowd. In 2004, the Tigers were 19th in the country in attendance, averaging 1,460 fans per game. With the Point Mizzou Band, an eccentric fan base, and great game play, the Hearnes Center is always rockin' on Tiger Matchdays.
Yep, They're Smart Too
In 2004, seven members of the Missouri Volleyball Team were Academic All-Big 12 Honorees and in 2005, the team will welcome back six of those seven. 2004 was the first time senior Lindsey Hunter, juniors Jessica Vander Kooi, Abbie Booth and Nicole Wilson were named Academic All-Big 12 along with two and three-time honorees, seniors Lisa Boyd and Shen Danru. Boyd was an honoree in 2003, Danru in 2002 and 2003. In the winter semester of 2005, the Tigers set a new team record with a team term GPA of 3.29, beating out the previous semester's record of 3.27.
