Nov. 27, 2006

COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Big 12 Conference announced Monday afternoon the conference's year-end volleyball awards. Tiger senior OH Jessica Vander Kooi (Hinton, Iowa) was named to the All-Big 12 First Team for the third-consecutive year while senior MB Nicole Wilson (Lincoln, Neb.) received honorable mention All-Big 12 honors for the second-consecutive year.

Vander Kooi finished the 2006 Big 12 season in the top 10 of three scoring categories including kills per game (7th, 4.05), service aces per game (7th, 0.33), and points per game (5th, 4.88). In addition, Vander Kooi was named Big 12 Player of the Week twice in September and earned AVCA National Player of the Week honors on September 22. Vander Kooi also landed on the Academic All-Big 12 list for the third-consecutive year and earned CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team honors for the second-consecutive season this year.

Wilson finished the conference season in fifth place in hitting percentage (.341) and tenth in kills per game (3.63). Wilson leads Mizzou in the all-time hitting percentage category at a .350 clip.

Mizzou faces Santa Clara in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday at 4:30 p.m. (PST) in Palo Alto, Calif. Only Missouri and Nebraska from the Big 12 Conference have made the NCAA Tournament every year since 2000.

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