Jan. 30, 2009
Columbia, Mo. - The No. 13 Missouri Tigers are putting last week's slip-ups against Nebraska in the rearview mirror and hitting the road to Columbus, Ohio, where they will face three nationally ranked Big 10 opponents.
It's a tough challenge, but one that Head Coach Rob Drass thinks his squad is ready for.
"We're looking to go 24-for-24. We've been fine-tuning things on every event, as well as looking at the bigger picture," he said. "We look to go out there and hit strong routines and see where we stand in the end. It will be a battle. "
Missouri will face No. 14 Ohio State, No. 15 Illinois and No. 26 Michigan State in a 7 p.m. CT meet at St. John Arena. It is the Tigers' first multi-team meet of the season, and the first of three quad meets for the Tigers in 2009.
The Tigers won't just be looking to put on a show for Columbus, but the nation as well. The meet is being televised on the Big 10 Network, which is channel 610 on DIRECTV or channel 439 on Dish Network in Columbia. The meet will be shown on tape delay at noon CT next Saturday.
"We're kind of the odd guy out," Drass said. "It seems like the Big 10 plus us. And they're two or three of the highest-ranked Big 10 teams. So it's going to be a good meet. I expect Ohio State being at home to be motivated and have a big crowd behind them. Illinois is a great team, and I expect them to bring a good challenge. Michigan State is a team with a lot of talent. It's going to come down to hitting every routine and fighting for every event."
Quad meets bring greater pressure and a bigger stage for success, Drass said.
"It's different," he said. "It's much more like a championship event with four events going on. We start on floor, that's usually the position of respect. Ohio State put us there for a reason, and we welcome the challenge. It's going to be an intense atmosphere, but we're coming to do our job."
While the Tigers just missed the win with last week's 194.750-195.750 loss to now-No. 12 Nebraska in the home opener, Missouri still has a lot of momentum to build on. Senior Adrianne Perry (Columbia, Mo.) tied for the all-around title with a 39.350, and Tiger gymnasts took home the vault and floor titles, as well. Junior Sarah Shire (Columbia, Mo.) shattered her second career mark of the year, posting a 9.925 on the vault. Shire is ranked No. 25 nationally, with Perry just behind her at No. 34.
The loss was the first of the season after Missouri took big victories at Iowa State and Arizona State to start the year.
"We're just trying to be consistent this week," Drass said. "We think we have a very talented team that is due for a great meet. First time you put a whole meet together, it's the hardest one. Then after that, everyone believes in each other and you know you can do it."
Stay with mutigers.com for the latest news and updates from Ohio this weekend.
Scouting this weekend's opponents
No. 14 Ohio State
The Buckeyes are currently in first place in the Big 10 and No. 14 in the country with an average score of 194.742 this season. After an opening-meet loss on the road at Arkansas, Ohio State has rebounded with two wins against Maryland at home and at Illinois-Chicago.
Sophomore Rebecca Best and senior Kiki Holman have each taken an all-around win for the squad under the leadership of fifth-year head coach Carey Fagan.
The Buckeyes lead the series 6-1 all time against Mizzou, with the Tigers' lone win coming last year at the Cat Classic.
No. 15 Illinois
Just behind the Buckeyes in the Big 10 standings is Illinois, who most recently fell to Iowa 194.400 - 194.950 at home. The Illini started the year by taking second place in a meet -- just behind Michigan and defeating conference rival Michigan State and Western Michigan. Their third win came against Penn State.
The Illini are without their top returner sophomore Allison Buckley, who is recovering from off-season surgery. One of their brightest gymnasts has been senior Marijka Botterman, who has taken three event titles in the first three meets on vault and bars. Nine-year Head Coach Bob Starkell leads the squad.
Mizzou leads the all-time series against Illinois 14-7. The Tigers defeated the Illini at the Hearnes Center in March 2008, 195.400-195.325.
No. 26 Michigan State
The Spartans are sixth in the Big 10 conference after taking a couple of losses in the first few meets -- they finished third at the opening-season meet, and dropped a meet at Penn State last weekend, 194.175-195.875. Michigan State is averaging a 194.200 in their meets.
Michigan State is led by junior all-arounder Nicole Curler, who finished third against Penn State. Another top threat is senior Katlyn Roggensack, who has put up big numbers on the vault this year, posting a 9.825 two weeks in a row. Head Coach Kathie Klages is in her 19th year at the helm of the squad.
The Spartans lead the series against MU 20-5 all time. The squads have not met since 2005, and the Tiger's last win over Michigan State came in 1997 in East Lansing.
Tigers light up the floor Choreographer Amy Smith and the Tiger squad have been working hard on floor routines, and it shows. Missouri is ranked No. 8 nationally on the floor with an average of 48.892. That's also good enough for second in the Big 12, just two-hundreths of a point behind conferenec leader Oklahoma. Contributing to that total in a big way have been senior Adrianne Perry and junior Sarah Shire. Perry is ranked 11th (avg. 9.867) on the event, while Shire is ranked 37th (avg. 9.825). Perry is second while Shire is sixth in the Big 12.
Keeping it consistent -- while breaking records Through the first three meets, it's already been a big year for the Tigers. Junior Sarah Shire has already set two new career highs on vault (9.925) and beam (9.925), and senior Alicia Hatcher set a personal best on floor (9.775) one week after tying it. Tiger sophomores have been brining the heat, too -- Lauren Stephenson posted a new career high on beam (9.725), and tied her personal best on vault (9.800), while Alex Gold tied her career high on vault (9.850).
Meanwhile, the Mizzou squad is standing down for consistency, one of their biggest preseason goals. Hatcher has been one of the biggest contributors -- she has hit a 9.750 or better on bars and 9.850 or better on beam for three weeks in a row, as well as a 9.750 on floor two weeks in a row. Gold has notched a 9.725 or better on floor three weeks in a row, and Perry and Shire combined have scored a 9.7 or better in every meet on every event but two.
Mizzou finds success in multiple-team meets The Tigers have participated in 31 multiple team meets since Head Coach Rob Drass took over in 2000. In those meets, Missouri has an impressive record -- 60-31, including 13 outright wins. Those 13 wins include six Cat Classic titles. Last season, the Tigers were 3-3 in regular season multi-team meets -- they finished second at the Cat Classic and third at the Salbasgeon Suites Invitational in Corvallis, Ore.
Fifth annual `Pink Out' raises over $1,000, breaks records The Tigers' first home meet, designated the Pink Out, raised just over $1,000 for the Ellis Fischel Cancer Center.
The crowd of 3,459 was the largest Pink Out and opening night crowd in Missouri history. It was also the third largest non-Cat Classic crowd in program history.