Oct. 28, 2011

Date: Oct. 29
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Television: Mediacom 22
Location: Columbia, Mo.
Arena: Hearnes Center
Live Stats: Click Here
Live Stream: Mizzou All-Access
Twitter Updates: @MU_Volleyball
Game Notes: Media Notes

What's Inside? - A Quick Look at the Notes
• After two straight road matches, the Mizzou volleyball team returns home to face Oklahoma Saturday.
• The match will air on Mediacom 22 and it will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Hearnes Center.
• The Tigers look to `Can the Sooners' as fans receive free admission with the donation of two canned food items.
• 10 of Mizzou's 17 wins have come against teams that won at least 20 matches last season.
• Mizzou is No. 37 in the NCAA RPI rankings, placing it sixth in the Big 12.
• Head coach Wayne Kreklow sits just three wins shy of his 400th as a collegiate women's coach.
• Lisa Henning leads all Big 12 attackers in kills per set and is second in points per set during league play.
• Henning has eclipsed the 20-kill mark in five of her last nine matches, including a career-best 27 twice.
• Henning holds three of the Big 12's top four kill performances in league play this season.
• Over her last nine Big 12 matches, Henning is averaging 4.39 kills per set (167 total) with 193.0 points.
• Setter Molly Kreklow has recorded a double-double in eight of her last 13 matches.
• Kreklow now ranks third in the Big 12 in assists per set at 10.50 and leads the league in total assists at 1,029.
• Tiger senior Brittney Brimmage ranks second in the Big 12 in hitting at .373.
• Brimmage is hitting .349 with 87 kills and 32 total blocks over her last nine matches.
• Mizzou ranks second in the Big 12 and ninth nationally in average home attendance this week.
• Priscilla Armendariz tallied 25 digs at KSU, moving her into sixth all-time at MU with 1,163 career digs.
• Armendariz played in her 122nd match as a Tiger Wednesday, which ranks her seventh all-time at MU.

Sooners Make Their Way to Columbia
The Mizzou volleyball team will return to the friendly confines of the Hearnes Center as it is set to take on No. 21 Oklahoma in pivotal Big 12 matchup on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. The match will air in a tape-delayed broadcast on Mediacom 22 in Columbia. MUTigers.com will also offer links to Gametracker and MUTigers.tv is where fans can find the Mizzou All-Access Stream.

`Can the Sooners'
In a tradition that started back in the 2005 season, the Mizzou volleyball team will look to `Can the Sooners' on Saturday as it will collect canned food items to donate to the Central Missouri Food Bank at the match. Fans will receive free admission to the match with the donation of two canned food items. The program's goal is to surpass last year's record-setting 1,761 pounds of food that was donated in the `Can the Huskers' match. The volleyball team has its sights set on collecting more than 2,000 pounds of food. Donation barrels will be located at all the main entrances.

Last Time Out
The Tigers dropped a tough five-set match at Kansas State on Wednesday, 3-2 (25-21, 13-25, 16-25, 25-21, 11-15). It was the Tigers' sixth five-set match this season after playing in just four in the previous two seasons combined. Senior Brittney Brimmage led the Tigers with 13 kills on .290 hitting while both Lisa Henning and Emily Wilson pitched in 12 kills each. Henning tallied her fifth career double-double by adding a career-best 18 digs. Senior libero Priscilla Armendariz also matched a career-best with 25 digs in the loss as well.

Kreklow Three Shy of 400
Mizzou head coach Wayne Kreklow sat 20 wins shy of his 400th as a head volleyball coach entering the season, but he now sits just three shy of 400 in his career. Should he reach 400 this season, he will be one of just three coaches in the Big 12 to have cracked the 400-win plateau. Kreklow surpassed his 600th win all-time as a coach (assistant, men's coach, women's coach) at both Mizzou and Columbia College with the Tigers' win over Florida International earlier this season. In all, Wayne and Susan Kreklow have combined for 748 wins as a coaching duo, 239 of which have come during their 11-plus seasons at Mizzou.

Team Notes
With 17 wins this season, Mizzou is looking to break the 20-win plateau for the seventh time since 2000. In fact, before Wayne and Susan Kreklow took over the program in 2000, Mizzou eclipsed the 20-win mark just seven times from 1974-1999 and had not done so since 1983. Below are a few other team notes on the Tigers.

• Mizzou checks in at No. 37 in this week's NCAA RPI rankings. Keep in mind, the Tiger team that advanced to the Sweet 16 last season checked in at No. 42 in the RPI, so Mizzou is ahead of that pace this season.
• Mizzou has won three of its last five matches. The only losses came on the road to RPI top 35 teams.
• Of Mizzou's 17 wins this season, 10 have come against teams that won at least 20 matches last season and four of those 10 teams won more than 26 matches in 2010.
• Mizzou is 8-1 at home and 7-2 in neutral site matches so far this season. Mizzou's only home loss this season came in five sets to Kansas State, an RPI top-35 team, while one of their two neutral site losses came to WKU which ranks 23rd in the RPI. Mizzou's six road losses have all come to RPI top-50 teams while three of those came in five sets and three came against teams that rank in the RPI top 25.

Henning Continues to Impress During League Play
Sophomore outside hitter Lisa Henning has put together an impressive stretch during Big 12 play as she leads the Big 12 in kills per set (4.82) and in points per set (5.38) in league matches. In fact, Henning holds a wide lead over the next-best competitor in both categories as well. Below are a few quick notes on Henning during Big 12 play.

• She has eclipsed 20 kills five times in nine matches and has reset her career-high four times in that span.
• Henning owns three of the league's top four kill totals in Big 12 matches this season and four of the top six marks as well. She had 27 at Baylor and against KU, 24 against Kansas State and 22 against Texas Tech.
• Henning also owns the top three point performances in Big 12 play this season with her 30.0 against Kansas and her 29.5 and 28.0 against Baylor and Kansas State, respectively.
• Henning is the only player to eclipse the 150-kill mark during Big 12 play so far this season.
• In fact, Henning's 171 kills are 30 more than the next-best Big 12 athlete - Kaitlynn Pelger of Kansas State.
• She also leads the Big 12 in points (192.0) by a wide margin during Big 12 play. Her 192.0 total points leads KSU's Kaitlynn Pelger by 23.0 in league play.
• Henning was named Big 12 Player of the Week for the first time in her career on Oct. 17 after averaging 6.12 kills per set on .302 hitting in wins over Kansas and Texas Tech.

Protect This House
With No. 21 Oklahoma coming to town on Saturday, it is important to note that Mizzou has played very well at home this season, boasting an 8-1 record inside the friendly confines of the Hearnes Center. Mizzou's only loss at home came in fie sets to a Kansas State team that ranks 33rd in this week's NCAA RPI rankings. Mizzou is currently riding a three-match winning streak at home, its second-longest streak of the season. Oklahoma is 3-4 on the road this season as Mizzou will look to pick up a quality win to pad its NCAA Tournament résumé on Saturday.

Pocket Aces
Over the Tigers' last five matches, they have been serving the ball much better. Heading into that stretch, Mizzou was averaging 1.19 aces per set but has averaged 1.67 per frame over the last five, including a season-best 10 against Central Arkansas last Monday. Before that stretch, Mizzou was sixth in the Big 12 and ninth in the Big 12 during league play but now ranks third and fourth in both categories, respectively.

Cardiac Kids
Looking at the Tigers over the last several weeks, one thing is clear and that is that the Tigers have played in some tight matches. In fact, 13 of the Tigers' last 17 matches have lasted more than three sets while six of those 13 have gone the full five sets. In 33 matches last season, Mizzou played in 18 matches that lasted four sets or more while this season they have played 14 through 26. The big difference is in the amount of five-set matches as Mizzou played in just three all last season and has played in six already in 2011. In fact, Mizzou had played in just four five-set matches in 2009 and 2010 combined (65 matches) and has eclipsed that mark this season alone (26 matches).

Not So Little Lately
Freshman middle hitter Whitney Little has been very impressive over her last seven matches, emerging as one of the Tigers' top offensive weapons. In fact, Little is hitting .294 with 62 kills - third on the team - with eight service aces and a team-high 36 total blocks (seven solo, 29 assists). She is third on the team with 91.5 total points in that span, trailing only Lisa Henning and Brittney Brimmage. She has tallied at least 10 kills in a match three times in that span and had nine against Texas Tech. She has also matched her career-best with seven total blocks three times in her last eight matches and her eight aces are second on the team in that span.

Henning Holds Serve
Over her last eight matches, sophomore Lisa Henning - usually known for her powerful arm - has added another weapon to her arsenal as she has 11 aces in that span, a team-best. In fact, over her last eight contests she is averaging a team-best 0.31 aces per set and has climbed into the league rankings in both categories. Her serving performance over the last eight has given her a team-best 26 service aces this season and she now ranks seventh in the Big 12 with her 0.27 aces per set average.

Kreklow Third in Assists Per Set
Kreklow comes into the Oklahoma match averaging 10.50 assists per set as she continues to rank third in the Big 12 in assists per set. She spent the first two weeks of the season averaging well over 11.00 assists per set while ranking first in the league, but the Tiger offense has slowed somewhat since then. All-in-all, Kreklow is putting together a phenomenal year at the setter position as she has been named Big 12 Player of the Week and has garnered AVCA/Sports Imports National Player of the Week honors this season. Kreklow became just the fifth Tiger ever to take home that award and the first-ever Tiger setter.

Brimmage Leads Big 12 in Hitting
Senior middle hitter Brittney Brimmage is second in the Big 12 in hitting at .373 this season, just behind Texas' Rachael Adams, who was dubbed Big 12 Player of the Year in the preseason. Of the league's top 10 hitters this season, Brimmage is third in total kills and she is the only player in the Big 12 to post at least 240 kills with at least a .350 hitting percentage.

Returning to Form
In all, Brimmage is hitting .349 with 87 kills over her last nine matches as she has seemed to regain the form that netted her Big 12 Player of the Week honors following the Middle Tennessee Blue Raider Bash. At MTSU, Brimmage hit .637 with 56 kills in those five matches but hit just .214 with 66 kills in the Tigers' next eight matches. But with her performance of late, she has seemed to regain the form that ranked her as one of the most feared attackers in the Big 12. She led Mizzou with 13 kills on. 290 hitting at K-State Wednesday.

Milestones for Pip
Senior libero Priscilla Armendariz moved into sixth place all-time on the career digs list at Mizzou as she now has 1,163 after collecting a career-best 25 at K-State. She also played in her 440th career set at Mizzou on Wednesday which ranks sixth all time. Wednesday's match for Armendariz was also the 122nd of her career, which ranks seventh all-time at Mizzou. Should she play every match the rest of the way, Armendariz would ranks second all-time. She would need a postseason berth to take over the top spot (Julianna Klein, 130 matches).

Meister Impressive as of Late
Over her last 12 matches, freshman defensive specialist Sarah Meister has helped stabilize a Tiger back row that struggled early in the season in that span. In fact, she is averaging 2.09 digs per set (fourth on the team). The three players she trails play all six rotations while Meister plays just three. Also, she has pitched in six aces in that span, five of which have come in the last four matches, including a career-best three against UCA.

Big Crowds at Home
Despite only playing the eight home matches this year, huge crowds have flocked to the Hearnes Center as a total of 21,547 fans have watched the Tigers this season, good for 2,693 fans per match. That mark ranks the Tigers ninth nationally and second among Big 12 schools this season. Mizzou has surpassed the 3,000-fan mark three times this season, most recently in its Big 12 home-opener against Texas A&M.

The big crowds are a key reason why Mizzou has been able to race out to a 8-1 start inside the Hearnes Center this season. In fact, since Wayne and Susan Kreklow have taken over at Mizzou, the Tigers are 119-41 at home as they have won nearly 75-percent of their home matches under the Kreklows.

Scouting Oklahoma
Oklahoma comes into Saturday's match ranked as the nation's No. 21 team according to the AVCA Coaches Poll. At 19-5 overall and 6-2 in Big 12 play, the Sooners are currently third in the Big 12 behind just Texas and Iowa State. The Sooners are led by All-Big 12 setter Brianne Barker, who anchors an attack that is hitting .253 on the season with a pair of players averaging more than 3.00 kills per set. The right-side hitting Suzy Boulavsky leads the team with 289 kills (3.21 per set) on .299 hitting while freshman Tara Dunn is averaging 3.05 kills per set. Sophomore middle hitter Sallie McLaurin is also putting together a fine season as she leads the team in hitting (.366) while averaging 2.60 kills per set and a team-best 1.41 blocks per set.

Oklahoma is a very good defensive team, averaging 15.20 digs per set and 2.49 blocks per set. The back row is anchored by Maria Fernanda, who is averaging 4.93 digs per set this season.

Series Information
Oklahoma leads the all-time series with the Tigers, 40-31, as it has been one of the Tigers' best rivalries over the years. The Sooners have won the last three meetings but the Tigers do hold a 15-13 lead in the series in matches played in Columbia. The last time the two teams met in Columbia, Mizzou raced out to a 2-0 lead before allowing Oklahoma to rally and win in five sets.

The Last Meeting
Mizzou dropped a five-set match in Norman in heartbreaking fashion, 12-25, 17-25, 25-21, 25-22, 7-15). Oklahoma handled the Tigers pretty easily in the first two sets before the Tigers rallied to take the next two, forcing a fifth. OU claimed the decisive final frame, 15-7. Molly Kreklow finished just three kills shy of a triple-double in the match and Lisa Henning led the Tigers with 16 kills in the match. Brittney Brimmage and Whitney Little combined for 21 kills as well.

Nifty Fifty Whitney
Tiger freshman Whitney Little (Keller, Texas) surpassed the 50-block mark in the Tigers' 13th match of the season against Denver. She is the fastest Tiger freshman to reach to the 50-block mark under the direction of Wayne and Susan Kreklow (since 2000). Currently, Little has a team-high 106 blocks and her 1.08 blocks per set rank her ninth in the Big 12 Conference. Adding to her production, Little is hitting .328 with 137 kills this season and had 17 kills on .483 hitting with eight total blocks last week against UCA and at No. 10 Texas.

Tigers Picked Fifth in Big 12
Despite the youth on the Tiger roster, the league's coaches seem to recognize the level of talent on this year's team as the Tigers were picked to finish fifth in the Big 12 in the annual preseason poll. In all, Mizzou finished the polling with 32 points, just behind fourth-place Texas A&M and just ahead of sixth-place Baylor. The Tigers were picked fifth in last year's preseason poll and ended up advancing to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.

Young, but Talented
Despite bringing back four players that started for Mizzou last season, the Tigers will be one of the youngest teams nationally. In fact, nearly 80-percent of the Tigers' roster in 2011 are underclassmen as 11 of the 14 players are freshmen or sophomores. That makes Mizzou the youngest team in the Big 12 and only Texas Tech (16 underclassmen) has more freshman or sophomores on their roster. However, Mizzou's last two recruiting classes have ranked in the top 25 nationally, including this year's freshman class, which checked in at No. 22 nationally. The 2010 class ranked 14th.

Program Highlights
The Tigers just completed the most successful decade in program history last year. In fact, Mizzou has averaged 22 wins per season since 2000 and is one of just 22 teams nationally to qualify for nine NCAA Tournaments since 2000. The Tigers were on that average last year with 22 wins and a Sweet 16 berth.

Hunter Joins Coaching Staff
There are few Mizzou athletes that are accomplished as Lindsey Hunter and she will look to parlay her success as a player into success as a coach as she joins the Mizzou coaching staff in 2011. Hunter takes the place of former assistant Chris Muscat, who took the head coaching job at Loyola (Chicago) last year. Hunter is Mizzou's all-time leader in assists, assists per set, single season assists and set for the Tigers in the most successful four-year period in program history. She will serve as the primary recruiting coordinator for the Tigers. She spent last season as the color analyst for the Tiger volleyball matches while working towards her master's degree as a graduate assistant with Mizzou's Total Person Program.

Kreklow Sets With USA Junior National Team
For the second consecutive summer, sophomore setter Molly Kreklow set with the USA Volleyball Junior National Team. She has spent plenty of time with USA Volleyball in her career as she was also with the Youth National Team for two seasons. She has now spent four years with USA Volleyball, gaining plenty of high-level experience along the way.

Brimmage Plays With USA Volleyball As Well
Kreklow wasn't the only Tiger to play with USA Volleyball over the summer as Brittney Brimmage led the USA Volleyball A2 Blue Team to a USA Volleyball Women's Open Division Championship. She helped her team go 4-0 (winning 12 of 15 sets) during pool play. The team was then bumped to the loser's bracket and came all the way back to win the tournament. She was one of the team's top middle hitters throughout the tournament.

Henning Tours China
Sophomore Lisa Henning had an experience of a lifetime over the summer as she played volleyball in China, touring and playing some of the nation's top professional teams. Henning and her team compiled a 2-4 record in six matches in China, playing against very disciplined, professional competition. She also visited places like the Great Wall, Forbidden City and Temple of Heaven.

Recruiting Class Earns National Honors
For the second straight season, the Mizzou volleyball program has brought in a nationally-ranked recruiting class as this year's checks in at No. 22 nationally. The 2011 class comes on the heels of the Tigers' No. 14-ranked class in 2010. Three of the signees - Jade Hayes, Whitney Little and Emily Wilson - were named to the Volleyball Magazine NFINITY Fab 50. With a pair of top 25 classes in consecutive seasons, look for those nine players to be the nucleus of the Mizzou volleyball program in the years to come.

California Girls
On this year's Mizzou roster, fans may notice something that they haven't seen under Wayne and Susan Kreklow. Two players on this year's roster - Niki Collier and Sarah Meister - hail from California, marking the first California natives that the Kreklows have coached at Mizzou. Both have seen significant court time this year and are am important part of the Tiger freshman class that ranked No. 22 nationally.

Hayes Brings Plenty of Accolades
Freshman utility player Jade Hayes is one of the headliners of Mizzou's 2011 freshman class and she brings with her the accolades to back it up. She is a two-time Gatorade Missouri State Player of the Year and was the AVCA National Player of the Year as a junior in 2009. She led Ozark High School to a state title in 2009 and a third-place finish in 2010. She was also named MVP of the AVCA/Under Armour High School All-America match last year as well and was named to the Volleyball Magazine Fab 50 and PrepVolleyball.com's Defensive Dandy list.

Hayes projects as a libero long term at the collegiate level, but this season she will likely have a utility role due to her versatility, although she will likely battle for the libero job with Priscilla Armendariz. Listed a 6-0, she can hit, serve and defend and will also likely serve as the team's backup setter.

Little Named Forth Worth Player of the Year
Incoming freshman Whitney Little has also gained her fair share of accolades as she comes into Mizzou this season. The 6-3 middle blocker was a PrepVolleyball.com Senior Ace, a Volleyball Magazine Fab 50 selection and a member of the AVCA High School All-America Watch List, but her greatest honor came from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, which named her as the Super Team Player of the Year.

Wilson Continues Nebraska Pipeline
It has been no secret that Mizzou, under the direction of Wayne and Susan Kreklow, has been able to recruit the state of Nebraska with a lot of success. Names like All-Americans Lindsey Hunter, Nicole Wilson and former Big 12 Libero of the Year Tatum Ailes are just a few of the successful Nebraska natives to come through Mizzou in the last 11 seasons. And the tradition with continue this season as Emily Wilson will make her debut with Mizzou. She is the sister of former Tiger middle hitter Catie Wilson and was voted MVP of the All-Nebraska State Team twice in her high school career. The 6-2 outside hitter should figure into the mix right away for the Tigers.

Blue Springs Connection
Looking at the Tiger roster, there is a connection between several players coming from the Kansas City area as four players - Priscilla Armendariz, Lisa Henning and Ashton Bodenstab - hail from Blue Springs, Mo. In fact, Armendariz and Henning actually played for rival high schools as well.

A Competitive Schedule
With the departure of Colorado and Nebraska from the Big 12 Conference, a new-look schedule will take hold in the Big 12 this season. Instead of playing 20 league matches, each team will now play 16, playing each team twice. The loss of four matches has led to an additional non-conference tournament for the Tigers this season, giving the Tigers a chance to test themselves against some of the top non-conference competition in the nation. In fact, Mizzou will play 11 of its 33 matches against teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament last season.

`Bridging' A Local Connection
The Mizzou volleyball family has always played a very active role in the City of Columbia community, and that trend is continuing at Rock Bridge High School, one of two local Columbia high schools. There is a growing connection between the two schools that has moved beyond coincidence. Former Tiger and 2007 Big 12 Libero of the Year Tatum Ailes is now the head coach as Rock Bridge and her assistant coach is none other than former Mizzou middle hitter Catie Wilson, who graduated last season. Keep in mind that Wilson's sister - Emily Wilson - is a freshman on this year's Mizzou roster as well.

But the connections don't stop there. Current Tiger freshman Niki Collier led Rock Bridge to its first district title in 25 years in 2010 before eventually signing with the Tigers for the upcoming season. Not only that, but Wayne and Susan Kreklow's daughter Allie is a setter for the Rock Bridge volleyball team. The connection shows how connected the Tiger program has been with the community for the 11 years that Wayne and Susan Kreklow have been at Mizzou.

Volleyball on the Air
If you can't be at the Tigers' matches this season, you can still catch all of the action at MUTigers.com as all of the matches will be streamed with audio and home matches will have video and audio. Jim Grundy will be in his first year as the team's play-by-play announcer. All broadcasts can be accessed at MUTigers.tv.

Up Next
The Tigers will be back in action next Wednesday as they return to the road for a contest with archrival Kansas at 6 p.m. in Lawrence. The match will air live on Metro Sports. For all the latest on Mizzou volleyball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on twitter @MU_Volleyball.