The Missouri State volleyball team heads east this weekend for Missouri Valley Conference road matches at Evansville (11-10, 4-6 MVC) and Southern Illinois (12-10, 4-6). The Bears are 21-3 overall and 10-1 in the league, tied with Wichita State for first place, and will play five of their final seven league matches away from home before hosting the State Farm MVC Tournament over Thanksgiving weekend.
Live stats will be available for the SIU match at www.missouristatebears.com. Just click "Live Stats" on the left side of the home page and select the appropriate match.
THE OPPONENTS Evansville is 11-10 on the season and 4-6 in MVC play after sweeping Southern Illinois at home last Thursday. Megan Spurlock leads the Purple Aces with 3.13 kills per game and a balanced offense has five players averaging at least 2.31. The UE defense is third in the league with 19.33 digs per game, and libero Julie Walroth is fifth nationally with a 6.49 per game average. Missouri State beat UE 30-26, 30-27, 30-22 on Sept. 29 in Springfield.
Southern Illinois is 12-10 in 2007 and tied with UE at 4-6 in the MVC. The Salukis lead the Valley with 1.73 service aces per game, and rank one slot behind the Bears in blocking with a 2.77 average for third place. Middle blocker Marina Medic leads the charge at the net and ranks among the league’s leaders in blocking (1.25/game) and hitting percentage (.302). MSU topped the Salukis by scores of 30-28, 30-24, 35-37 and 30-21 earlier this year.
THE SERIES Missouri State has suffered just one loss in 28 all-time meetings with Evansville, the lone defeat coming in five games in 1999 at UE. The Bears have won 17 straight matches against the Aces, and have taken the first game in 15 straight meetings.
MSU leads Southern Illinois 37-14 in the all-time series and has won the last six matches.
COACH MELISSA STOKES Missouri State head coach Melissa Stokes (San Diego State, 1991) is 266-117 (.695) in her 12th season at Missouri State. A native of El Cajon, Calif., Stokes has guided Missouri State to an overall record of 195-60 (.765) and 112-24 (.824) in the Missouri Valley Conference since 2000. In 2003, the Bears were the MVC regular-season champions and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1993. MSU made a return trip to the NCAAs in 2005 after winning the MVC Tournament, and advanced to the second round for the first time in program history in 2006, defeating Arkansas before falling to No. 13 Oklahoma in the second round.
Stokes came to Missouri State from the University of Idaho, where she helped the Vandals to four straight NCAA Tournament berths. As a setter at San Diego State, Stokes played four seasons and helped the Aztecs to two NCAA appearances. She recorded her 100th career victory in the Bears’ five-game win over Manhattan College, Sept. 1, 2001 and coached the 250th victory of her Missouri State career against Florida State, Aug. 31, 2007. Stokes ranked 37th among active Division I coaches in win percentage entering 2007.
LAST WEEK The Bears rolled off two more victories to make it five in a row, sweeping Illinois State and Indiana State at home. Friday against the Redbirds, Jamie Adams had 16 kills and Sara Staubach 15 as the outside hitters took advantage of the ISU defense. The Bears also dug 85 balls in only three games.
Saturday against the Sycamores, Sara Thomas led all players with 12 kills and hit .417 in a match where 11 Bears saw time on the floor and made significant contributions.
QUICK HITS
Missouri State has not lost back-to-back matches since Sept. 2-3 of the 2005 season, meaning the Bears have won their last 18 matches immediately following a loss.
The Bears are 5-2 in 2007 against teams that have received votes for at least one week in the AVCA Top 25 poll.
Melissa Stokes became the third coach in league history to earn 150 MVC wins with a victory at Creighton Oct. 13. She is currently 152-57 (.727) in league matches. She needs five more MVC wins to tie former Illinois State coach Julie Morgan for second all-time.
Missouri State has held all but one opponent this season to a .225 or lower hitting percentage.
Stokes earned her 250th career victory when the Bears defeated Florida State on Aug. 31.
Sara Thomas became the 17th player in MSU history to reach the 1,000-dig Oct. 19 against Illinois State and now ranks 15th with 1,013.
Thomas has one of seven kill-block-dig triple-doubles in the country this season, doing so Oct. 5 against Wichita State. She is the only player in school history with a triple-double of that variety and one of kills, assists and digs.
Thomas is the only player in the MVC averaging at least three kills (3.27), three digs (3.49) and one block (1.18) per game.
Missouri State received 34 votes in this week’s AVCA Top 25 poll, the 30th-highest total.
Missouri State ranks among the nation’s top 60 in the following categories through Oct. 21. There are 325 Division teams in the rankings:
12th in winning percentage (.875)
16th in digs per game (19.12)
32nd in kills per game (16.15)
33rd in blocks per game (2.95)
46th in assists per game (14.67)
56th in hitting percentage (.242)
Katelyn Panzau ranks 70th in the NCAA with 12.00 assists per game.
Sara Thomas, Jamie Adams and Sara Staubach have all posted matches with 20 or more kills this season.
Those three are all averaging over three kills per game in 2007, something that hasn’t been done at Missouri State since 1993.
With 23 kills at Creighton Oct. 13, sophomore Sara Staubach became the first Bear since Amanda Omar in 1999 to get 20 or more kills in a three-game match.
The Bears are 7-2 this year in matches lasting longer than three games and 3-0 in five-gamers. MSU has won its last four five-game matches.
Head coach Melissa Stokes is climbing up the all-time MVC coaching lists in a number of categories. Listed below is the 12th-year coach’s ranking in those categories. Lists are compiled based on statistics at Valley schools only:
Sixth in total victories with 266
Fourth in win percentage overall (.695) and second among active MVC coaches
Sixth in win percentage in MVC matches only (.727)
Third in MVC victories (152)
Missouri State is 10-0 this season when Sara Staubach has 12 or more kills.
Shayla Patrick leads all MVC freshmen with 1.18 blocks per game and a .249 hitting percentage.
MSU is 18-0 this year and 42-1 the last two seasons when winning game two.
The MSU defense has been very difficult to ace this season, surrendering an average of 0.90 aces per game to opponents to lead the league.
Katelyn Panzau is seventh in school history with 2,426 assists and now holds the record for assists by a two-year player.
Missouri State’s win over No. 25 Middle Tennessee on Sept. 9 was the first over a ranked team since 2003.
Jamie Adams has reached at least 10 kills in 27 of her last 31 matches.
Missouri State has hit over .200 in 19 of 24 matches this season and at least .169 in all but two.
Nikki Vandepopulier has reached the 10-dig mark 19 times in 22 matches this season.
Sara Thomas has recorded at least one kill, dig, assist and block in all but one match this season. Katelyn Panzau has achieved that feat in 56 of her 58 career matches.
By winning MVC Player of the Week honors Sept. 10, Thomas became the first MSU player to win the award multiple times in the same season since Linette White in 2003.
Thomas has recorded at least six kills in each match, hitting .500 or better three times, .400 or better 10 times, .300 or better 14 times, and .200 or better 17 times.
HOMECOMING Missouri State has been dominant at home since 2000, compiling a home record of 100-14 for an .877 winning percentage at Hammons Student Center. The Bears have completed seven consecutive years with three or fewer losses in a home season and are 12-1 in 2007.
1,000th WIN Missouri State became the second volleyball program in NCAA history to reach 1,000 victories with a sweep on Indiana State on Nov. 17, 2006. Now with 1,024 all-time victories, the Bears trail only UCLA (1,053) on the all-time wins list.
NATIONAL PRAISE Missouri State is the reigning College Volleyball Update Overall Defensive Team of the Year in 2006. The Bears ranked second nationally last season by holding opponents to a .119 attack efficiency and 27th with 3.11 blocks per game.
TOUGH COMPETITION The Bears have seven matches lined up this season against teams that began the year receiving votes in the AVCA coaches poll, and nine versus teams making at least one appearance so far.
MSU plays Illinois State, Northern Iowa and Wichita State two times each, and Middle Tennessee, Michigan State and Sacramento State also appear on the schedule.
The Bears are 5-2 against that competition this season.
PANZAU CHASING A RECORD Senior setter Katelyn Panzau is in just her second season on the floor for the Bears, but is in line to finish as one of the top setters in school history. She recorded 1,502 assists in 2006, and a repeat of that will put her in third place on MSU’s all-time list. She now occupies seventh place on the career list with 2,426.
Just a pair of two-year players appear in the career top 10 in addition to Panzau, with Jessica Brester (2,027) and Lani Kim (1,838) occupying the ninth and 10th spots, respectively.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK Sara Thomas and Shayla Patrick brought home MVC awards in the first week of the season. Thomas was the league’s player of the week after averaging 3.79 kills, 4.07 digs, 1.07 blocks and hitting .357 on the way to becoming the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational MVP.
Patrick was the freshman of the week after leading MSU in hitting efficiency (.377) and blocking (1.29/game). She was named to the all-tournament team in her first collegiate action.
Thomas earned the award a second time on Sept. 10 after averaging 4.23 kills, 2.92 digs, 1.54 blocks and 1.46 assists per game in MSU’s 4-0 trip through Tennessee. She hit over .400 in three matches and .368 for the weekend, including a career-high 20 kills and a .405 attack efficiency in MSU’s 3-1 win at 25th-ranked Middle Tennessee.
Thomas added another award to her resume Oct. 8 by earning MVC Defensive Player of the Week honors. She averaged 4.57 digs and 2.71 blocks against WSU and SDSU, recording a triple-double against the Shockers. She is the first league player this year to win weekly awards in more than one category.
Patrick brought home her second freshman honor Oct. 15 after leading the Bears with a .419 hitting figure and 1.29 blocks per game in wins at Drake and Creighton.
MVC TOURNAMENT The State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament returns to Springfield for the first time since 2003 on Thanksgiving weekend. The top six teams in the regular season standings will come to Hammons Student Center November 23 and 24 to vie for the league’s automatic NCAA Tournament berth.
PRESEASON POLL Coming off back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2005 and 2006, the Bears are picked to finish fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference in 2007 by the league’s coaches. UNI is the preseason choice to repeat as league champions, while Wichita State was picked second and Creighton a close third.
VOLLEYBALL LUNCHEONS Three dates remain for Missouri State volleyball luncheons this fall. Luncheons will be on alternate Wednesdays at Ebbets Field, 1027 East Walnut, and feature Bears’ head coach Melissa Stokes. Luncheons begin at noon and remaining dates are Oct. 24, Nov. 7 and Nov. 21.
