The Missouri State volleyball team (23-4, 12-2 Missouri Valley Conference) welcomes Creighton (18-8, 12-3) and Drake (7-20, 4-11) to Hammons Student Center this weekend for the final two regular season home matches this season. Saturday is Senior Day for the Bears, and Jamie Adams, Katelyn Panzau and Sara Thomas will be honored after the match. Missouri State closes the year at Bradley and UNI next week and hosts the State Farm MVC Tournament over Thanksgiving weekend.

Live stats will be available at www.missouristatebears.com. Just click "Live Stats" on the left side of the home page and select the appropriate match. The Creighton match will be broadcast locally on KTXR 101.3 FM and online at www.radiospringfield.com.  Live audio of the Drake match can be accessed online at http://thegrowl.missouristate.edu.

The Creighton match Friday will be televised locally on Mediacom Channel 14.

THE OPPONENTS Creighton enters the weekend a half game back of the Bears in the league standings with a 12-3 MVC record and 18-8 overall mark. Player of the Year candidate Kelly Goc ranks second in the MVC with a .358 hitting percentage and third with 4.16 kills per game. The Bluejay defense averages 19.7 digs per game and limits opponents to .142 hitting, both good for second in the Valley.

The Bears swept the Jays by scores of 30-22, 31-29, 31-29 earlier this season.

Drake is 7-20 overall and 4-11 in MVC play following a non-conference loss to South Dakota State Monday. The Bulldogs are led by freshman Angela Bys, who averages 4.18 kills per game and had 27 against the Bears earlier this season. Drake hits .150 as a team while opponents hit .234, and the Bulldogs have taken a game off each team ahead of them in the league standings this season except Wichita State.

Missouri State defeated Drake 30-22, 29-31, 30-23 and 30-25 Oct. 12 in Des Moines.

THE SERIES Missouri State is a combined 66-11 all-time against this week’s opponents. MSU has won 17 straight over Drake and has built a 41-8 lead in the all-time series with the Bulldogs. Missouri State also boasts an impressive win streak against Creighton, winning the last 19 meetings and 25 of the 28 all-time matches.

COACH MELISSA STOKES Missouri State head coach Melissa Stokes (San Diego State, 1991) is 268-118 (.694) in her 12th season at Missouri State. A native of El Cajon, Calif., Stokes has guided Missouri State to an overall record of 197-61 (.764) and 114-25 (.820) 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 lost a heartbreaker in five games at 25th-ranked Wichita State Friday. Missouri State led 2-1 but the Shockers won the final two games to take sole possession of first place in the MVC standings. Jamie Adams led all players with 17 kills and Katelyn Panzau served seven aces for the Bears in a defensive struggle where both teams hit well below their season averages.

Missouri State will honor its three seniors Saturday as Jamie Adams, Katelyn Panzau and Sara Thomas will play their final regular season home match.

The senior trio has been a part of 97 victories since joining the program in 2004, reaching three straight MVC Tournament finals with one championship and two NCAA Tournament appearances in their first three seasons.

The seniors are already the third-winningest class under Coach Stokes, trailing only the classes of 2006 (101) and 2003 (100) for the most wins over a four-year period.

They have accounted for a remarkable 1,858 kills, 1,923 digs, 2,860 assists and 655 blocks in their careers.

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 5-3 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 154-58 (.726) in league matches. She needs three 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.

Missouri State received 29 votes in this week’s AVCA Top 25 poll, the 30th-highest total. The Bears have received votes for 10 weeks this season.

Missouri State ranks among the nation’s top 70 in the following categories through Nov. 4. There are 325 Division teams in the rankings:

18th in winning percentage (.852)

20th in digs per game (18.99)

33rd in blocks per game (2.96)

50th in kills per game (16.01)

56th in assists per game (14.53)

68th in hitting percentage (.236)

Katelyn Panzau ranks 82nd in the NCAA with 11.89 assists per game.

Sara Thomas became the 17th player in MSU history to reach the 1,000-dig mark Oct. 19 against Illinois State and now ranks 13th with 1,051.

Thomas has one of 10 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 (3.18), three digs (3.45) and one block (1.21) 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.

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 268

Fourth in win percentage overall (.694) and second among active MVC coaches

Sixth in win percentage in MVC matches only (.726)

Third in MVC victories (154)

Missouri State is 12-0 this season when Sara Staubach has 12 or more kills.

Shayla Patrick leads all MVC freshmen with 1.14 blocks per game and a .247 hitting percentage.

MSU is 20-1 this year and 44-2 the last two seasons when winning game two.

The MSU defense has been very difficult to ace this season, surrendering an average of 0.92 aces per game to opponents to lead the league.

Katelyn Panzau is fourth in school history with 2,560 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 29 of her last 34 matches.

Missouri State has hit over .200 in 21 of 27 matches this season and at least .169 in all but three.

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 59 of her 61 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 four times, .400 or better 11 times, .300 or better 15 times, and .200 or better 19 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 1,026 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 5-3 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 fourth place on the career list with 2,560.

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.

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.

Thomas earned a fourth weekly honor Oct. 29 by winning Defensive Player of the Week a second time. She averaged 3.0 digs and 1.86 blocks in road victories against Evansville and Southern Illinois.

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 Two 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 Nov. 7 and Nov. 21.