The Missouri State volleyball team begins the 2007 season at home by hosting the 11th annual and 22nd overall installment of the T.J. Sales/Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational in Hammons Student Center. The Bears will be looking for their 14th title and ninth in a row in the two-day event, which begins at 10 a.m. on both Friday and Saturday and includes five matches each day. This year’s field includes MSU, Missouri-Kansas City, Delaware State, Tulsa and Sacramento State.

Both of Missouri State’s Saturday matches will be televised live on Mediacom Channel 14 in Springfield. All four MSU matches can be heard live on the web at http://thegrowl.missouristate.edu.

COACH MELISSA STOKES Missouri State head coach Melissa Stokes (San Diego State, 1991) is 245-114 (.682) in her 12th season at Missouri State. A native of El Cajon, Calif., Stokes has guided Missouri State to an overall record of 174-57 (.753) and 101-23 (.815) 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 three NCAA appearances. She recorded her 100th career victory in the Bears’ five-game win over Manhattan College, Sept. 1, 2001 and coached the 200th victory of her Missouri State career against Illinois State, Sept. 17, 2005. Stokes ranked 37th among active Division I coaches in win percentage entering 2007.

THE OPPONENTS Missouri-Kansas City finished 7-23 a year ago and opens the 2007 season under the direction of first-year head coach Geno Frugoli. The Kangaroos lost just one starter from a year ago.

Tulsa won the Conference USA regular season race last season and ended the year 27-7. The Golden Hurricane return just two starters from that experienced squad.

The Hornets of Delaware State finished 11-22 last season and finished fifth in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

Sacramento State is coming off an NCAA Tournament campaign itself last season, finishing 30-6 after a first round exit against Stanford. Since joining the Big Sky Conference in 1996, the Hornets have piled up seven regular season and nine league tournament championships. Head Coach Debby Colberg carries a 799-284 record in 31 years at Sacramento State into 2007.

THE SERIES MSU will take on two first time opponents and a pair of schools it has a combined record of 36-1-1 against at this weekend’s Wynn Invitational. The Bears have played in-state rival Missouri-Kansas City 20 times overall with an 19-0-1 series record against the Kangaroos. The lone tie came in 1976. Missouri State has the fifth-best offensive performance in school history against UMKC last season, hitting .410 in a 3-0 sweep.

Missouri State leads Tulsa 16-1 in the all-time series, including 15 wins in a row since the Golden Hurricane earned a victory in 1973. The teams last met in 1999.

MSU will be playing Delaware State and Sacramento State for the first time.

Missouri State has not lost back-to-back matches since Sept. 2-3 of the 2005 season, meaning the Bears have won their last 14 matches immediately following a loss.

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 a number of categories. Lists are compiled based on statistics at Valley schools only.

Sixth in total victories with 245.

Fifth in win percentage overall (.682) and second among active MVC coaches.

Sixth in win percentage in MVC matches only (.717).

Third in MVC victories (142).

Missouri State has an impressive track record in home openers, winning each of the last six since a 2000 loss to UNI. The Bears are 9-2 under coach Stokes and have won 21 of their last 26 home debuts.

Missouri State has won seven of its last eight season openers and is 8-3 in such games under Coach Stokes. MSU is 22-13 in season openers over the program’s 35-year history.

TOURNAMENT HISTORY This marks the 10th consecutive year the tournament has carried the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn name, and Missouri State has won each of the last eight tourneys. In fact, the Bears have won 25 consecutive matches in the event dating back to 1998 and have dropped just one game in the last 13 matches.

2006 IN REVIEW The 2006 Missouri State volleyball season was one marked by many milestones and superlatives, as the team wrapped up a historic year with a 27-9 record and an appearance in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Bears played at a high level from start to finish, never losing back-to-back matches and putting together three win streaks of five matches or better.

The Bears earned the first NCAA Tournament win in school history with a 3-1 first-round victory at Arkansas on Dec. 1.

Missouri State became the second women’s volleyball program in NCAA history to win 1,000 matches, doing so against Indiana State on Nov. 17 at Hammons Student Center.

Twenty-seven victories matched the 2003 and 2000 squads for the most wins under head coach Melissa Stokes. No MSU team has won more than 27 matches since 1982.

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. The Bears trail only UCLA (1,037) on the all-time wins list.

HOMECOMING Missouri State has been dominant at home since 2000, compiling a home record of 88-13 for an .871 winning percentage at Hammons Student Center. The Bears have completed seven consecutive years with three or fewer losses in a home season and went 11-3 in 2006.

NATIONAL PRAISE Missouri State enters the 2007 season as 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. MSU plays Northern Iowa and Wichita State two times each, and also has matches against Middle Tennessee, Michigan State and Sacramento State.

PANZAU CHASING A RECORD Senior setter Katelyn Panzau has spent only one 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.

Just a pair of two-year players appear in the career top 10, with Jessica Brester (2,027) and Lani Kim (1,838) occupying the eighth and ninth spots, respectively.

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.

TAILGATE ON SEPT. 14 A volleyball tailgate will be held Sept. 14 from 5:45-6:45 p.m. in the south parking lot of Hammons Student Center, prior the MSU’s match with UNI. The event is open to the public, and those in attendance can purchase a meal of a hot dog or steak sandwich, chips, a drink and Andy’s frozen custard for five dollars, and may add an MSU volleyball t-shirt for $10 dollars more.