The Missouri State volleyball team (9-2) returns to Springfield to open Missouri Valley Conference play this weekend against preseason favorite UNI and Bradley at Hammons Student Center. The Bears are winners of four straight and defeated 25th-ranked Middle Tennessee in their last match.

Missouri State returns to the AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll this week, earning nine votes for a No. 35 national ranking.

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. Live audio will be available on the web at http://thegrowl.missouristate.edu.

COACH MELISSA STOKES Missouri State head coach Melissa Stokes (San Diego State, 1991) is 254-116 (.686) in her 12th season at Missouri State. A native of El Cajon, Calif., Stokes has guided Missouri State to an overall record of 183-59 (.756) 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 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.

THE OPPONENTS Northern Iowa is 5-5 on the season after a difficult non-conference schedule, and began the season as the favorite to win the league. The Panthers have suffered three defeats at the hands of top-25 foes, but enter Friday’s match with two wins in a row after knocking off Arkansas and Fresno State on Saturday. Ashten Stelken leads UNI with 3.53 kills per game, and five players average at least 2.59. The Panthers are once again a force at the net, with 109 blocks in 32 games this year.

Bradley is 1-9 this season and has lost four matches in a row since defeating Western Illinois on Sept. 1. The BU offense is hitting .140 and has three players averaging better than 2.5 kills per game. The Braves average 2.31 blocks per game.

THE SERIES The all-time series with UNI is 35-16 in favor of the Panthers, with UNI winning all three meetings in 2006, including the MVC Tournament championship match.

Missouri State holds a 34-7 series edge with Bradley and has won the last 13 matchups with the Braves. The Bears have not lost to Bradley in Springfield since 1999, and have taken game one from the Braves in the last nine meetings.

LAST WEEK The Bears completed their second 4-0 weekend of the season, winning the Comfort Inns & Suites Challenge before traveling to 25th-ranked Middle Tennessee on Sunday and claiming a 3-1 victory over the Blue Raiders.

Missouri State opened the weekend Friday with a sweep of UNC-Asheville, and then knocked off Tennessee Tech and Chattanooga by 3-0 scores on Saturday to win the tournament title. Katelyn Panzau was the tournament MVP while Sara Thomas and Jamie Adams joined her on the all-tournament team.

The long weekend concluded Sunday in Murfreesboro, Tenn., with the Bears scoring their first top-25 upset in four years. Thomas posted a career-best 20 kills and four Bears reached double figures to knock off the previously unbeaten Blue Raiders. Adams had 17 kills, Cara Hackmann added 10 on .421 hitting and the Bears blocked 14 MTSU attacks and served 10 aces to secure the win.

Missouri State has not lost back-to-back matches since Sept. 2-3 of the 2005 season, meaning the Bears have won their last 17 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 those categories. Lists are compiled based on statistics at Valley schools only.

Sixth in total victories with 254

Fourth in win percentage overall (.686) and second among active MVC coaches

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

Third in MVC victories (142)

Stokes earned her 250th career victory when the Bears defeated Florida State on Aug. 31.

Katelyn Panzau is now ninth in school history with 1,956 assists. She is 72 shy of breaking the school record for a two-year player.

MSU is 32-1 the last two seasons when winning game two.

Missouri State’s win over No. 25 Middle Tennessee was the first over a ranked team since 2003.

Jamie Adams has reached at least 10 kills in 16 of her last 18 matches.

Missouri State has hit over .200 in nine of 11 matches this season and at least .171 in all but one.

Nikki Vandepopulier has reached the 10-dig mark 10 times this season and carries a streak of eight matches in a row into this weekend.

Sara Thomas has recorded at least one kill, dig, assist and block in all but one match this season.

By winning MVC Player of the Week honor Sept. 10, Thomas becomes the first MSU player to win the award multiple times in the same season since Linette White in 2003.

Thomas has recorded at least seven kills in each match, hitting .500 or better two times, .400 or better five times, and .300 or better seven times.

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. The Bears trail only UCLA (1,043) on the all-time wins list.

HOMECOMING Missouri State has been dominant at home since 2000, compiling a home record of 92-13 for an .876 winning percentage at Hammons Student Center. The Bears have completed seven consecutive years with three or fewer losses in a home season and are 4-0 in 2007.

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. MSU plays Northern Iowa and Wichita State two times each, and also has matches against Middle Tennessee, Michigan State and Sacramento State. The Bears are 2-1 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 ninth place on the career list with 1,956.

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 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.

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.

VOLLEYBALL LUNCHEONS Four 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 Sept. 12, Sept. 26, Oct. 10, Oct. 24, Nov. 7 and Nov. 21.