The Missouri State volleyball team (12-7, 4-3 Missouri Valley Conference) begins a five-match homestand Tuesday with Southern Illinois-Edwardsville at 7 p.m. before returning to MVC play this weekend with Bradley (4-15, 0-7) on Friday and UNI (17-2, 7-0) on Saturday. The Bears played 13 of their first 19 matches this season away from Springfield but will be at Hammons Student Center for eight of the next 10.

COACH MELISSA STOKES Missouri State head coach Melissa Stokes (San Diego State, 1991) is 282-129 (.686) in her 13th season at Missouri State. A native of El Cajon, Calif., Stokes has guided Missouri State to an overall record of 208-71 (.746) and 120-30 (.800) 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, and made it three straight trips to the postseason in 2007.
     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 2008.

THE OPPONENTS SIU-Edwardsville is 7-8 in its first season playing a full Division I schedule and has won five of its last six matches. The Cougars are transitioning from Division II and the Great Lakes Valley Conference, where they routinely visited Springfield to play Drury University.
    SIUE has played three MVC teams thus far, losing to Bradley (3-2), Evansville (3-1) and Indiana State (3-1). Sydney Winslow is SIUE’s top offensive player, hitting .275 and averaging 3.02 kills per set. The Cougars hit .206 as a team, allow opponents to hit .196 and average a solid 1.82 aces per set.
    Bradley is 4-15 overall and 0-7 in MVC play under first-year head coach Sean Burdette. The Braves have a Tuesday stop at Illinois-Chicago before coming to Springfield. BU has lost six in a row and is led by Amy Reichel, who averages 2.77 kills per set. The Braves hit .152 as a team compared to .231 for opponents.
    UNI is 17-2 overall and 7-0 in the league entering its Friday showdown at fellow unbeaten league leader Wichita State. The Panthers received 15 votes in this week’s AVCA Coaches’ Poll, good for 32nd. The Panthers have a powerful and balanced offense that hits .265 as a unit and has three players averaging at least 2.92 kills per set. Defensively, sophomore libero Ellie Blankenship leads the conference with 5.45 digs per set, and Ashten Stelken is tops in blocking with a 1.36 average.

THE SERIES   Missouri State and SIUE will be meeting for the first time in volleyball on Tuesday.
    Missouri State holds a 34-7 series edge with Bradley and has won the last 15 matchups with the Braves. The Bears have not lost to Bradley in Springfield since 1999, and have taken set one from the Braves in the last 11 meetings.     
    The all-time series with UNI is 36-17 in favor of the Panthers, but the Bears have taken four of the last nine meetings since losing 15-of-17 from 1998-2004.

LIVE STATS   Live stats for most Missouri State volleyball matches will be available at www.missouristatebears.com. Go to the “Fan Central” link on the left side of the page and select “Live Stats.”

AUDIO AND TELEVISION COVERAGE   Tuesday’s match with SIUE can be seen live in Springfield on Mediacom Connections Channel 14.
    Audio broadcasts of the SIUE and Bradley matches can be heard over the internet on The Growl (thegrowl.missouristate.edu), while Saturday’s match with UNI can be heard on 99.9 FM in Springfield and online at www.radiospringfield.com.

LAST WEEK The Bears went the distance in two road matches, splitting with Southern Illinois and Evansville. On Friday, the Bears had four players in double figures in kills, with Sara Staubach (21), Addie Foley (19), Kelley Michnowicz (15) and Cara Hackmann (11) powering the Bears to a 3-2 win over SIU.
    On Saturday, Missouri State led Evansville 2-1 but ran out of steam late, falling in five sets to the Aces. Staubach again led the team with 16 kills, and UE totaled 12 blocks.

QUICK HITS
    Missouri State ranks 24th in the nation and first in The Valley with 2.59 blocks per set. Sophomore middle blocker Bethany Fuller is second in the league and 32nd nationally with her 1.25 average.

    Head coach Melissa Stokes is climbing up the all-time MVC coaching lists in a number of categories. Listed below is the 13th-year coach’s ranking in those categories. Lists are compiled based on statistics at Valley schools only:
     Fifth in total victories with 282
     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 (160)

    The Bears have out-blocked their opponent in all but six matches this season and lead The Valley with 2.59 blocks per set.
    Sara Staubach has had three or fewer attack errors in 11 of MSU’s 19 matches, has four matches with no attack errors and has topped the .300 mark in hitting efficiency on 10 occasions.

    Terri Del Conte has gone 139 consecutive serve reception chances without an error. Her last was against Creighton on Sept. 26.

    Cara Hackmann has seven kill-dig double-doubles to her credit this season, same same total as all of Missouri State’s opponents combined.

    Terri Del Conte has led Missouri State in digs in all but two matches this season, including nine in a row.

    By losing to Evansville on Oct. 11, the Bears snapped a streak of 42 consecutive match victories against programs from the state of Indiana.

    Cara Hackmann (18), Calli Norman (18) and Sara Staubach (17) all had at least 17 kills at Drake on Sept. 27, the first time MSU has had three players with at least 17 kills since Linette White (22), Erin Murphy (19) and Katie Werges (18) did it against Illinois State on Oct. 25, 2003.

    Missouri State has matched or exceeded its opponent in service aces in all but six matches and is second in the MVC with just 0.84 reception errors per set.

  MSU is 54-4 the last three seasons when winning set two.

    The Bears went on a six-match winning streak Sept. 6-13, their 13th different streak of six or more consecutive wins since the beginning of the 1999 season.

    Missouri State ended its longest losing streak in four years at four matches on Aug. 30 with a win over Indiana.

    Nikki Vandepopulier now ranks 18th on MSU’s career digs and has 987 digs as a Bear.

    The Bears used six freshman against Arkansas-Pine Bluff Sept. 13.

    Cara Hackmann broke a long-standing school record by hitting .882 (15-0-17) against IPFW on Sept. 12, breaking Mindy Struckhoff’s 23-year-old mark of .867 that was set nearly three years before Hackmann was born and when Coach Stokes was a senior in high school.
    The Bears put up the second best attack percentage in school history as a team in the IPFW match as well, hitting .456 (48-7-90).

CAREER DIGS LEADER??? Senior Terri Del Conte is averaging 3.61 digs per set for her career through 188 sets, and will qualify for MSU’s career statistics when she reaches 200 sets played.
    Del Conte has a shot at leaving MSU with the career lead, which is currently held by Adeana McAfee, who averaged 3.84 from 2003-06.

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 (1,072) and Nebraska (1,045) on the all-time wins list.

HOMECOMING Missouri State has been dominant at home since 2000, compiling a home record of 106-17 for an .862 winning percentage at Hammons Student Center. The Bears have completed eight consecutive years with three or fewer losses in a home season and are 5-1 in 2008.
    
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK   Cara Hackmann was MSU’s first MVC Player of the Week in 2008, earning the award Sept. 15. She averaged 3.82 kills on .500 hitting, 3.18 digs and 1.36 blocks per set over four matches and set the school record for hitting percentage in a match at .882  (15-0-17) against IPFW on Sept. 12.
    The Bears added two more awards on Oct. 6. Addie Foley was honored as POW after averaging 3.50 kills on .304 hitting, 1.12 digs and 0.62 blocks in wins against Indiana State and Illinois State.
    Terri Del Conte earned Defensive Player of the Week recognition the same week. The senior averaged 5.75 digs per set, including a career-high 27 versus the Sycamores, while posting a perfect service reception percentage in 47 tries.

PRESEASON POLL Coming off three straight NCAA Tournament appearances, the Bears are picked to finish fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference in 2008 by the league’s coaches. Wichita State is the preseason choice to repeat as league champions, while UNI was picked second and Creighton a close third.

BEARS ON TV A total of four MSU volleyball games can be seen live on Mediacom Channel 14 in Springfield this season. The Bears will be on TV Sept. 13 against Alcorn State and UALR, Oct. 14 versus SIU-Edwardsville and Nov. 4 against Texas-Pan American.

RADIO BROADCASTS MSU volleyball broadcasts will air on several stations this season, including KBFL 99.9 FM and 1060 AM in Springfield, over the internet at www.radiospringfield.com and on The Growl at thegrowl.missouristate.edu.
    A complete listing of this year’s radio broadcasts can be found on page 4.

VOLLEYBALL LUNCHEONS Three dates remain for Missouri State volleyball luncheons this fall. Luncheons will be on alternate Wednesdays at Springfield Brewing Company, 301 South Market, and feature Bears’ head coach Melissa Stokes. Luncheons begin at noon and remaining dates are Oct. 22, Nov. 5 and Nov. 19.

RULE CHANGES FOR 2008   A few rule changes will be in effect this season, most notably that the term “game” will now be changed to “set”, and that sets will be played to 25 points rather than 30. Additionally, with the new shorter sets, the maximum number of substitutions allowed will now be 12 per set.