The Missouri State volleyball team (15-7, 6-3 Missouri Valley Conference) begins the second half of the league season this weekend by hosting Drake (9-13, 2-7) at 7 p.m. Friday and Creighton (10-7, 7-2) at 6 p.m. Saturday. The Bears sit just a match out of second place in the league standings, trailing CU and a UNI team the Bears defeated in their last match.

COACH MELISSA STOKES Missouri State head coach Melissa Stokes (San Diego State, 1991) is 285-129 (.688) in her 13th season at Missouri State. A native of El Cajon, Calif., Stokes has guided Missouri State to an overall record of 211-71 (.748) and 122-30 (.803) 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 Drake is 9-13 overall and 2-7 in the league. The Bulldogs opened the season 6-0 under first-year coach Phil McDaniel, but have sputtered since, winning only three matches in 16 tries. Sophomore outside hitter Angela Bys leads the way with 3.53 kills per set, and the Bulldogs hit .177 as a team compared to .218 for opponents.
    Creighton is 10-7 and 7-2 in The Valley after winning its last four league matches. Middle blocker Jessica Houts leads the offense with 3.41 kills per set on .300 hitting, and CU ranks third in the league with a .229 hitting percentage. The Bluejays are also third in the MVC with 2.53 blocks per set while sitting as the league’s best service reception team, only surrendering 51 aces in 63 sets.

THE SERIES   Missouri State is a combined 68-13 all-time against this week’s opponents. MSU has won 18 straight over Drake and has built a 43-8 lead in the all-time series with the Bulldogs. Missouri State had won 19 straight against Creighton before the Bluejays snapped the streak last season in Springfield, but still boasts a 25-5 all-time record versus CU.
    The Bears lost at CU 3-1 and defeated Drake 3-1 in the season’s first meetings.

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 COVERAGE   Both matches this weekend will be broadcast over the internet only. Friday’s match with Drake will be on The Growl (thegrowl.missouristate.edu), and Saturday’s match with Creighton will online with Meyer Communications (www.radiospringfield.com).

LAST WEEK Missouri State won all three matches last week, beginning with a Tuesday sweep of SIU-Edwardsville. Addie Foley had her first career double-double in the match with 10 kills and 11 digs.
    The Bears dropped the first set to Bradley on Friday but won the next three. Foley again led the Bears with 18 kills and 10 digs. Calli Norman added 14 kills and Kelley Michnowicz had 10.
    On Saturday, MSU downed UNI in three sets despite being out-blocked 18-6. Foley had 16 kills, Sara Staubach had 13 and Norman added 10.

DIG PINK MSU will be participating in the Dig Pink breast cancer awareness event Saturday. Fans will have an opportunity to support breast cancer research by donating to the Breast Cancer Foundation of the Ozarks at the match or support the Bears online through The Side-Out Foundation.

QUICK HITS
    Missouri State ranks 31st in the nation and second in The Valley with 2.56 blocks per set. The Bears also rank among the nation’s top 80 in digs per set (54th), winning percentage (74th), kills per set (76th) and assists per set (79th).

    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 285
    Fourth in win percentage overall (.688) and second among active MVC coaches
    Sixth in win percentage in MVC matches only (.720)
     Third in MVC victories (162)

    Stokes is now four victories away from tying Illinois State’s Julie Morgan (1987-99) for fourth all-time in wins at MVC schools, and 10 victories away from matching SIU’s Debbie Hunter (1975-88) for third.

    The Bears have out-blocked their opponent in all but seven matches this season and rank second The Valley with 2.56 blocks per set.

    Sara Staubach has had three or fewer attack errors in 12 of MSU’s 22 matches, has four matches with no attack errors and has topped the .300 mark in hitting efficiency on 10 occasions.

    Terri Del Conte went 165 consecutive serve reception chances without an error from Sept. 26 to Oct. 17. As a comparison, the league as a whole averages one error approximately every 17 chances for the season.
    Cara Hackmann has seven kill-dig double-doubles to her credit this season, the 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 12 in a row.

    After recording no double-doubles in her first 71 career matches, Addie Foley did it on back-to-back nights with 10 kills and 11 digs versus SIUE (Oct.14) and 18 kills and 10 digs against Bradley (Oct. 17).

    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 seven matches and is second in the MVC with just 0.86 reception errors per set.

  MSU is 56-4 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 16th on MSU’s career digs and has 1,014 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 3.68 digs per set for her career through 199 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 (1,074) and Nebraska (1,046) on the all-time wins list.

HOMECOMING Missouri State has been dominant at home since 2000, compiling a home record of 109-17 for an .865 winning percentage at Hammons Student Center. The Bears have completed eight consecutive years with three or fewer losses in a home season and are 8-1 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.
    Two more Bears were honored Oct. 20. Freshman Calli Norman won Player of the Week honors after hitting .441 with 2.91 kills and 1.18 blocks per set in three wins.
    Fellow rookie Kelley Michnowicz was the league’s Freshman of the Week. She hit .417 (27-2-60) and averaged 2.45 kills, 1.00 digs and 0.73 blocks per set for the week.

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.