The Missouri State volleyball team (16-8, 7-4 Missouri Valley Conference) hits the road this weekend for matches with Illinois State (12-11, 5-6) at 7 p.m. Friday and Indiana State (8-16, 2-9) at 6 p.m. Saturday. The Bears have eight matches left in the regular season, four at home and four on the road against teams Missouri State has previously defeated this season.

THE OPPONENTS Illinois State is 12-11 overall and 5-6 in The Valley after a five-set loss at UNI on Saturday. The Redbirds boast two of the top five attackers in the league in Peggy Riessen and Mallory Leggett, who average 3.71 and 3.42 kills per set, respectively. ISU averages 13.49 kills on .199 hitting, 17.04 digs and 1.93 blocks per set as a team.
    Indiana State is 8-16 overall and 2-9 in the MVC, picking up both league wins at home against Bradley and Illinois State. The Sycamores are led offensively by Jodilynn Stoker, who averages 2.98 kills per set. Defensively, Kristy Cox averages 4.51 digs per set and had 36 in ISU’s five-set loss to the Bears in Springfield earlier this season.
    As a team, Indiana State averages 11.68 kills on .177 hitting, 15.22 digs and 1.77 blocks per set.
    In the season’s first meeting in Springfield, Missouri State swept Illinois State by two points in each set, and overcame an 0-2 deficit and five match points in the third set to defeat Indiana State in five on Oct. 3.    

THE SERIES   Missouri State has squared off with Illinois State more than any other school, and the series is tied 38-38 in 76 all-time meetings. Missouri State has been in control of the series lately, however, winning 14 of the last 17 overall.
    Missouri State leads the all-time series with Indiana State by a 44-1 margin, with the Bears’ lone loss occurring in five sets in 1994. Since then, the Bears have reeled off 30 straight wins against the Sycamores.

COACH MELISSA STOKES Missouri State head coach Melissa Stokes (San Diego State, 1991) is 286-130 (.688) in her 13th season at Missouri State. A native of El Cajon, Calif., Stokes has guided Missouri State to an overall record of 212-72 (.746) and 123-31 (.799) 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.

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 VIDEO COVERAGE   Friday’s match at Illinois State can be heard in the Springfield area on KBFL 99.9 FM and online at www.radiospringfield.com.
    Bears Live will offer a video stream of the Indiana State match. Sign up for the ISU match and live events throughout the year at www.missouristatebears.com.

LAST WEEK The Bears swept Drake on Friday with a solid team effort and .301 hitting percentage, but lost a five-set heartbreaker to Creighton on Saturday. Against CU, the Bears dropped the first two sets, but won the next two and then fought back from a four-point deficit in the final set only to fall after an 11-11 tie. Cara Hackmann led the Bears with 14 kills and 17 digs in the defeat.

QUICK HITS
    Missouri State ranks 34th in the nation and fourth in The Valley with 2.50 blocks per set. The Bears also rank among the nation’s top 90 in digs per set (65th), winning percentage (77th), kills per set (81st), assists per set (90th) and hitting percentage (90th).

    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 286
     Fourth in win percentage overall (.688) and second among active MVC coaches
     Sixth in win percentage in MVC matches only (.718)
      Third in MVC victories (163)

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

    The Bears have out-blocked their opponent in all but eight matches this season and rank fourth in The Valley with 2.50 blocks per set.

    Missouri State has played beyond three sets in 15 of 24 matches this season, and has a record of 8-1 in the three-setters.

    The Bears have six players with at least two double-figure kill matches and five who have 10-plus kills on at least five occasions.

    Sara Staubach has had three or fewer attack errors in 13 of MSU’s 24 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 eight kill-dig double-doubles to her credit this season, just one less than all of Missouri State’s opponents combined.

    Kelley Michnowicz has made only five errors in the last five matches, accumulating 50 kills on 108 swings in the process.

    Terri Del Conte has led Missouri State in digs in all but three matches this season and has reached double figures in 14 in 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 0.84 reception errors per set.

  MSU is 57-4 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 15th on MSU’s career digs and has 1,033 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 3.66 digs per set for her career and has an outside 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 (1,048) on the all-time wins list.

HOMECOMING Missouri State has been dominant at home since 2000, compiling a home record of 110-18 for an .859 winning percentage at Hammons Student Center. The Bears have completed eight consecutive years with three or fewer losses in a home season and are 9-2 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.
    Michnowicz repeated that honor Oct. 27 after averaging 2.88 kills on .417 hitting and 1.00 digs for the Bears against Drake and Creighton.

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 Two 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 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.