The Missouri State volleyball team (11-6, 3-2 Missouri Valley Conference) hits the road again this week with two crucial matches that have a say in the league standings early this season. The Bears, now in a logjam for third in the MVC race, look to make up some ground on the leaders at Southern Illinois (11-4, 2-3) on Friday and Evansville (9-9, 3-2) on Saturday. First serve for both contests is 7 p.m.

COACH MELISSA STOKES Missouri State head coach Melissa Stokes (San Diego State, 1991) is 281-128 (.687) in her 13th season at Missouri State. A native of El Cajon, Calif., Stokes has guided Missouri State to an overall record of 207-70 (.747) and 119-29 (.804) 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   Southern Illinois boasts the third-best overall record in the MVC at 11-4 and is 2-3 in the league standings entering the weekend. Setter Brooklyn Robbins leads the MVC with 10.84 assists per set, Chandra Roberson is second in bothing hitting percentage (.340) and blocking (1.30), and Jennifer Berwanger is fifth in kills (3.57) and digs (4.28) for the veteran and talented Salukis. As a team, SIU hits .214, holds opponents to .144, and averages 2.55 blocks per set.
    Evansville is 9-9 overall and tied with MSU at 3-2 in the MVC standings. After starting 0-4, the Purple Aces have moved back to .500 and have posted nearly identical statistics to their opponents this season. UE averages 12.81 kills per set on .189 hitting, 16.24 digs and 1.72 blocks as a team.

THE SERIES   Missouri State has suffered just one loss in 29 all-time meetings with Evansville, the lone defeat coming in five games in 1999 at UE. The Bears have won 18 straight matches against the Aces, and have taken the first set in 16 straight meetings.     
    MSU leads Southern Illinois 38-14 in the all-time series and has won the last seven matches.

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   An audio broadcast of the Southern Illinois match Friday will be carried by Meyer Communications and can be heard online at www.radiospringfield.com. A link to the broadcast can be found on the volleyball schedule page under the “media” heading at www.missouristatebears.com.

LAST WEEK Missouri State grabbed a pair of MVC victories by the slimmest of margins over the weekend. On Friday, the Bears stared down a 2-0 deficit and five Indiana State match points in the third set to come back and win in five sets. Freshman Calli Norman led the way with 16 kills.
    On Saturday, the Bears dispatched a veteran Illinois State squad by just two points in all three sets, with two sets requiring more than 25 points to win.
    Individual MVC honors went to Addie Foley for Player of the Week and Terri Del Conte for Defensive Player of the Week after the two wins.

QUICK HITS
    Missouri State ranks 25th in the nation and second in The Valley with 2.66 blocks per set. Sophomore middle blocker Bethany Fuller is second in the league and 35th 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 281
     Fourth in win percentage overall (.687) and second among active MVC coaches
     Sixth in win percentage in MVC matches only (.719)
      Third in MVC victories (159)

    The Bears have out-blocked their opponent in all but five matches this season and rank second The Valley with 2.66 blocks per set.
    
    Sara Staubach has had three or fewer attack errors in 11 of MSU’s 17 matches, has four matches with no attack errors and has topped the .300 mark in hitting efficiency on nine occasions.

    Cara Hackmann has six kill-dig double-doubles to her credit this season, while all of Missouri State’s opponents have combined for only five.

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

    With Evansville on the ledger this week, it is notable that Missouri State has won 42 consecutive matches 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 four matches and leads the MVC with just 0.84 reception errors per set.

  MSU is 54-3 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 19th on MSU’s career digs and has 956 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 3.57 digs per set for her career through 178 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, and needs to maintain her current pace of 4.25 digs per set for 57 more sets to claim the lead over Adeana McAfee, who averaged 3.84 from 2003-06.
    The Bears have 15 regular season matches left on the schedule.

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 (1,071) and Nebraska (1,044) 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 Four 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. 8, 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.