The Missouri State volleyball team (18-8, 9-4 Missouri Valley Conference) begins a three-match homestand Tuesday at 6 p.m. with Texas-Pan American (5-13) and returns to MVC play on Friday with Evansville (13-12, 7-5) and Saturday with Southern Illinois (15-8, 5-7). First serve for both weekend matches is 7 p.m. With five league matches to go, MSU finds itself just one match out of second in the conference standings and one-half match behind Creighton for third.
    Tuesday’s match will be televised live locally on Mediacom Channel 14 in Springfield.

THE OPPONENTS Texas Pan-American is 5-13 after sweeping Texas Southern on Friday.The Lady Broncs are led offensively by Kellie Phillips and her 3.29 kills per set average, and she is the only player on the team averaging better than 2.2 kills per set. Libero Rebecca Toddy scoops 4.07 digs per set, and the Lady Broncs average 11.03 kills, 14.21 digs and 1.48 blocks on .176 hitting as a team.
    Evansville is 13-12 overall and 7-5 in the MVC and earned it first-ever win in 31 tries over UNI on Saturday. The Purple Aces have a balanced offense with four players averaging between 2.13 and 2.71 kills per set. UE averages 12.84 kills on .187 hitting, 16.33 digs and 1.63 blocks per set this season.
    Southern Illinois is 15-8 overall and 5-7 in the MVC. The Salukis are led by all-conference candidate Jennifer Berwanger, who paces the team in both kills (3.60) and digs (3.98).
    SIU ranks fourth in the conference with a 2.52 blocking average, led by junior Chandra Roberson’s 1.12 per set to go along with .305 hitting.
    As a team, the Salukis hit .205 and average 12.54 kills and 16.92 digs per set.

THE SERIES   Missouri State and UTPA have met twice before, with the Bears winning 3-0 in 1998 and 1999.
    MSU leads Southern Illinois 39-14 in the all-time series and has won the last eight matches after winning in five sets earlier this season in Carbondale.
    Missouri State has suffered just two losses in 30 all-time meetings with Evansville. The Bears had won 18 straight against the Aces until a five-set loss at UE on Oct. 11. The other loss came in 1999.

COACH MELISSA STOKES Missouri State head coach Melissa Stokes (San Diego State, 1991) is 288-130 (.689) in her 13th season at Missouri State. A native of El Cajon, Calif., Stokes has guided Missouri State to an overall record of 214-72 (.748) and 125-31 (.801) 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   All three of this week’s matches will be on radio. The Bears can be heard Tuesday on The Growl (thegrowl.missouristate.edu), Friday on 99.9 FM in Springfield, and Saturday online at www.radiospringfield.com.
    Tuesday’s match will also be televised live locally on Mediacon Channel 14 in Springfield.
    Bears Live will also offer a video stream of the Texas-Pan Am match Tuesday. Sign up for the UTPA match and live events throughout the year at www.missouristatebears.com.

LAST WEEK The Bears were pushed to five sets in both matches but prevailed twice at Illinois State and Indiana State.
    On Friday, it took until 18-16 in the fifth set to decide a winner between the Bears and Redbirds, with MSU finally winning on the strength 15 blocks compared to four by the home team and 16 kills apiece from Sara Staubach and Cara Hackmann.
    MSU had to win the last two sets Saturday to fell the Sycamores, and Staubach again led the team with 14 kills and no hitting errors.

QUICK HITS
    Missouri State ranks 30th in the nation and third in The Valley with 2.53 blocks per set. The Bears also rank among the nation’s top 70 in digs per set (60th) and winning percentage (70th).

    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 288
     Fourth in win percentage overall (.689) and second among active MVC coaches
     Sixth in win percentage in MVC matches only (.721)
      Third in MVC victories (165)

    Stokes is now one victory away from tying Illinois State’s Julie Morgan (1987-99) for fourth all-time in wins at MVC schools, and seven 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 third in The Valley with 2.53 blocks per set.

    Missouri State has played beyond three sets in 17 of 26 matches this season, and has a record of 8-1 in the three-setters.

    MSU has played three consecutive five-set matches for the first time since 1991.

    The Bears have six players with at least three 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 14 of MSU’s 26 matches, has five matches with no attack errors and has topped the .300 mark in hitting efficiency on 11 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 10 kill-dig double-doubles to her credit this season, just two less than all of Missouri State’s opponents combined.

    Kelley Michnowicz has made only six errors in her last six matches, accumulating 56 kills on 130 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 16 in row.

    Del Conte’s 443 digs this season rank eighth all-time for a season at MSU.

    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 nine matches and is second in the MVC with just 0.87 reception errors per set.

     MSU is 58-4 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 14th on MSU’s career digs and has 1,049 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 3.74 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 (1,075) and Nebraska (1,050) 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.

CHASE FOR 20 WINS Missouri State needs two more victories to reach 20 wins for the 10th consecutive season. Entering 2008, only nine schools in the country had longer active streaks.

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.