The Missouri State volleyball team earned the Missouri Valley Conference’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament by winning the MVC Tournament and brings a 23-12 overall record into its fourth consecutive NCAA appearance. The Bears open the tournament with the University of Alabama at Birmingham at 4:30 p.m. Friday inside the Nebraska Coliseum in Lincoln, Neb. UAB went 26-7 in the 2008 regular season and finished second in Conference USA with a 13-3 league mark.
The other two teams in Lincoln are the No. 4 overall seed and host Nebraska Cornhuskers (27-2, 18-2 Big 12) and Liberty (25-8, 13-3 Big South).
NU is ranked fourth in this week’s Bison/AVCA Top 25 poll, and faces Liberty at 7 p.m. Friday, with the winners scheduled to play at 5 p.m. Saturday for the right to advance to the third and fourth rounds in Seattle, Wash.
The matches will be broadcast live on KBFL 99.9 FM in Springfield and online at
www.radiospringfield.com.
Scoring updates for the entire NCAA Tournament can be accessed at www.ncaa.com.
NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY Missouri State is making its eighth NCAA appearance in the 28-year history of the event, and is 1-7 all-time. The Bears also made the field in 1982, 1990, 1993, 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007. Below is a list of previous tournament results:
1982 - Texas def. Missouri State; 15-10, 8-15, 15-7, 15-13 (Austin, Texas)
1990 - Hawaii def. Missouri State; 15-4, 15-11, 15-4 (Honolulu, Hawaii)
1993 - Illinois def. Missouri State; 15-7, 15-13, 17-15 (Springfield, Mo.)
2003 - Arkansas def. Missouri State; 30-26, 30-28, 16-30, 30-26 (Manhattan, Kan.)
2005 - Missouri def. Missouri State; 30-27, 30-18, 16-30, 30-26 (Columbia, Mo.)
2006 - Missouri State def. Arkansas; 28-30, 30-21, 30-27, 30-28 (Fayetteville, Ark.)
2006 - Oklahoma def. Missouri State; 30-19, 30-22, 30-19 (Fayetteville, Ark.)
2007 - Oregon def. Missouri State; 31-29, 30-20, 31-29 (Manhattan, Kan.)
THE OPPONENTS UAB is 26-7 overall and finished second in Conference USA with a 13-3 league mark. The Blazers, who receiver 13 votes in this week’s Bison/AVCA Top 25 poll to rank 31st, are led by Ivana Bozic, who averages 3.31 kills per set this season and ranks third in UAB history in total kills. The Blazers are 4-4 in their last eight matches after bolting to a 22-3 start that included a 16-match winning streak. UAB averages 13.18 kills, 15.80 digs and 1.99 blocks per set and hits .253 as a team.
Nebraska is 27-2 and is the No. 4 overall seed nationally. The Cornhuskers hit .271 as a team with four regulars above the .300 mark. Jordan Larson and Tara Mueller get the bulk of the attacks and average 3.93 and 3.53 kills per set, respectively. The Huskers average 14.66 kills, 14.82 digs and 2.59 blocks per set as a team.
Liberty is 25-8 overall and earned the Big South’s automatic bid by winning the league tournament after a 13-3 regular season finish. Nicki Scripko tops the squad with 3.45 kills per set, while Chelaine McCarty ranks second with 2.64 on .351 hitting. The Flames hit .231 as a team and average 13.55 kills, 15.62 digs and 2.08 blocks per set.
THE SERIES Missouri State has never faced UAB or Liberty and is 17-15 all-time against Nebraska. The Huskers have won nine straight over the Bears, and the teams have met just once since 1985, a 3-0 NU win in 1993. Missouri State won the first 11 matches in the series and holds an 8-3 advantage against Nebraska in postseason play, with those matches coming the AIAW Regional and National Tournaments in the late 1970s and early 80s.
COACH MELISSA STOKES Missouri State head coach Melissa Stokes (San Diego State, 1991) is 293-134 (.686) in her 13th season at Missouri State. A native of El Cajon, Calif., Stokes has guided Missouri State to an overall record of 216-76 (.740) and 127-34 (.789) 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-set 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 COVERAGE All Missouri State matches this weekend can be heard on KBFL 99.9 FM in Springfield.
LAST WEEK Missouri State made an improbable run through the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, becoming the lowest seed to win the event from the fourth slot.
The Bears swept Illinois State in the quarterfinals to set up a showdown with top-seeded and undefeated Wichita State. MSU got a 2-0 lead on the ninth-ranked Shockers before WSU forced a fifth set. The Bears held match point at 14-13, then went down 15-14 before scoring the final three points. Bethany Fuller had a career-high 17 kills and hit .593.
On Saturday in the final, the Bears swept UNI, hitting .287 to claim the championship and the MVC’s automatic NCAA berth.
QUICK HITS
Missouri State is one of 25 programs that have made the NCAA Tournament in each of the last four seasons. The others are American, Cal, Colorado State, Duke, Florida, Florida A&M, Hawaii, Kentucky, Long Beach State, Long Island, Louisville, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio, Pepperdine, Penn State, Purdue, San Diego, Santa Clara, Siena, Stanford, Texas, UCLA and Washington.
MSU is 3-5 against the 2008 NCAA field with two wins over UNI and one against Wichita State.
The Missouri Valley Conference advanced multiple teams to the NCAA Tournament for a third consecutive year, getting three bids this season after a record four in 2008. All-time, the MVC is 16-34 in NCAA play with three trips to the round of 16.
A first round win by both Missouri State and Nebraska would set up a match between programs ranking second and third in all-time victories. Should both teams advance to the second round, the combined win total would be 2,107 (1,057 for NU, 1,050 for MSU), the most combined wins ever for two programs in a match.
Missouri State ranks 37th in the nation in blocks per set (2.48) and 42nd in digs (16.23), while Terri Del Conte is the team’s only individual ranking among the nation’s top 100, coming in at 80th with 4.37 digs per set.
Missouri State has now finished in the top four of the MVC standings 10 years in a row. Only UNI can match that streak among league schools.
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:
Fourth in total victories with 293
Fifth in win percentage overall (.686) and second among active MVC coaches
Sixth in win percentage in MVC matches only (.714)
Third in MVC victories (167)
Stokes is now two victories away from tying SIU’s Debbie Hunter (1975-88) for third all-time in wins at MVC schools.
Missouri State has played beyond three sets in 22 of 35 matches this season, the most in school history.
The Bears have six players with at least five double-figure kill matches and five who have 10-plus kills on at least nine occasions.
Sara Staubach has had three or fewer attack errors in 18 of MSU’s 35 matches, has five matches with no attack errors and has topped the .300 mark in hitting efficiency on 13 occasions.
Kelley Michnowicz has made only 23 errors in her last 14 matches, accumulating 120 kills on 299 swings in the process to hit .324.
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.
Del Conte has led Missouri State in digs in all but eight matches this season and has reached double figures in 24 in row.
Del Conte’s 594 digs this season rank third all-time for a season at MSU, and she now ranks 20th on the career list with 962, easily the most by a two-year player.
Del Conte is second on the career digs per set list, just .003 digs per set behind current record holder Adeana McAfee.
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).
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.
MSU is 61-4 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.
Nikki Vandepopulier now ranks 10th on MSU’s career digs and has 1,175 digs as a Bear.
The Bears used six freshmen 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).
THAT’S A LOT OF VOLLEYBALL Missouri State has made a habit of playing long matches this season. Here are some numbers that show just how much volleyball the Bears are playing.
22 matches that have lasted more than three sets, a school record
Nine five-set matches (the most since 1998)
136 sets is the most since the 1982 team played 172. That team also played 50 matches.
14 of 18 MVC matches lasted more than three sets.
20 WINS AGAIN Missouri State has reached 20 wins for the 10th consecutive season. Entering 2008, only nine schools in the country had longer active streaks.
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 (1,080) and Nebraska (1,056) on the all-time wins list.
FULLER WINS NATIONAL AWARD Bethany Fuller’s performance at the MVC Tournament netted the sophomore middle blocker the CVU.com National Player of the Week award on Dec. 2. Fuller averaged 3.00 kills, 1.33 digs and 0.78 blocks while hitting .480 in the tournament. She had a career-high 17 kills and hit .593 versus a Wichita State team that was 29-0 and ranked ninth in the country, and added 10 more kills on .364 hitting in the championship match sweep of UNI.
ALL-CONFERENCE Four Bears earned all-conference status this season, headlined by first-teamers Sara Staubach and Calli Norman. Cara Hackmann made the second team, and Norman doubled-up on the all-freshman squad with Kelley Michnowicz.
SCHOLAR-ATHLETES Cara Hackmann, Terri Del Conte and Sara Staubach were voted to the MVC Scholar-Athlete team in 2008. Hackmann, a real estate major with a 3.95 GPA, was the Bears’ lone first-team selection, while Del Conte (3.36, marketing management) and Staubach (3.47, dietetics) earned honorable mention nods.
HACKMANN MVC MVP Cara Hackmann was named the Most Valuable Player of last week’s MVC Tournament after averaging 2.45 kills on .253 hitting, 4.09 digs, 0.55 blocks and 0.55 assists per set. Hackmann moved to outside hitter for the first time in her career for the final two matches.
HOMECOMING Missouri State has been dominant at home since 2000, compiling a home record of 112-20 for an .848 winning percentage at Hammons Student Center. The Bears have completed nine consecutive years with four or fewer losses in a home season and went 11-4 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.
Norman added to her hardware collection Nov. 10 with a Freshman of the Week award. She averaged 3.15 kills and 1.31 blocks and hit .286 for the week.
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.
