The Missouri State volleyball team closed out the regular season with a 21-9 overall record and a 14-4 mark in Missouri Valley Conference action to finish in a tie for second in the league standings. The Bears owned the tiebreaker over Wichita State and will open State Farm MVC Tournament play Friday at 4 p.m. against the winner of the match between the third-seeded Shockers and No. 6 Southern Illinois.
The other half of the bracket playing for a league title at D.J. Sokol Arena in Omaha, Neb., includes No. 1 UNI, No. 4 Creighton and No. 5 Drake.
Missouri State has played in six of the last eight MVC Championship matches and won the title in 2005 and 2008. Last season, MSU became the first team seeded lower than second to win the title, doing so as a fourth seed.
The Valley Tournament home page can be accessed by visiting www.gocreighton.com. Live stats will be available at www.missouristatebears.com and fans can watch the Bears Friday through MVC TV at www.mvc-sports.com. The championship match will be televised live Saturday on the stations listed on the left side of this page.
AUDIO AND VIDEO COVERAGE
Coverage of this week’s matches will be as follows:
• Video stream: Friday’s matched streamed at www.mvc-sports.com
• Radio: None
• TV: Saturday’s match, if necessary, televised on networks listed on the left side of this page
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.”
COACH MELISSA STOKES — Missouri State head coach Melissa Stokes (San Diego State, 1991) is 314-144 (.686) in her 14th season at Missouri State. A native of El Cajon, Calif., Stokes has guided Missouri State to an overall record of 237-86 (.734) and 142-38 (.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. The Bears made it four straight trips to the postseason with NCAA bids in 2007 and 2008.
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 coached the 300th victory of her Missouri State career against Delaware, Sept. 11, 2009. Stokes ranked 36th among active Division I coaches in winning percentage entering 2009.
LAST WEEK — Missouri State wrapped up the regular season with wins at Indiana State and Illinois State, securing the second seed at the MVC Tournament. Friday at Indiana State, four Bears had at least eight kills in a balanced 25-20, 25-20, 25-21 win.
On Saturday, the Bears played an Illinois State club fighting for its postseason chances, coming out on top by scores of 25-22, 23-25, 25-20 and 25-20. Addie Foley had a double-double with 13 kills and 17 digs, while Kelley Michnowicz hit .600 with 16 kills.
CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY — Missouri State has appeared in six of the last eight MVC Tournament finals. MSU is 26-19 in the tournament with titles coming in 1993, 2005 and 2008.
Missouri State enters the MVC Tournament as a top three seed for the ninth time in the last 15 trips. The Bears have made the finals on seven of those nine occasions.
QUICK HITS
• Missouri State started 2-0 in the MVC for the seventh time in the last 10 seasons. Each of the previous four times the Bears have started 2-0, MSU has gone on to play in the NCAA Tournament.
• MSU’s 8-0 MVC start matched the third best since the team joined the league prior to the 1992 season. The Bears began the league schedule 15-0 in 2003, 10-0 in 1992 and 8-0 in 2002.
• Not including season-ending defeats, Missouri State is 54-24 (.692) following a loss since the beginning of the 2000 season.
• Head coach Melissa Stokes is climbing up the all-time MVC coaching lists in a number of categories. Listed below is the 14th-year coach’s ranking in those categories. Lists are compiled based on statistics at Valley schools only:
• Third in total victories with 314
• Second in MVC victories (181)
• Fourth in win percentage overall (.685) and third among active MVC coaches
• Seventh in win percentage in MVC matches only (.718)
• Stokes picked up her 300th career victory with MSU’s 3-1 win over Delaware on Sept. 11. She recently passed SIU’s Debbie Hunter (1975-88) for third all-time in wins at MVC schools.
• With its win over No. 20 Wichita State Sept. 25, Missouri State has now defeated a ranked opponent in each of the last three seasons. The Bears beat the No. 9 Shockers in 2008, and topped 25th-ranked Middle Tennessee in 2007.
• Missouri State is 12-7 the last three seasons in five-set matches.
• Calli Norman has hit at least .267 in all but five matches this year, topping .300 twenty-one times, .400 twelve times, .500 five times and .600 once.
• Norman’s total of 25 kills Oct. 31 against Drake was the highest for a Bear since 2004, and the most in a four-set match since 1999.
• Norman has turned 48.5 percent of her attacks into kills this season and is hitting .362, comparing favorably with Linette White’s 2003 campaign when she hit .393 with a 52.9 percent kill rate, both school records.
• While Norman leads the MVC in hitting percentage for the whole season, Kelley Michnowicz tops all players in MVC matches, leading the league with a .359 hitting figure. She also ranks second in service aces in MVC matches.
• Cara Hackmann’s 6.40 digs per set average in MVC matches leads second place by 0.45 and would lead the nation if maintained for the entire season.
• Addie Foley is one of four players in the MVC to average at least 3.0 kills and 2.8 digs per set in conference matches.
• Sara Staubach became Missouri State’s 16th player with 1,000 career kills Nov. 6 at Evansville and now sits 14th on the career list with 1,028.
• Missouri State has finished in the top four of the MVC standings 11 years in a row. Only UNI can match that streak among league schools.
• MSU is 78-8 the last four seasons when winning set two.
• Missouri State has won at least 20 matches in 11 consecutive seasons, a streak that is currently longer than all but seven others nationally.
• Missouri State’s crowd of 2,387 for the Sept. 25 Wichita State match checked in as the sixth largest in school history.
HACK-OF-ALL-TRADES — Junior Cara Hackmann has truly been a do-it-all player in her Missouri State career. She holds the school record for hitting percentage in a match, hitting .882 (15-0-17) last season while playing as a middle hitter.
Hackmann moved to the outside for the first time in her career at the 2008 MVC Tournament and earned MVP honors at the event. She is playing as MSU’s libero this year and boasts a long list of accomplishments, including:
• MVC record 46 digs on Oct. 10 versus Evansville, also an NCAA high in 2009
• MSU record for digs in a four set match with 37 on Oct. 31 against Drake
• MSU career leader with 3.94 digs per set
• MSU season leader with 5.78 digs per set, 0.64 above current leader
• Third in career digs (1,430), second in season digs (647)
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 (1,102) and Nebraska (1,082) on the all-time wins list.
RECORD WATCH — Several top 10 lists in the MSU record book are worth keeping an eye on this season in addition to those listed on page four of these notes. Calli Norman’s career hitting percentage of .315 ranks third in school history, while her 2009 figure of .362 would rank fourth.
Kelley Michnowicz’s .285 career hitting percentage currently ranks eighth and her season average of .321 is 10th.
Cara Hackmann’s 5.78 digs per set average would be a school record if the season ended today, and she is also the career leader with a 3.94 average.
SIX IS THE MAGIC NUMBER — The number six has been a milestone number the last 10 years in terms of winning streaks, as the Bears have strung together at least six consecutive wins a total of 15 times since the beginning of the 1999 season.
The Bears won six in a row this year from Sept. 3-11, and went on an eight-match streak from Sept. 18-Oct. 16.
HOMECOMING — Missouri State has been dominant at home since 2000, compiling a home record of 124-21 for an .855 winning percentage at Hammons Student Center.
The Bears went 12-1 in 2009 with two home matches left, extending a streak of four or fewer losses in a home season to 10 years.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK — Calli Norman was Missouri State’s first weekly honor of the season on Sept. 8, earning MVC Player of the Week honors. Norman hit .404 and averaged 3.36 kills and a 1.29 blocks per set in four Missouri State wins. She hit at least .375 in three matches, including a .611 showing with 13 kills versus Memphis.
Cara Hackmann was the Defensive Player of the Week Sept. 21 after totaling 46 digs (6.57/set) in MSU wins over Illinois State and Indiana State. She was also 48-for-48 in service reception chances.
Hackmann repeated the next week after she averaged 6.00 digs per set, served three aces and was perfect in 20 serve reception chances in MSU’s win over Wichita State.
Melissa Gmur was also honored Sept. 28 as the Player of the Week. She dished out 50 assists, had 17 digs and directed the offense to a .289 hitting percentage, nearly 200 points higher than WSU’s opponent average of .098 entering the match.
Kelley Michnowicz was the Player of the Week Oct. 5 after averaging 4.00 kills, 1.83 digs, 1.67 blocks and hitting .413 in wins at Drake and Creighton.
Bethany Fuller earned league defensive honors that same week with 2.67 blocks per set average. Fuller recorded eight blocks in each match and averaged 3.00 kills on .412 hitting offensively as well.
Hackmann garnered player and defensive honors Oct. 12 after setting an MVC record with 46 digs against Evansville. In the matches against UE and Southern Illinois, she averaged 8.625 digs per set.
Hackmann won Defensive POW a fourth time on Nov. 2 after averaging 8.86 digs per set in wins versus Creighton and Drake. Her 37 digs against Drake were the third most in school history.
NATIONAL HONORS — Cara Hackmann earned the CVU.com National Player of the Week award Oct. 13 for her performances against Evansville and Southern Illinois the previous week. She averaged 8.625 digs per set in two matches and set an MVC record with 46 digs in the Bears’ five-set win over Evansville.
PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE — Cara Hackmann and Calli Norman occupy two of the eight spots on this year’s preseason all-MVC team. Hackmann was a second-team all-league choice in 2008 and made the all-freshman team in 2007, while Norman was a member of the league’s first and freshman teams a year ago.
VOLLEYBALL BLOG — Get an inside look at the Bears this season with Sara Staubach’s volley-blog. The senior outside hitter will update the blog periodically at blogs.missouristate.edu./bears.
