The Missouri State volleyball team opens the home season this weekend by hosting the Results Advertising/Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational presented by Ramada Oasis inside Hammons Student Center. Joining the Bears in the five-team round robin competition are UC Davis, Mississippi State, Memphis and Stephen F. Austin. Missouri State embarks on a four-match road trip after this weekend, and returns home Sept. 18 to begin Missouri Valley Conference play with Illinois State.
The Bears will be covered by several media outlets this weekend. Thursday’s match will be televised live on Mediacom Channel 22, and the remaining matches can be heard over the internet on The Growl.
THE OPPONENTS — UC Davis is 2-1 on the season after a trip to Washington State’s tournament, where the Aggies lost to the host Cougars but defeated Portland and Montana State. The Aggies hit .202 during the first weekend and averaged 1.3 aces and 2.1 blocks per set while limiting the opposition to a .175 hitting figure.
Mississippi State went 1-2 in its home tournament the opening week, sweeping Jackson State and losing to McNeese State and UALR by 3-1 scores. The Bulldogs out-hit the opposition .215-.167 and averaged 2.45 blocks per set. Ashley Newsome led the team with 3.00 kills and 1.18 blocks per set.
Memphis dropped all three matches of its home tournament, falling to Evansville, SEMO and Arkansas State. The Tigers won one set in the event, hitting .176 compared to .219 for opponents. Memphis did average an impressive 19.2 digs per set.
Stephen F. Austin is 2-2 on the year entering a Wednesday match with Louisiana-Lafayette. The Lady Jacks own wins against Illinois-Chicago and Western Illinois, but lost to Southern Illinois and Northern Illinois. SFA played its opponents nearly identical statistically during the first weekend, hitting .225, averaging 1.46 aces and 2.15 blocks per set.
THE SERIES — Missouri State is 16-0 all-time against the tournament field. MSU has never faced UC Davis, and UCD head coach Jamie Holmes was an assistant at MSU under Melissa Stokes from 1997-2001.
Missouri State won the only previous meeting with Mississippi State, 2-0 in 1974, and is 10-0 all-time against Memphis, last facing the Tigers in a 3-1 win in 1991. MSU owns a 5-0 series lead over Stephen F. Austin, the last meeting a 3-0 win in 2000.
COACH MELISSA STOKES — Missouri State head coach Melissa Stokes (San Diego State, 1991) is 294-137 (.682) in her 14th season at Missouri State. A native of El Cajon, Calif., Stokes has guided Missouri State to an overall record of 217-79 (.733) 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 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 250th victory of her Missouri State career against Florida State, Aug. 31, 2007. Stokes ranked 36th among active Division I coaches in win percentage entering 2009.
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
Coverage of the Missouri game will be as follows:
• Radio: The Growl, Friday and Saturday matches
• Video stream: None
• TV: Mediacom 22, Thursday vs. UC Davis, 7 p.m. Replays, 10 a.m., Sat. and Sun.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY— This is the 12th consecutive year the tournament has carried the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn name. Missouri State had streaks of nine consecutive tournament titles and 32 straight victories in the event broken in last season’s championship match.
LAST WEEK — Missouri State went 1-2 at the Oregon Classic in Eugene, Ore. The Bears opened the season with a 3-1 loss to Eastern Washington, despite out-hitting the Eagles .268-.192. Calli Norman pounded 14 kills and hit .478 in the defeat.
The Bears picked up the season’s first win Saturday, beating San Francisco in five sets. Sara Staubach led the way with 15 kills and Cara Hackmann set a career high with 26 digs.
Drained from the five-setter earlier in the day, MSU was swept by 14th-ranked Oregon in the nightcap. The Ducks hit .419 while holding the Bears to a .145 attack efficiency.
QUICK HITS
• 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:
• Fourth in total victories with 294
• Sixth in win percentage overall (.682) and third among active MVC coaches
• Seventh in win percentage in MVC matches only (.714)
• Second in MVC victories (167)
• Stokes is now one victory away from tying SIU’s Debbie Hunter (1975-88) for third all-time in wins at MVC schools, and six wins away from 300.
• Missouri State has finished in the top four of the MVC standings 10 years in a row. Only UNI can match that streak among league schools.
• MSU is 62-4 the last four seasons when winning set two.
• Missouri State has won at least 20 matches in 10 consecutive seasons, a streak that is currently longer than all but seven others nationally.
• Four Bears - Bethany Fuller, Kelley Michnowicz, Calli Norman and Shayla Patrick - have finished in the MVC’s top 10 in blocking at least one season of their career.
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 (1,084) and Nebraska (1,062) on the all-time wins list.
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.
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.
PRESEASON POLL — Coming off four straight NCAA Tournament appearances, the Bears are picked to finish second in the Missouri Valley Conference in 2009 by the league’s coaches. Wichita State is the preseason choice to repeat as league champions.
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.
TAILGATE ON SEPT. 4 — A volleyball tailgate will be held Sept. 4 beginning at 5:00 p.m. at the southwest corner of Hammons Student Center at the intersection of Holland and Monroe streets, prior the MSU’s match with Memphis. The event is open to the public with a meal of a burger or hot dog, drink and dessert available for $6. Fans can also purchase the meal plus a shirt for $16.
