The Missouri State volleyball team (16-4, 7-2 Missouri Valley Conference) begins the second time through the MVC schedule on the road with a trip to Illinois State (13-9, 3-6) at 7 p.m. Friday and Indiana State (9-13, 1-8) at 6 p.m. Saturday. The Bears are on the road until Nov. 5 before playing four of the final six conference matches inside Hammons Student Center.
The OpponentsIllinois State is 13-9 and 3-6 in the conference, slipping to a 2-6 record over its last eight matches following an 11-3 start. The Redbirds are led by senior all-conference outside hitter Mallory Leggett, who averages 3.47 kills and 3.00 digs per set on .200 hitting. Illinois State hits .203 as a team with averages of 13.19 kills, 1.41 aces, 16.51 digs and 2.28 blocks per set.
Indiana State is 9-13 and 1-8 in the MVC after picking up its first league win over Bradley last week. The Sycamores feature Valley kills leader Morgan Dall, who averages 4.14 per set from the outside. As a team, ISU hits .184 with 11.83 kills, 1.09 aces, 15.23 digs and 1.64 blocks per set.
The SeriesMissouri State has squared off with Illinois State more than any other school, and holds a 43-38 series lead in 81 all-time meetings. Missouri State has been in control of the series lately, winning 19 of the last 22 overall.
Missouri State leads the all-time series with Indiana State by a 48-1 margin, with the Bears’ lone loss occurring in five sets in 1994. Since then, the Bears have reeled off 34 straight wins against the Sycamores.
First Meetings This SeasonMissouri State won the first match-up with each of this week’s opponents in Springfield.
Christine McCartney had 17 kills to lead the Bears in a 25-17, 25-18, 25-27, 25-16 win over Indiana State on Sept. 24.
Calli Norman,
Kelley Michnowicz and
Shayla Patrick combined for 28 kills and one error to hit .491.
The Bears swept Illinois State 25-22, 25-22, 25-19 the next night behind another 13 McCartney kills. Norman had 10 kills and Michnowicz hit .471 as the MSU offense pounded 50 kills in just three sets.
Last WeekMissouri State earned home sweeps of Evansville and Southern Illinois to close the first half of the MVC schedule at 7-2.
Friday,
Christine McCartney had 18 kills and hit .500 as the Bears beat UE 25-20, 25-15, 25-19.
McCartney led all players again Saturday with 12 kills and
Calli Norman added 10 to help MSU to a 26-24, 25-21, 25-13 sweep of the Salukis.
Abby Padlock had 23 digs.
McCartney and Padlock were awarded the league’s freshman and defensive player of the week awards, respectively, Monday.
Coach Melissa StokesMissouri State head coach
Melissa Stokes (San Diego State, 1991) is 330-149 (.689) in her 15th season at Missouri State. A native of El Cajon, Calif., Stokes has guided Missouri State to an overall record of 253-91 (.735) and 148-40 (.787) 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 300th victory of her Missouri State career against Delaware, Sept. 11, 2009. Stokes ranked 36th among active Division I coaches in win percentage entering 2010.
Quick Hits• Missouri State is 4-3 this season against members of the 2009 NCAA Tournament field and 6-3 against teams that have made the tournament at least once in the last two seasons.
• MSU’s 6-0 start this year was the best for a Bears’ volleyball squad in 33 years. Missouri State began the 1977 season 8-0.
• Missouri State’s 3-1 league start marked the 20th time in 28 seasons in the Gateway/MVC that the Bears have won at least three of their first four matches. Of the previous 19 times, Missouri State has gone on to finish second or better in the final standings on 16 occasions.
• The Bears reached the midway point of the conference season at 7-2, the 10th time in the 15 years of the MVC’s 18-match schedule that Missouri State has won at least seven matches in the first half.
• Head coach
Melissa Stokes is climbing up the all-time MVC coaching lists in a number of categories. Listed below is the 15th-year coach’s ranking in those categories. Lists are compiled based on statistics at Valley schools only:
• Third in total victories with 330
• Second in MVC victories (188)
• Fifth in win percentage overall (.689) and third among active MVC coaches
• Seventh in win percentage in MVC matches only (.720)
• Stokes picked up her 300th career victory with MSU’s 3-1 win over Delaware on Sept. 11, 2009, and is eight league wins away from tying the MVC record for conference victories at 196 with UNI’s Iradge Ahrabi-Fard.
• Missouri State’s defense has allowed only three opponents to hit better than .226 in 20 matches and has held 13 opponents to a .183 or lower attack efficiency.
• Missouri State has defeated a ranked opponent in each of the last three seasons. The Bears beat No. 20 Wichita State in 2009, the ninth-ranked Shockers in 2008, and No. 25 Middle Tennessee in 2007.
•
Calli Norman currently ranks third in Missouri State history in career hitting percentage at .311 and has turned 46.2 percent of her career attacks into kills. The two players in front of her on that list are Linette White (.352/48.3) and Sabrina Apker (.338/47.4).
Norman’s 2010 totals of .293 hitting and 47.6 percent kills also challenge White’s school record 2003 season of .392 hitting and 52.9 percent.
• Speaking of Linette White’s school record of .392,
Kelley Michnowicz passed that Oct. 8 against Creighton and is hitting .405 to date this season.
• Freshman
Christine McCartney’s 3.25 kills per set average ranks third all-time among freshmen and is the highest for any MSU rookie since Jessica Hovorka averaged 3.26 in 1995.
McCartney’s 231 total kills this year rank 10th in school history among freshmen, and her 21 kills Oct. 9 at Drake was the highest freshman total since Erin Murphy in 2000 and has not been exceeded since Vanessa Wouters had 26 in 1994.
• Missouri State is 16-9 in five-set matches since the beginning of the 2007 season.
• 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 93-10 the last five 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 six others nationally.
Hack-of-All-TradesSenior
Cara Hackmann has truly been a do-it-all player in her Missouri State career. She currently holds six school records, including hitting percentage in a match (.882, 15-0-17) in a 2008 contest, digs in a match (46, Oct. 10, 2009 vs. Evansville), total digs and dig average in a season (671 and 5.74 in 2009), career digs (1,679) and career double-figure dig matches (90).
Hackmann is also MSU’s career leader in dig average at 3.90 per set.
Six is the Magic NumberThe 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 16 times since the beginning of the 1999 season.
Missouri State started 6-0 in 2010 to knock out the streak early this season.
HomecomingMissouri State has been dominant at home since 2000, compiling a home record of 134-23 for an .854 winning percentage at Hammons Student Center.
The Bears are 10-2 in 2010 and have completed 10 consecutive seasons with four or fewer home losses.
Players of the WeekChristine McCartney was Missouri State’s first weekly award winner as the MVC Freshman of the Week on Sept. 13. McCartney averaged 3.27 kills per set and had 17 kills and 15 digs against Utah and 16 kills versus Oklahoma.
McCartney won the award again Oct. 4, putting up 4.12 kills in wins over SIUE and Wichita State. She had 14 kills at SIUE and 19 against the Shockers, hitting .209 against the league’s top defense.
Kelley Michnowicz was the league’s player of the week Oct. 11 after she averaged 3.00 kills and hit .414 at Creighton and Drake. Michnowicz had a season-high 17 kills and hit .536 at CU, then had 13 kills in the win at Drake.
McCartney won her third Freshman of the Week award Oct. 18 after averaging 5.00 kills and 3.33 digs in wins over Evansville and SIU. She hit .338 for the week, including .500 with 18 kills against the Purple Aces.
Abby Padlock was MSU’s first Defensive Player of the Week honoree Oct. 18 after she averaged 6.33 digs per set, was a perfect 45-for-45 in service receptions and directed a Bears’ defense that held the opposition to .095 hitting in two matches.
Bears on TVMissouri State will have three televised matches on Mediacom cable channel 22 in the Springfield area this season. TV games for the Bears will be Sept. 17 at UNI, Nov. 5 vs. Drake and Nov. 20 vs. UNI. All three will start at 7 p.m.
Bears LiveBears Live, Missouri State’s premium broadband video channel that is your online destination for exclusive live and on-demand Missouri State streaming video and audio brought straight to your computer, will broadcast a minimum of six home matches this season on a subscription basis at www.MissouriStateBears.com.
The 2010 streaming schedule currently includes North Carolina (Sept. 4, 7:30 p.m.), Oklahoma (Sept. 11, 7:30 p.m.), Illinois State (Sept. 25, 7 p.m.), Wichita State (Oct. 2, 7 p.m.), Southern Illinois (Oct. 16, 7 p.m.) and Creighton (Nov. 6, 7 p.m.).
Radio Broadcasts
Seven over-the-air volleyball broadcasts can be heard on KBFL 1060 AM in Springfield this season, while the remainder of MSU’s home contests will be internet-only broadcasts at TheGrowl.MissouriState.edu.
The KBFL schedule includes all Saturday evening home matches (Sept. 4, Sept. 11, Sept. 25, Oct. 2, Oct. 16, Nov. 6 and Nov. 20), with match times at 7 p.m. with the exception of Sept. 4 and 11, which start at 7:30 p.m.
Those matches can also be heard online at www.RadioSpringfield.com.
