The Missouri State volleyball team (21-9) earned an at-large bid into its sixth NCAA Tournament in the last eight seasons and will play the first match of the entire tournament Thursday at 4:30 p.m. against Auburn (20-12, 11-9 SEC) in Lincoln, Neb.
The other two teams in Lincoln are the No. 2 overall seed and host Nebraska Cornhuskers (27-2, 19-1 Big 12) and Sacred Heart (29-6, 14-2 Northeast).
NU is ranked third in this week’s AVCA Top 25 poll, and faces Sacred Heart at 7 p.m. Thursday, with the winners scheduled to play at 7 p.m. Friday for the right to advance to the third and fourth rounds in Seattle, Wash.
The Opponents
Auburn makes it first NCAA appearance following a 20-12 overall record and 11-9 mark in the SEC West. As a team, the Tigers hit .237, hold opponents to .186 and average 12.87 kills, 1.27 aces, 13.83 digs and 2.00 blocks per set.
Nebraska is 27-2 and the No. 2 overall seed in the tournament. The Huskers won the Big 12 with a 19-1 league record and have five players averaging between 2.16 and 2.94 kills per set. As a team, Nebraska averages 15.15 kills, 1.13 aces, 15.76 digs and 2.99 blocks per set while out-hitting the opposition .284-.146.
Sacred Heart is 29-6 overall and went 14-2 in the Northeast Conference, winning both the regular season and tournament titles. The Pioneers have four players that post at least 2.60 kills per set and average 14.54 kills, 1.65 aces, 15.54 digs and 1.44 blocks per set while hitting .247.
The Series
Missouri State is 1-0 against Auburn, beating the Tigers 3-2 in Florida State’s tournament in 1993, and has never faced Sacred Heart.
The Bears are 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.
NCAA Tournament History
Missouri State is making its ninth NCAA appearance in the 29-year history of the event, and is 1-8 all-time. The Bears also made the field in 1982, 1990, 1993, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. 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.)
• 2008 - UAB def. Missouri State; 25-17, 25-21, 25-17 (Lincoln, Neb.)
Last Week
The Bears were bounced from the MVC Tournament early with a 25-19, 18-25, 25-18, 25-21 loss to Illinois State on Thanksgiving Night. Missouri State sputtered to a .162 hitting percentage, committing 30 attack errors while ISU hit .245. Megan Bess led all players with 14 kills.
Coach Melissa Stokes
Missouri State head coach Melissa Stokes (San Diego State, 1991) is 335-154 (.685) in her 15th season at Missouri State. A native of El Cajon, Calif., Stokes has guided Missouri State to an overall record of 258-96 (.729) and 153-44 (.777) 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. MSU defeated Arkansas before falling to No. 13 Oklahoma in the second round, and has since added postseason bids in 2007, 2008 and 2010.
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 3-6 this season against members of the NCAA Tournament field with wins over Wichita State, Creighton and North Carolina.
• Missouri State’s lone NCAA Tournament win came against an SEC opponent when the Bears defeated Arkansas in 2006. Missouri State has a three-match winning streak versus SEC teams since a 2005 loss at Florida.
• 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 335
• Second in MVC victories (193)
• Fifth in win percentage overall (.685) and third among active MVC coaches
• Seventh in win percentage in MVC matches only (.715)
• Stokes picked up her 300th career victory with MSU’s 3-1 win over Delaware on Sept. 11, 2009, and is three league wins away from tying the MVC record for conference victories at 196 with UNI’s Iradge Ahrabi-Fard.
• 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.
• 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.
• Missouri State’s defense has allowed only nine opponents to hit better than .226 in 30 matches and has held 18 opponents to a .189 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.
• Kelley Michnowicz passed Linette White’s single-season school record of .392 hitting Oct. 8 against Creighton and held on until dropping below the record Oct. 29 at Wichita State. She currently sits in second place at .375.
• Freshman Christine McCartney’s 3.37 kills per set average ranks second all-time among freshmen, trailing only Vanessa Wouters’ average of 3.89 in 1994.
McCartney’s 320 total kills this year rank fifth 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 Wouters had 26 in 1994.
• Missouri State is 17-10 in five-set matches since the beginning of the 2007 season.
• Missouri State has finished in the top four of the MVC standings 12 years in a row. Only UNI can match that streak among league schools.
• MSU is 98-13 the last five seasons when winning set two.
• Missouri State has won at least 20 matches in 12 consecutive seasons, a streak that is currently longer than all but six others nationally.
Hack-of-All-Trades
Senior 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 (1,900) and career double-figure dig matches (100).
Hackmann is also MSU’s career leader in dig average at 3.95 per set and ranks third with 481 sets played.
Hackmann is locked in to third place on the sets played list, unable to reach second even if the Bears advance to the national championship match with five-setters all the way.
She also must have 15 consecutive sets without a dig to drop out of first in career digs per set.
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 16 times since the beginning of the 1999 season.
Missouri State started 6-0 in 2010 to knock out the streak early this season.
Homecoming
Missouri State has been dominant at home since 2000, compiling a home record of 136-25 for an .845 winning percentage at Hammons Student Center.
The Bears went 12-4 in 2010 and have completed 11 consecutive seasons with four or fewer home losses.
Players of the Week
Christine 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.
Carly Thomas won Freshman of the Week honors Nov. 1 after dishing out 49 assists to go with 14 digs, four kills on .400 hitting and three blocks at Wichita State.
Michnowicz won a second player of the week award Nov. 15 after hitting .463 with 22 kills in 3-0 wins at Southern Illinois and Evansville.
Thomas was the freshman of the week Nov. 15 as she led the Bears to a .314 hitting percentage with 12.67 assists, 1.67 kills, 1.67 digs and 1.17 blocks while hitting .714.
All-Conference
Kelley Michnowicz and Calli Norman were first-team all-MVC selections, while Christine McCartney and Carly Thomas earned spots on the all-freshman team. Additionally, McCartney became the fourth Bear to earn MVC Freshman of the Year honors.
Michnowicz appears on the first team for the second straight season, while Norman earned her third consecutive first-team nod.
Scholar-Athletes
Cara Hackmann and Melissa Gmur repeated as MVC Scholar-Athletes this season. Hackmann made the first team for a third consecutive season and carries a 3.82 cumulative grade point average in finance.
Gmur followed last season’s first team nod with a spot on the honorable mention squad, and has a 3.86 GPA in elementary education.
