The Missouri State volleyball team (9-3, 1-1 Missouri Valley Conference) plays host to Indiana State and Illinois State this weekend at Hammons Student Center in its first home league weekend of the season. The Bears play the Sycamores at 7 p.m. Friday and host the Redbirds at 7 p.m. Saturday.
    The Bears started Valley play last week with a Friday loss at UNI and Saturday win at Bradley. MSU’s loss in the opener did not hurt the Bears much in the standings as only three teams - UNI (2-0), Creighton (2-0) and Illinois State (1-0) - made it through the first weekend unscathed.
    
The Opponents
Indiana State is 8-6 and 0-1 in the MVC after losing to Illinois State in its league opener. The Sycamores feature Valley kills leader Morgan Dall, who averages 4.33 per set from the outside. As a team, ISU hits 1.92 with 11.83 kills, 1.37 aces, 15.48 digs and 1.87 blocks per set.
    Illinois State is 11-3 and 1-0 in the conference after winning seven of its last eight matches. The Redbirds are led by senior all-conference outside hitter Mallory Leggett, who averages 3.54 kills and 2.79 digs per set on .239 hitting. Illinois State hits .222 as a team with averages of 13.06 kills, 1.65 aces, 15.06 digs and 2.31 blocks per set.
    
The Series
Missouri State leads the all-time series with Indiana State by a 47-1 margin, with the Bears’ lone loss occurring in five sets in 1994. Since then, the Bears have reeled off 33 straight wins against the Sycamores.
    Missouri State has squared off with Illinois State more than any other school, and holds a 42-38 series lead in 80 all-time meetings. Missouri State has been in control of the series lately, winning 18 of the last 21 overall.

Last Week
Missouri State split its first MVC weekend of the year, losing at No. 17 UNI in straight sets and beating Bradley in five. Friday, UNI pulled away late in the first two sets and easily won the third, hitting .302 as a team for the highest total against the Bears this season. Christine McCartney led MSU with 11 kills.
    The Bears cruised to a 2-0 lead over Bradley Saturday before the Braves came back to force a fifth set. Missouri State opened the final period on an 8-1 run to hang on for the win. Norman had 15 kills, Kelley Michnowicz added 14 and hit .545, and Carly Thomas had seven kills, 47 assists and 15 digs.

Coach Melissa Stokes
Missouri State head coach Melissa Stokes (San Diego State, 1991) is 323-148 (.686) in her 15th season at Missouri State. A native of El Cajon, Calif., Stokes has guided Missouri State to an overall record of 246-90 (.732) and 142-39 (.785) 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 3-3 this season against members of the 2009 NCAA Tournament field and 5-3 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.
    
•     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 323
    • Second in MVC victories (182)
    • Fifth in win percentage overall (.687) and third among active MVC coaches
    • Seventh in win percentage in MVC matches only (.717)
    
•    Stokes picked up her 300th career victory with MSU’s 3-1 win over Delaware on Sept. 11, 2009, and is 14 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 two opponents to hit better than .222 in 12 matches and has held eight opponents to a .171 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 .315 and has turned 46.3 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 .306 hitting and 49.3 percent kills also challenge White’s school record 2003 season of .393 hitting and 52.9 percent.
    
•    Missouri State is 15-8 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 86-9 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-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 (1,616) and career double-figure dig matches (82).
    Hackmann is also MSU’s career leader in dig average at 3.90 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 129-23 for an .849 winning percentage at Hammons Student Center.
    The Bears are 5-2 in 2010 and have completed 10 consecutive seasons with four or fewer home losses.
    
Bears on TV
Missouri 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.

Preseason Poll
Following a 2009 season when the Missouri State volleyball team finished 21-10 and 14-4 in the Missouri Valley Conference, the Bears have been picked to finish second in the 2010 MVC race by the league’s. UNI is the unanimous choice to repeat as league champions.
    
Preseason All-Conference
Cara Hackmann and Calli Norman occupy two of the six spots on this year’s preseason all-MVC team. Both were first-team all-league pick last season, and Norman was a first-teamer in 2008 as well.

Bears Live
Bears 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 four 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.) and Wichita State (Oct. 2, 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.