Aug. 11, 2011
St. LOUIS -- Following a 2010 season when the Missouri State volleyball team finished 21-10 overall, 12-6 in the Missouri Valley Conference and advanced to a sixth NCAA Tournament in eight seasons, the Bears have been picked to finish fourth in the 2011 MVC race by the league's coaches in the preseason poll released today. Seniors Kelley Michnowicz and Calli Norman are among the seven preseason all-conference choices.
Defending champion UNI is the unanimous favorite to repeat, garnering all 10 first-place votes and 100 total points. Wichita State earned 87 points for second place while Creighton edged the Bears 77-75 for the third-place nod.
Illinois State (52) and Drake (43) round out the six teams expected to make the league tournament held in Cedar Falls, Iowa, Nov. 24-26.
Michnowicz became MSU's fourth All-American in volleyball following the 2010 season. The honorable mention AVCA selection was a first-team all-Missouri Valley Conference selection for the second year in a row in 2010, leading the league with a .367 hitting percentage for the season, a figure that ranks second in school history. The Belleville, Ill., native averaged 2.32 kills, 0.61 blocks and 2.67 points per set for the Bears last year, and her .309 career hitting percentage sits third in MSU history.
Norman is picked to become just the third MVC player in history to earn four first-team all-league selections. The St. Charles, Mo., product led the MVC in hitting percentage at .364 as a sophomore, and ranked second among 2010 Bears with 324 total kills and 2.79 per set while finishing fifth in the MVC with 0.95 blocks per set. She enters her senior season eighth in school history with a .290 career hitting percentage and 17th with 946 kills.
Missouri State, which has finished fourth or better in the league standings and won at least 20 matches in each of the last 12 seasons, opens the 2011 season in Norman, Okla., for a three-match tournament Aug. 26-27. The Bears will face Oral Roberts, SMU and tournament host Oklahoma at the Nike Invitational.
