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BAYLOR
at
KANSAS STATE

7 p.m.
Oct. 13, 2001
Ahearn Field House
Manhattan, Kan.

Riding a three-match winning streak, Baylor will return to action this weekend, traveling to Manhattan, Kan., for a 7 p.m. match Saturday at Kansas State. The Bears enter the match with an 11-4 overall record and a 3-4 mark in Big 12 Conference play. Baylor is coming off a 30-25, 30-20, 30-21 victory over Oklahoma at home Wednesday night. The Bears are currently receiving votes in the Volleyball Magazine Top 20. Kansas State enters the contest with a 9-5 overall record, 5-3 in conference play. The Wildcats posted a 30-16, 27-30, 30-24, 30-26 victory Wednesday night at Iowa State. Kansas State is currently among those receiving votes in both the USA Today/AVCA Coaches Poll and the Volleyball Magazine Top 20. Live score updates will be available at www.GoBaylorBears.com, the official website of Baylor Athletics. A tape-delayed audio broadcast will be provided at www.k-statesports.com, the offical website of Kansas State Athletics. Brian Smoller will provide play-by-play with Lori Martini on color.

Head coach Brian Hosfeld
Baylor is in its sixth season under the direction of head coach Brian Hosfeld. During his tenure, the Bears have compiled a 101-81 (.555) overall record and a 43-64 (.402) mark in the rugged Big 12 Conference. In 1999, Hosfeld led the Bears to the greatest season in the program's 24-year history. Baylor posted a 26-9 record and finished fifth in the conference at 13-7. The 1999 Bears matched the school record for wins in a season and shattered the standard for conference wins. The season culminated with the Green and Gold making its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament. There, Baylor knocked off Temple in the first round before falling to eventual national champion Penn State. Hosfeld holds the highest winning percentage in school history. He is tied for first all-time at Baylor in total wins and has amassed the most conference wins of any coach in school history.

Hosfeld ties school record for career victories
With the Bears' three-game win Wednesday at home against Oklahoma, head coach Brian Hosfeld claimed his 101st-career victory as a head coach, all coming at Baylor. Now in his sixth season at the helm of the Baylor program, Hosfeld has tied the school record for coaching victories, also held by Tom Sonnichsen (1989-1995). Hosfeld currently holds the highest career winning percentage of any coach in school history at .555 (101-81).

Hosfeld vs. Kansas State
Head coach Brian Hosfeld has a career record of 3-7 against Kansas State, winning three of the last four meetings. Hosfeld-coached teams are 2-3 against the Wildcats in Waco and 1-4 at Kansas State.

The Kansas State series
This will be the 12th meeting between Baylor and Kansas State with the Wildcats holding a 7-4 lead in the series. The Bears took the first meeting in three games during the 1993 season in Manhattan. The two teams did face each other again until the first season of Big 12 play in 1996. Kansas State won each of the first six meetings as conference foes before Baylor swept the 1999 season series. The Bears were the only team in the conference to sweep K-State that season with four-game triumphs both at home and in Manhattan. The teams split last year's series with the home team winning both matches. Baylor is 2-4 all-time in Manhattan and 2-3 all-time against the Wildcats in Waco. The two teams have never met on a neutral court.

Last time against Kansas State
Thanks to 12 errorless kills in game five, Baylor's women's volleyball team rallied from a 2-1 deficit to defeat Kansas State 12-15, 15-9, 14-16, 15-12, 15-10 at home. The fifth game marked the first errorless game of the season for Baylor, which hit .632 in the deciding game. In the game, Stevie Nicholas had four kills in six swings, Dana Atkinson had three kills in four attempts and Tatiana Kenon was a perfect 3-for-3. Meanwhile, the Wildcats hit just .222 in game five with seven kills against three errors, hitting into the Baylor block three times. The match had several undertones, the biggest was the way in which game three ended. With Baylor leading 14-7 and having already missed out on two game points, Kansas State's Liz Wegner toed the service line. What resulted was nine consecutive Wildcat points, tying the Big 12 record and tying for the ninth in NCAA history. However, the Bears bounced back well in game four, quickly jumping out to a 4-1 lead. Atkinson aided Stevie Nicholas, who hit .458 in the fourth game, with four errorless kills in nine attempts and eight digs. As a team, the Bears hit .377 in game four and held Kansas State to .250 en route to the 15-12 victory.

Bears avoiding five-game matches
Through 15 matches this season, Baylor has yet to play a five-game match. That is the deepest into a season the Bears have ever gone without going the distance since 1991. That year, Baylor played its first five-game match in the 17th match of the season. Other than those two season's, Baylor has played a five-game match by match No. 11 every year since college volleyball moved from a best-of-three format to a best-of-five format in 1984. Even in 1982 and 1983, when teams experimented with the best-of-five format for selected matches, the Bears went five games in match eight and in match one, repsectively. Last season, the Bears did not play a five-game match until the 11th match of the season, ending the year having played five such matches. The school record for most five-gamers in a season is eight, set in 1993 and again in 1999. Three times (1982, 1987 and 1997) Baylor played just two five-game matches.

Sunny Nicholas moves into 10th in career attempts
With 10 attacks Wednesday against Oklahoma, senior MB Sunny Nicholas moved into 10th place all-time at Baylor with 2,159 career attempts. She moved past Brenda Kunz (1990-1993), who took 2,158 swings during her career. Sunny Nicholas now appears in the top 10 of three career statistical categories at Baylor, she is eighth in kills (954) and second in attacking percentage (.295).

Bears rank high in NCAA statistical rankings
Baylor ranks in the top 30 nationally in three of the six statistical categories charted by the NCAA Statistics Bureau, according to the latest rankings released Oct. 8. The Bears are fifth in kills per game (17.57) and in assists per game (15.91), BU is tied with St. John's for 24th in service aces per gam (2.50). Individually, two Bears are ranked nationally. Sophomore OH Stevie Nicholas is 24th with 5.00 kills per game, while senior S Dana Chuha is eighth with 13.37 assists per game.

Baylor in Big 12 rankings
The Bears lead the Big 12 Conference in five statistical categories and rank in the top five of three others in the latest rankings released Oct. 8. Baylor's 15.91 assists, 17.57 kills and 2.50 service aces all rank atop the conference leaderboard. Baylor is also tops in the conference in fewst kills allowed (12.65) and fewest assists allowed (11.48). Meanwhile, the Bears rank fifth in team attacking percentage (.241), fifth in digs (16.98) and fifth in fewest digs allowed (14.70). In conference matches, the Bears rank first in service aces per game (2.25).

Five of six starters listed among conference statistical leaders
Baylor has the distinction of having five of six starters listed among the leaders in at least one of the six statistical categories the conference charts, according to the latest rankings released Oct. 8. Sophomore OH Stevie Nicholas ranks second in the conference in kills per game (5.00) behind only Liz Wegner of Kansas State (5.12). Stevie Nicholas and sophomore OH Laura Daniela Lloreda are tied for second in service aces per game at 0.63, senior RS Tatiana Kenon is fifth at 0.48. Stevie Nicholas also ranks sixth in digs per game at 3.59. Senior S Dana Chuha is second in the Big 12 with 13.37 assists per game and eighth in attacking percentage at .343. Senior MB Sunny Nicholas is fourth in attacking percentage at .366. In conference matches, Stevie Nicholas ranks tied for second in kills per game (4.35). She is tied with Kenon for fourth in service aces per game (0.50), while Lloreda leads the conference, averaging 0.70 per game. Chuha ranks eighth in such matches with 11.00 assists per game and fourth in attacking percentage at .364.

Chuha records assist No. 4,000
With her 28th assist Saturday against Missouri, senior S Dana Chuha reached the 4,000-assist plateau for her illustrious career. She now has 4,024 career assists, second all-time at Baylor behind only Cory Sivertson, who amassed 4,846 from 1991 to 1994. Chuha has led the NCAA in assists per game in each of the last two seasons (the only player in NCAA history to ever lead the nation in that category twice), and she currently ranks second in the Big 12 this season with 13.37 per game.

Losses nothing to hang head over
All four Baylor losses this season have come to teams that have been ranked nationally at one point or another this season. Three of those opponents were ranked nationally at the time of the match. The first loss was to Texas, which was ranked 25th nationally in the USA Today/AVCA Coaches Poll that week. The second loss was to Colorado, unranked at the time, the Buffaloes have won five of six matches since defeating Baylor and are now ranked 23rd nationally in the coaches poll. The third loss was to Texas A&M, which has been ranked nationally in both the coaches poll and in the Volleyball Magazine Top 20 all season, the Aggies are currently 17th in the coaches poll and 15th according to Volleyball Magazine. The last of the four losses was to Nebraska, currently ranked second in both polls. At the time of the match, the Huskers were No. 1 in the coaches poll and No. 2 in VM. Those four teams have a combined record of 42-11 on the 2001 season and are currently the top four teams in the Big 12 standings in descending order.

Bears put an end to Hearnes hex
Baylor's 3-1 victory Saturday at Missouri marked the Bears' first win at the Hearnes Center since 1997. After dropping a 3-1 decision there in 1998, Baylor lost five-game matches in Columbia each of the past two seasons. Baylor is now 3-3 all-time at Missouri, the Bears were victorious in their first two trips to Mizzou, winning 3-0 in 1996 and 3-1 in 1997.

Kenon, Chuha, Lloreda set personal bests against Missouri
Senior RS Tatiana Kenon eclipsed her previous career best for kills in a match by four Saturday, pounding a match-high 23 kills to lead the Bears past Missouri. The San Antonio, Texas, native had tallied 19 on two separate occasions, the last coming Nov. 3, 1999 at home against Texas. Meanwhile, senior S Dana Chuha also upped her career best for kills in a match with 12 against the Tigers. Chuha's previous best of seven came last year against Santa Clara. Her 12 errorless kills in 20 swings was the highest kill total without an error by a Baylor player since Kenon had 17 errorless kills last season against Texas-Pan American. Not to be outdone, sophomore OH Laura Daniela Lloreda reached the 20-dig plateau for the first time in her career against Missouri with 20 digs. She is the first Bear to reach 20 digs in a match since Dana Atkinson (36) and Stevie Nicholas (29) did so in a five-game match last season at Texas Tech.

Bears looking strong at the service line
After averaging just 1.25 service aces per game a year ago, the Bears have been dominant at the line in 2001. Through the first 14 matches, Baylor is averaging a Big 12-best 2.50 per contest, which would rank as the best season average in school history. However, the focus is the vast improvement from the 2000 season - last year's average was the lowest in the program's history. OH Stevie Nicholas and DS Kimmy Scott led the Bears last season with 20 each. Thus far this season, Stevie Nicholas and OH Laura Daniela Lloreda have 29 each, and RS Tatiana Kenon has 22. As a team, Baylor has amassed 115 aces this season while allowing just 80.

Big 12 Conference showing its strength
Easily one of the top volleyball conferences in the nation, the Big 12 is proving itself this season. Along with having three teams (Nebraska, Texas A&M and Colorado) currently ranked in the USA Today/AVCA Coaches Poll, nine of the conference's 11 teams are playing .600-or-better ball. In all, seven Big 12 teams have been ranked at some point this season (add in Baylor, Kansas State, Missouri and Texas), while two others (Kansas and Texas Tech) have been listed among those also receiving votes at some point this season. Last year, the conference sent six teams (Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas State, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Colorado) to the NCAA Tournament with conference champion Nebraska winning the national championship. Since the inception of the Big 12 in 1996, 10 of the 11 schools have made at least one appearance in the NCAA Touranment.

Baylor reschedules four matches
Baylor has rescheduled four matches for the 2001 season, the changes include the rescheduling of the two matches postponed due to the national tragedy Sept. 11. The Sept. 12 match at Iowa State has been rescheduled for Friday, Oct. 5 at 7 p.m., the night before the Bears' match at Missouri. Baylor's Sept. 15 contest against Kansas has been moved to Sunday, Oct. 28 at 5 p.m., the day following the Bears' match at home against Texas. Two other matches have been affected. Baylor was originally scheduled to host Southwest Texas State at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 2. That match has been moved to Monday, Oct. 22 at 7 p.m. to accommodate the Bobcats' rescheduling efforts. Also, the Bears' final match of the regular season, Nov. 24 at home against Missouri, has been moved from a 7 p.m. start to 7:30 p.m. That match will be the final event in a triple-header of Baylor athletic events, including football and men's basketball.

Bears match best start in program's history
With its four-game victory over Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Baylor moved to 8-0 on the season and matched the best start in the 24-year history of the BU volleyball program. The Bears started the 1999 season 8-0 before dropping a five-game decision at Southern Methodist. That team finished 26-9, tying the school record for best winning percentage and tying the school mark for most victories in a season. This marks the fifth time in school history the Bears have started the season with at least five wins, three of those have come in the past three seasons. Baylor opened the 1993 season 7-0, the Bears finished 26-15 that season and advanced to the championship match of the NIVC Tournament.

Bears claim fifth Baylor Classic title
Baylor's four-game triumph over Cal Poly San Luis Obispo gave the Bears the team title at the Baylor Classic, marking the fifth time in 11 Classics that BU has claimed first place. The Bears also won their own event in 1992, 1993, 1996 and 1999. Baylor is now 30-10 (.750) all-time in the Baylor Classic after winning 13 of its last 14 such contests dating back to the 1996 tournament. The lone loss in that time was at the hands of then-No. 11 UCLA in the championship match of the 2000 Baylor Classic.

Stevie Nicholas again leads all-tournament squad
Sophomore OH Stevie Nicholas claimed her third-career tournament MVP award at the Baylor Classic, earning such honors for the second time this season. She was so honored in her first weekend of collegiate volleyball last season at the Crowne Plaza Invitational hosted by Rice and again in this season's opening weekend at the NOKIA Sugar Bowl Classic hosted by Tulane. Joining Stevie Nicholas on the all-tournament squad at the Baylor Classic were fellow Bears S Dana Chuha and MB Sunny Nicholas. Cal Poly SLO was represented on the team by S Carly O'Halloran and MB Worthy Lien, other all-tournament selections were North Texas S Kristin Sheppard, and Rhode Island MB Yolanda Bogacz.

Baylor dominates NOKIA field
With wins over Nevada-Las Vegas, Louisiana State and host Tulane, Baylor claimed the team title at the NOKIA Sugar Bowl Classic last weekend as the only undefeated team. It marked the 14th regular-season tournament title in the program's history, the eighth during head coach Brian Hosfeld's tenure. The Bears enjoyed two impressive attacking games during the weekend. In game two against LSU, Baylor went 20-2-36 (.500). The Bears came out on fire against Tulane, going 19-1-32 (.562) in the first game. The lone error was a back-row attack call on an attempted set by S Dana Chuha. In that game, OH Stevie Nicholas was 10-0-13 (.769).

Four Bears selected NOKIA all-tournament, Stevie Nicholas named MVP
Just as the NOKIA Sugar Bowl Classic was dominated Baylor, the all-tournament team was also dominated by the Bears. Of the seven athletes chosen to the team, four donned the Green and Gold. OH Stevie Nicholas led the way as a unanimous MVP selection. She tallied 57 kill sin the three matches, averaging 5.40 per game and hitting at a .319 clip. Stevie Nicholas also averaged 3.40 digs and 0.80 service aced per game. Joining her on the all-tournament team were S Dana Chuha, RS Tatiana Kenon and MB Tisha Schwartz. It was the third all-tournament selection of Kenon's career, while Chuha and Schwartz were so honored for the first time in their careers.

Smith out for season with ACL tear
Less than two weeks before the beginning of the 2001 season, Baylor volleyball learned Wednesday that junior OH Lisa Smith will be forced to miss the entire season due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee. Smith is in her first season with the Baylor program after transferring to the school from Blinn County College in January. A second-team junior college all-America selection last season at Blinn, Smith sustained the injury Aug. 16 during the Bears' final practice of their two-week training session in Japan. It is expected that she will receive a medical redshirt for the 2001 season.

Baylor conducts two-a-days in Japan
Baylor got a taste of international volleyball during the preseason two-a-days session, spending Aug. 6-17 in Japan. The Bears held daily practices and scrimmaged against various teams during their two-week stay in the Land of the Rising Sun. During the first week, Baylor was stationed at Tohoku Fukushi University in Sendai, Japan. There, the Bears competed against the host team, which has won four national collegiate titles and has reached the national tournament in each of the past 23 seasons. Baylor also held scrimmages against Shokei Women's Junior College, the top-ranked junior college team in Japan, and various area high school teams. The Bears spent the second week in Tendo/Yamagata, Japan, training with and competing against the Pioneer Red Wings. Coached by legendary international coach Arie Selinger, the Red Wings are Japan's top professional team. Selinger also coached the U.S. women's national team from 1978 to 1984, under Selinger's leadership, Team USA won gold medals at the 1980 World Championships and at the Games of the 23rd Olympiad in Los Angeles, Calif.

Big 12 coaches tab Baylor to finish seventh
Perhaps following status quo from the 2000 season, the 11 head coaches in the Big 12 Conference picked Baylor to finish seventh in their annual preseason poll. The Bears tied Texas for seventh last year, both with 8-12 records in conference play, UT was picked to finish eighth this season. Nebraska was an overwhelming selection to win its fourth consecutive Big 12 title and fifth in the league's six-year history. Texas A&M was picked to finish second, and Colorado was slotted for third. Kansas State and Missouri tied for fourth, followed by Texas Tech. Kansas, Oklahoma and Iowa State rounded out the coaches' preseason rankings.

Stevie Nicholas, Lloreda earn preseason Big 12 honors
Stevie Nicholas, the 2000 Big 12 and AVCA South Central Region freshman of the year, joined seven other athletes on the preseason all-conference team. Meanwhile, Laura Daniela Lloreda was chosen preseason newcomer of the year. Nicholas, a first-team all-Big 12 pick last season, joins Greichaly Cepero (S, Nebraska), Nancy Metcalf (OH, Nebraska), Laura Pilakowski (OH/MB, Nebraska), Jenna Moscovic (S, Texas A&M) and Elizabeth Gower (S, Colorado) on the team. Lloreda joins Baylor this season from Universidad de las Americas in Mexico, she also played for the Mexican National Team last year. Cepero was chosen preseason player of the year, while fellow Cornhusker Allyne Rebholz was tabbed preseason freshman of the year.

Baylor on the web
Baylor volleyball information can be accessed 24 hours a day at the school's athletic website www.GoBaylorBears.com. Fans and media alike can find the latest news and notes on the site along with match recaps, box scores, player features, player and coach bios and various other informational resources. Baylor volleyball matches will also be webcast, beginning with the first home conference match.