Oct. 28, 2001

Box Score

WACO, Texas - Tisha Schwartz put down a career-high 18 kills, attacked at a .368 clip and tallied seven blocks to lead Baylor past Kansas here Saturday in women's volleyball action 30-27, 23-30, 30-23, 28-30, 15-11.

It was the fifth-consecutive victory for the Bears, who improve to 16-6 overall and 7-6 in the Big 12 Conference. Kansas drops to 13-11 and 3-10. This was the second-straight five-game match for Baylor, who defeated Texas 3-2 Saturday night. Baylor also posted its second five-game win over Kansas in eight days, the Bears defeated Kansas 34-32, 28-30, 35-33, 28-30, 15-10 last Saturday in Lawrence, Kan.

Baylor attacked .262 as a team, improving to 41-3 over the past three seasons when attacking at a rate of .250 or better. But the difference in the match was Baylor's attack in the fifth game. The Bears collected 12 errorless kills in 27 swings (.444) in the deciding game to put the Jayhawks away. Meanwhile, Kansas managed just nine kills and hit .222 in game five.

After managing just two kills in the first game, Schwartz erupted for five in game two, four in game three and six errorless kills in eight swings in game four. While Kansas keyed on Schwartz in game five, Stevie Nicholas, Sunny Nicholas, Laura Daniela Lloreda and Tatiana Kenon stepped up on the attack, collecting 11 of Baylor's 12 fifth-game kills.

However, Schwartz was not the only star for Baylor, which moved into a fifth-place tie with Missouri thanks to the victory. Stevie Nicholas had a team-high 21 kills, while Sunny Nicholas added 17 kills with only one error in 41 attempts for a .390 attacking percentage. Kenon chipped in with 11 kills and hit .321 on the night, and Lloreda had a match- and career-best 26 digs.

Sunny Nicholas matched her career high with 19 digs, while Kimmy Scott had 17 digs. Stevie Nicholas and Jillian Mazzarella gave the Bears five players in double figures for kills with 15 and 13, respectively. Meanwhile, Dana Chuha paced the offense to its second-best attacking percentage of the Big 12 season. She had 67 assists and a season-high five blocks. Baylor out-blocked Kansas 10-9, the Bears' 20th-consecutive victory when out-blocking their opponent.

Both teams struggled to find much of an offensive rhythm in game one, Baylor hit .192 as a team to KU's .158. With the score tied 10-10, Sunny Nicholas served Baylor to a Big 12 record 10 consecutive points, giving the Bears a commanding 20-10 lead. But Kansas did not cave, climbing back into the match with 16 of the next 22 points to tie things at 26-26. Baylor closed the door, though, thanks to more strong serving.

Kansas then lit it up in game two, attacking at a .405 rate in game two with 19 kills and only two errors in 42 swings. Baylor reversed that trend in the third, attacking .370 and holding KU to a .174 clip. The Bears out-attacked Kansas .231 to .130 in game four, but four service errors and a pair of ball handling errors spelled doom and forced a fifth game.

In the fifth, Baylor jumped out to a 6-2 lead and never looked back. Kansas pulled to within two points on three occasions, but the Jayhawks could get no closer. Stevie Nicholas finished with four errorless kills in six attempts during game five, while Lloreda had four digs.

Kansas was led by the red-hot Sarah Rome, who tallied a match-high 28 kills to go along with 12 digs. Kylie Thomas added 13 kills and hit .312 on the match. Kansas had six players reach double figures in kills, led by Abbie Jacobsen with 20.

Baylor will return to action Wednesday, traveling to Boulder, Colo., for an 8 p.m. match at Colorado. The Buffaloes knocked off the Bears in four games last month in Waco, however, the Bears have won each of their last two visits to Colorado.