Volleyball Travels to Colorado
11/26/2002 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
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BAYLOR
at
COLORADO
8:00 p.m. CST
Nov. 27, 2002
Coors Events Center
Boulder, Colo.
Baylor plays its final road match of the 2002 season Wednesday, traveling to Boulder, Colo., for an 8 p.m. CST match at Colorado. The Bears (9-20, 2-16) look to snap a six-match losing streak after falling to No. 5 Nebraska 30-23, 30-19, 30-20 at home last Saturday. The Buffaloes (14-14, 8-10) snapped a two-match losing streak last Saturday with a 30-27, 31-29, 30-25 victory at Oklahoma. Colorado won the first meeting this season 27-30, 30-28, 30-18, 30-27 in Waco. Live stats for the match will be available online at www.CUBuffs.com, the official website of Colorado Athletics and a member of the Official College Sports Network.
QUICK NOTES
* Baylor and Colorado meet for the 15th time Wednesday, the 14th time as Big 12 foes. The Buffaloes lead the all-time series 12-2.
* Since moving to the outside hitter position Sept. 26, junior OH/MB Tisha Schwartz has averaged 5.48 kills, 2.52 digs and 0.49 blocks per game.
* Freshman S Emily Huston has recorded at least one service ace in nine straight matches.
* Junior OH/MB Tisha Schwartz needs seven kills to move into eighth place on Baylor's all-time single-season kills chart.
* Baylor has tallied at least one service ace in 61 consecutive matches and at least two service aces in 30 straight matches.
* Baylor has played just three matches this season without at least one starter out due to injury.
HEAD COACH BRIAN HOSFELD
Baylor is in its seventh season under the direction of head coach Brian Hosfeld. During his tenure, the Bears have compiled a 117-109 (.518) overall record and a 51-87 (.371) mark in the rugged Big 12 Conference. Hosfeld is credited with putting Baylor volleyball on the map. After losing seasons in 14 of 18 seasons prior to Hosfeld's arrival, Baylor has finished above .500 in four of the last six seasons. Baylor has made two NCAA Tournament appearances in that time, advancing to the second round before losing to eventual national champion Penn State in 1999. Owner of the highest winning percentage of the program's seven head coaches, Hosfeld has amassed the most wins, both overall and in conference play, of any coach in school history.
HOSFELD vs. COLORADO
Head coach Brian Hosfeld is 2-11 against Colorado. Hosfeld's first victory over the Buffaloes was a 15-8, 9-15, 15-8, 15-5 decision at home during the 1999 season; CU was ranked 20th nationally at the time.
LAST TIME OUT - No. 5 NEBRASKA 3, BAYLOR 0
WACO, Texas - Fifth-ranked Nebraska hit .434 as a team and held Baylor to a .123 clip as the Huskers posted their 68th consecutive Big 12 Conference victory. Nebraska topped the Bears 30-23, 30-19, 30-20, sweeping the season series and moving to 15-0 all-time against Baylor. Baylor battled Nebraska hard in the first game. After falling behind 19-13, the Bears scored eight of the next 12 points and pulled to within two points at 23-21. However, the Huskers answered that run with four straight points and recaptured control of the game. Game two was nearly a complete wash as the Huskers pounded the Bears with 20 kills and only one error in 29 swings (.655). Nebraska led by 14 points at 22-8 before the Bears began to climb back into the game. Baylor scored 11 of the next 17 points, pulling to within nine at 28-19; however, Nebraska put the game away with Ally Rebholz kills on the next two points. Nebraska's attack was not as strong in game three as the Huskers hit.289. Baylor hit just .122, though, and the Bears committed six attacking errors for the third straight game. The Bears led 10-9, but the Huskers put together an 11-4 run and never looked back. Tisha Schwartz led the Bears with 10 kills, but the Huskers forced her to commit nine attacking errors. Laura Daniela Lloreda and Stella Odion added eight kills each. Jillian Mazzarella led Baylor with 11 digs.
THE COLORADO SERIES
This is the 15th meeting between Baylor and Colorado; the Buffaloes lead the all-time series 12-2. The teams first met Aug. 31, 1991, in Portland, Ore., at the University of Portland Invitational; Colorado won that match 15-11, 15-4, 15-11. The teams did not face each other again until 1996, the first season of the Big 12 Conference. Colorado pushed its winning streak over Baylor to eight matches, winning the first seven meetings as conference opponents. That run came to an end during the 1999 season; after dropping a five-game match at CU early in the season, the Bears knocked off then-No.20 CU in four games at home. ... Baylor is 1-5 all-time at Boulder.
THE COLORADO BUFFALOES
Colorado (14-14, 8-10) is in its sixth season under the direction of head coach Pi'i Aiu, who has spent his entire head coaching career in Boulder. Aiu is 112-71 during his time at Colorado.
CU Notes: After starting the season with losses to Top 25 teams UCLA, Ohio State and Hawai'i, Colorado won eight of its next nine matches and improved to 8-4. However, since that point (Sept. 21), the Buffaloes are 6-10, all coming in Big 12 play. ... Colorado has played five three-game matches this season, winning just once ... The Buffaloes hit .212 as a team, holding opponents to a .230 clip. Colorado averages 15.51 kills, 1.36 service aces, 14.62 digs and 2.30 blocks per game. ... Monique Gerlach leads the Buffaloes with 3.79 kills per game and a .331 attacking percentage. Meghan Barkman is second on the team in both kills per game (2.79) and attacking percentage (.254), and she leads CU with 1.06 blocks per game.
WEDNESDAY WOES
Baylor has lost six consecutive Wednesday matches since defeating Texas Tech in three games Oct. 9 in Waco. In fact, that is the Bears' only Wednesday victory this season. Baylor is 4-14 on Wednesdays since the beginning of last season. The Bears have not won a road Wednesday match since a four-game victory Nov. 8, 2000 at Oklahoma.
LAST MEETING - COLORADO 3, BAYLOR 1 (SEPT. 18, 2002)
WACO, Texas - Stevie Nicholas had 24 kills and five service aces, but it was not enough as Baylor dropped a 27-30, 30-28, 30-18, 30-27 decision to Colorado in the Big 12 Conference opener for both teams. Colorado hit .350 as a team, overcoming a .189 attacking percentage in game one. Baylor, meanwhile, hit .314 in the opener but dropped to .265 for the match. Baylor found no answer for Colorado Monique Gerlach, who put away a career-high 27 kills and hit .548 on the match. She also had six digs and four blocks, contributing 30.0 points on the night. Nicholas recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 12 digs to go along with her sixth 20-kill match of the year. She also reached the 30.0-point plateau for the third time this season with three blocks. Kelly Spriggs had a career-high 13 kills and hit .308 on the night, while Tisha Schwartz tacked on 10 kills and four blocks. Lisa Smith came off the bench for eight errorless kills in nine swings. Baylor had its way with Colorado from an attacking standpoint in game one, but the Buffaloes began to shut the Bears down in game two. Baylor hit .268 in the second game and dropped to .161 in game three. That was when Colorado turned up the heat, hitting .483 as a team in game three and .500 (21-3-36) in the match-clincher. The Bears rebounded to hit .300 (20-8-40) in game four, but Colorado closed out the match with a 6-2 run.
SCHWARTZ CONTINUES TO CLIMB KILLS LIST
Junior OH/MB Tisha Schwartz enters Wednesday's match at Colorado in ninth place all-time at Baylor with 460 on the season. She is seven kills shy of eighth place, held by Heather Williams (467, 1992). Even if the Bears play only three games in each of their final two matches, Schwartz is on pace to finish the season with 487 kills. That would seventh in school history. Reaching 500 kills is not out of the question, and that is a feat only three Bears have ever accomplished. Stevie Nicholas has done it twice (2000, 2001), Polk did it three times (1997, 1998, 1999) and Kia Young did it once (1999).
OTHER IMPRESSIVE SCHWARTZ STATS
Schwartz has tallied at least 10 kills in all but four matches this season. In those four matches, she had nine kills three times and seven kills once. Schwartz has reached the 10-kill plateau in 18 of the last 19 matches. She has also tallied 20 or more kills eight times this season. ... Schwartz has produced at least 10.0 points in all but one match this season (8.5 at Long Beach State) and in each of the last 26 matches. She has reached the 20.0-point plateau nine times and the 30.0-point level twice.
