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BAYLOR
at
No. 25 KANSAS STATE
Noon CST
Oct. 9, 2002
Ahearn Field House
Manhattan, Kan.
Baylor faces one of the nation's hottest teams this weekend, traveling to Manhattan, Kan., for a Saturday match against Kansas State at noon CST. The Bears (9-15, 2-11) lost a 30-19, 30-24, 30-25 decision Wednesday night at home against Texas A&M. The Wildcats (16-6, 12-2) won their 10th consecutive match Wednesday, knocking off No. 20 Missouri 30-26, 30-24, 30-28 at Columbia. Kansas State is ranked 25th in this week's AVCA/USA Today Coaches Poll; the Cats are also among teams also receiving votes in the latest Volleyball Magazine Top 20. Score updates for the match will be available at www.BaylorBears.com, the official website of Baylor Athletics and a member of the Official College Sports Network.
QUICK NOTES
* Baylor and Kansas State meet for the 15th time Saturday. The Wildcats have won the last three meetings and lead the all-time series 10-4.
* Since moving to the outside hitter position Sept. 26, junior OH/MB Tisha Schwartz has averaged 5.77 kills, 2.63 digs and 0.53 blocks per game.
* Junior OH/MB Tisha Schwartz has established herself as one of top scoring threats in the Big 12. Schwartz averages 4.76 kills and 5.48 points per game, both tops in the conference.
* Freshman S Emily Huston has recorded at least one service ace in five straight matches.
* Junior OH/MB Tisha Schwartz needs 21 kills to move into 10th place on Baylor's all-time single-season kills chart.
* Baylor has tallied at least one service ace in 57 consecutive matches and at least two service aces in 26 straight matches.
* Baylor has played just three matches this season without at least one starter out due to injury. Last Friday against UTSA, the Bears were minus four opening-day starters.
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 117-104 (.529) overall record and a 51-82 (.383) 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. KANSAS STATE
Head coach Brian Hosfeld is 3-10 against Kansas State. Hosfeld's first victory over K-State came Oct. 20, 1999, a 3-1 triumph at Manhattan.
LAST TIME OUT - TEXAS A&M 3, BAYLOR 0
WACO, Texas - Tisha Schwartz led all players with 17 kills and Laura Daniela Lloreda added 13 kills, but it was not enough as Baylor dropped a 30-19, 30-24, 30-25 decision to Texas A&M. Schwartz also led the Bears with 11 digs, recording her ninth double-double of the season. Lloreda posted her second straight double-double with 10 digs. Emily Huston added three kills, 13 assists, two service aces, four digs and one block. Jillian Mazzarella had 19 assists and a pair of blocks. In the end, though, Texas A&M's attack was too balanced and too powerful for the Bears to contain. Five Aggies had at least seven kills, led by Melissa Munsch with 11. A&M hit .274 as a team, holding Baylor to a .115 clip. Munsch led all players with 18 digs, and Laura Jones added 12 digs. Jones and Carol Price had nine kills each, and Price hit .444 (9-1-18) on the night. Baylor never led in game one as an early 6-2 run gave the Aggies an 11-6 advantage. The Bears never got closer than four points after that run. In game two, the Aggies built another early at 9-4 thanks to a pair of 4-0 runs. Baylor fought back and pulled to within two points at 21-19. However, the Bears could get no closer. In game three, Texas A&M again took control early, breaking a 5-5 tie with five straight points and led the rest of the way.
THE KANSAS STATE SERIES
This is the 15th meeting between Baylor and Kansas State with the Wildcats holding a 10-4 advantage in the all-time series. Baylor and K-State first met Sept. 3, 1993 at Manhattan; the Bears won that match 15-5, 16-14, 15-10. The teams did not meet again until 1996, the first year of the Big 12 Conference. K-State won the first six meetings as conference foes before Baylor swept the season series in 1999. Kansas State leads the series 4-3 over the past three years, but Kansas State has won the last three meetings. In 13 meetings as conference opponents, Baylor and Kansas State have gone three-games just four times. The Wildcats won the first meeting of this season in three games Sept. 21 in Waco.
THE KANSAS STATE WILDCATS
Kansas State (16-6, 12-2) is in its second season under the direction of head coach Susie Fritz, who served as a Wildcat assistant coach for four years prior to being promoted two summers ago. Fritz is 36-14 on her career, all at K-State.
K-STATE Notes: Kansas State is ranked 25th nationally in this week's AVCA/USA Today Coaches Poll. The Wildcats are among teams also receiving votes in the latest Volleyball Magazine Top 20. ... K-State is perhaps the hottest team in the nation, currently riding a 10-match winning streak since starting the season 6-6. All six Wildcat losses have come to teams that have been ranked at some point this season, and only then-No. 5 Nebraska has swept the Cats. Kansas State has dropped just five games during this 10-match run, going five games with Texas Tech to start the streak, four games with Colorado and another five games at Texas Tech last week. ... Kansas State hits .240 as a team, holding opponents to a .169 clip. The Cats average 15.38 kills, 1.58 service aces, 17.59 digs and 2.52 blocks per game. ... Senior MB Lauren Goehring leads the KSU attack with 3.36 kills and 1.11 blocks per game; she also hits at a .356 rate. Sophomore MB Lisa Martin averages 2.37 kills and 1.05 blocks per game with a .331 attacking percentage. Junior OH Cari Jensen leads the Cats in kills with 3.64 per game, and Junior L Laura Downey-Wallace is tops in the Big 12 Conference with 5.36 digs per game. ... Two Wildcats hail from Texas: Goehring is from Fossil Ridge HS in Fort Worth and Guerre is from Houston's Mayde Creek HS, the same school that produced Baylor great Kia Young (1996-1999).
LAST MEETING - KANSAS STATE 3, BAYLOR 0 (SEPT. 21, 2002)
WACO, Texas - Stevie Nicholas led all players with 17 kills, but Baylor hit just .104 as a team in a 30-17, 30-22, 30-23 loss to Kansas State. The match started out tight. With the score tied 9-9, though, Kansas State posted a 5-0 run and never looked back. Baylor scored on successive points just once the rest of game one as the Wildcats took the 30-17 win. It was Baylor's lowest point total of the season. K-State blistered Baylor's defense in the opener, hitting .419 (16-3-31) as a team. Meanwhile, the Bears hit .000 (10-10-33) and hit into Kansas State's block six times. Baylor improved defensively in game two, holding K-State to .279 (15-3-43). However, another Wildcat run put the Bears away. With Baylor leading 20-18, KSU scord seven straight points to take a commanding 26-21 lead. Baylor scored just one more point in the 30-22 loss. Kansas State took control of game three early, building leads of 9-4 and 13-6. Baylor saw its biggest deficit at 28-16 before scoring seven of the next eight points. However, a Jennifer Pollard kill down the left-side line ended the game 30-23 and gave K-State its second straight three-gam victory at the Ferrell Center. Nicholas and Tisha Schwartz combined for 29 kills on the day, but the rest of the Bears managed just 12 kills. Meanwhile, 13 Kansas State blocks made it difficult for Baylor's offense to produce. Nicholas had 11 attacking errors, compared to 10 attacking errors committed by the Wildcats as a team. Cari Jensen led Kansas State with 12 kills and a.333 attacking percentage to go along with four blocks and four service aces. Lisa Martin had eight blocks, while Gabby Guerre added six.
BAYLOR VS. RANKED TEAMS
The Bears' match against Kansas State marks the 119th time Baylor has played a nationally ranked team since the national poll was established in 1982. Baylor is 8-111 in such matches; the Bears are 0-4 this season against ranked opponents with losses to then-No. 5 Long Beach State (Aug. 31), then-No. 22 Missouri (Oct. 16), then-No. 4 Nebraska (Oct. 19) and then-No. 19 Texas (Oct. 30). The Bears last victory over a ranked team was a five-game decision Oct. 25, 2000 against then-No. 23 Kansas State. Baylor enjoyed its best season against ranked competition during the 1999 campaign, going 5-6 that season. The Bears are 7-57 against ranked opponents under head coach Brian Hosfeld.
SCHWARTZ NEARS SEASON KILLS TOP 10
Junior OH/MB Tisha Schwartz enters Saturday's match at Kansas State just 21 kills shy of cracking Baylor's top 10 for kills in a season. She currently has 395, just shy of 10th-place Jenny DeLue (416, 1992). Since moving to the outside Sept. 26, Schwartz has averaged 5.77 kills per game. Even if Baylor plays only three games in each of its remaining seven matches, Schwartz is on pace to finish the year with 516 kills. That would rank seventh all-time at Baylor. Her current average of 4.76 kills per game would rank fifth in school history behind only Stevie Nicholas (5.68, 2000; 5.33, 2001) and Elisha Polk (5.21, 1998; 5.07, 1997).
OTHER IMPRESSIVE SCHWARTZ STATS
Schwartz has tallied at least 10 kills in all but three matches this season. In those three matches, she had nine kills twice and seven kills once. Schwartz has reached the 10-kill plateau in each of the last 10 matches, the longest stretch of her career. 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 21 matches. She has reached the 20.0-point plateau eight times and the 30.0-point level twice.
HUSTON ENJOYS A FEW STREAKS, AS WELL
Freshman S Emily Huston averages just 1.04 kills per game, but she has been consistent. The Santa Rosa, Calif., native as produced at least one kill in all 24 matches this season, including a career-best nine Sept. 7 against Texas-Arlington. She has also blocked at least one ball in all but two matches this year, and she is currently riding a streak of five matches with at least one service ace.
BAYLOR IN THE BIG 12 STATISTICAL RANKINGS
Baylor finds itself in unusual territory statistically this season - not among the league leaders in kills and digs per game. The Bears have finished third or better in kills per game and fifth or better in digs per game in the Big 12 Conference in each of the past three seasons. According to the Nov. 4 statistical rankings, Baylor is ninth in kills per game (14.73) and ninth in digs per game (14.34). The Bears are fourth in the conference with 1.85 service aces per game. However, Baylor ranks seventh in attacking percentage (.214), ninth in assists (13.35), 10th in blocks (1.98) and 11th in opponents' attacking percentage (.253).
SCHWARTZ NOW TOP BIG 12 OFFENSIVE THREAT
Junior OH Tisha Schwartz has essentially become the top scoring threat in the Big 12 Conference as she trails on teammate Stevie Nicholas, who is out for the season with a torn medial-meniscus, in both kills and points per game. According to the Oct. 28 rankings, Schwartz is second in kills (4.72 per game) and second in points (5.44 per game). ... Schwartz leads all players with 5.23 kills in Big 12 matches. She is second in points (5.65 per game) in league play.
NICHOLAS STILL LEADS BIG 12 IN THREE CATEGORIES
Despite being sidelined with a torn meniscus, junior OH Stevie Nicholas retains her leader position in the Big 12 Conference statistical rankings in three categories, according to the Nov. 4 rankings. Nicholas leads the conference in kills per game (5.45), service aces per game (0.95) and points per game (6.81). She has now been the conference kills leader in 38 of 39 weeks during her career. Nicholas and Tisha Schwartz are the only players in the conference to reach the 30-kill plateau this season.
BAYLOR WINS 17TH IN-SEASON TOURNAMENT
With team titles at the Baylor Classic and at the Rhode Island Classic, Baylor has claimed the program's 16th and 17th in-season tournament titles. Eleven of those titles have come during head coach Brian Hosfeld's tenure (since 1996). The Bears have won at least one in-season tournament in six of Hosfeld's seven seasons, claiming two such titles five times.
THREE BEARS EARN URI CLASSIC HONORS
Baylor juniors OH Stevie Nicholas, MB Tisha Schwartz and OH Lisa Smith were named to the all-tournament team at the Rhode Island Classic. Nicholas was selected as MVP, marking the fifth time in her career she has been named MVP at an in-season tournament. On the weekend, Nicholas hit .316 with 5.25 kills and 2.58 service aces per game and 12 service aces. Schwartz, meanwhile, averaged 4.50 kills per game on the weekend; she also hit at a .406 clip with 11 blocks and five service aces. Smith averaged 2.50 kills and 2.36 digs per game with two double-doubles on the weekend.
FOUR BEARS EARN BAYLOR CLASSIC HONORS
Junior OH Stevie Nicholas, junior MB Tisha Schwartz, sophomore S/DS Jillian Mazzarella and freshman S Emily Huston all earned all-tournament honors at the 2002 Baylor Classic. Nicholas and Schwartz were named co-MVPs. Nicholas averaged 5.10 kills, 1.10 service aces, 3.70 digs and 0.90 blocks per game on the weekend, totaling 67.5 points. Schwartz finished the weekend with 52.0 points and per-game averages of 4.00 kills, 1.60 digs and 1.50 blocks. Huston and Mazzarella paced the Bear offense to a .249 attacking percentage and 16.60 kills per game. Huston hit .600 for the weekend (20-2-30) with 2.00 kills, 5.90 assists, 1.70 digs and 0.60 blocks per game. Mazzarella hit .345 on the weekend (12-2-29) with 1.20 kills, 7.30 assists, 3.90 digs and 0.50 blocks per game.
BAYLORBEARS.COM
Baylor's official athletic web site can be found at www.BaylorBears.com. The comprehensive site, which includes releases, photos, biographical sketches and audio broadcasts, is part of the Official Colles Sports Network. OCSN currently hosts sites for more than 100 universities, including eight Big 12 schools.
INSIDE BAYLOR SPORTS TV SHOW
Inside Baylor Sports, a half-hour look at the world of Baylor athletics, airs weekly throughout Central Texas and the region. The program, co-hosted by John Morris and Lori Scott-Fogleman, airs on KCEN-TV Channel 6, Fox Sports Net Southwest and the College Channel (Waco cable channel 18). KCEN carries the show at 10:30 p.m. Sundays, and it airs at 1 p.m. Wednesdays on FSN Southwest.
UP NEXT...
Baylor stays on the road next Wednesday, traveling to Lubbock, Texas, for a 7 p.m. CST match at Texas Tech. The Bears defeated the Red Raiders 30-25, 30-24, 30-26 last month in Waco. Baylor is 1-22 all-time at Lubbock.
