Aug. 31, 2002
Box Score
LONG BEACH, Calif. - Laura Daniela Lloreda tallied 11 kills and hit .391 for the match, but it was not enough as Baylor fell to No. 5 Long Beach State 30-25, 30-23, 30-25 in the final match of the Mizuno Invitational.
Earlier in the day, the Bears dropped a 25-30, 30-22, 26-30, 24-30 decision to Loyola-Chicago. Baylor opens the season 0-3 for the first time since 1995. However, Baylor's first three opponents combined for a 72-21 record last season.
Baylor battled Long Beach State hard, never trailing by more than seven points at any point in the match. Still, it was the Niners' explosive offensive attack that did in the Bears. The Beach hit .331 as a team with four players tallying at least 10 kills.
Stevie Nicholas tallied 10 kills and eight digs, but was held to a .135 attacking percentage. Lisa Smith added eight digs and a team-high 10 digs, and Tisha Schwartz had seven kills. Lloreda, though, was the only Bear to take at least 10 swings and post an attacking percentage above .250. Emily Huston notched 31 assists and four kills.
In the first game, Baylor trailed 15-10 before putting together a five-point run to tie the game. However, Long Beach answered with a five-point run of its own and took control of the game. The Bears made things interesting toward the end, though, with another five-point run to close to 27-25. But the 49ers answered with three straight points to close out the game.
Baylor fell behind 20-14 in game two before another five-point run put the Bears one point back at 20-19. However, Long Beach was quick to answer with a 6-1 run that gave them control of the game en route to the 30-23 victory.
The Niners jumped out to a 13-7 lead in game three, but the Bears quickly closed to within four. Long Beach held the lead around five points until a four-point Baylor run cut the Niners' lead to 21-19. The Bears pulled to within two points once more at 26-24 but could never get any closer.
Baylor returns to action next weekend, welcoming Arkansas-Little Rock, Mississippi and Texas-Arlington to the Ferrell Center for the 12th edition of the Baylor Classic. The Bears face Mississippi at 1 p.m. Friday, followed by a 7 p.m. match against UALR. Baylor concludes the two-day round-robin tournament Saturday with a 3 p.m. match against UTA.
