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BAYLOR
at
RHODE ISLAND
CLASSIC
Sept. 13-14, 2002
Keaney Gymnasium
Kingston, R.I.
Baylor returns to action this weekend, traveling to Kingston, R.I., for the Rhode Island Classic. The Bears (3-3) are coming off a four-game victory over Texas-Arlington in what proved to be the championship match of the Baylor Classic. Baylor is listed among teams also receiving consideration for the Volleyball MagazineTop 20. First up for Baylor this weekend is a Friday match against host Rhode Island at 6 p.m. CDT. The Bears play two matches Saturday - an 11:30 a.m. match against Northeastern and a 3:30 p.m. match against Utah State. In-match score updates for all three matches can be found online at www.BaylorBears.com, the official website of Baylor Athletics and a member of the Official College Sports Network.
QUICK NOTES
* Baylor is making its first-ever appearance in the Rhode Island Classic. In fact, the Bears are making just their fourth trip east of the Mississipi River since 1996 - two trips to Penn State and one trip 800 yards over the Mississippi to Tulane.
* Baylor is 1-1 all-time against its three opponents this weekend. The Bears are 1-0 against Rhode Island (2001) and 0-1 against Utah State (0-1). Baylor has never faced Northeastern in any head-to-head athletic event (track meets and golf tournaments excluded).
* Utah State defeated Baylor twice in 1977, the final year Baylor competed as a non-varsity club team.
* Junior OH Stevie Nicholas leads the Big 12 Conference in kills per game (5.43), service aces per game (0.93) and points per game (6.81). She has now been the Big 12 kills leader in 31 out of 32 weeks during her career.
* Sophomore S/DS Jillian Mazzarella tallied a career-high 22 digs Saturday against Texas-Arlington, becoming the first Bear this season to reach the 20-dig plateau.
* Junior OH Stevie Nicholas recorded 11 service aces in three matches over the weekend. She is now ninth all-time at Baylor with 98 career service aces.
* Junior OH Stevie Nicholas has posted at least 10 kills in 17 consecutive matches and at least 10 points in 50 consecutive matches.
* Baylor has tallied at least one service ace in 39 consecutive matches.
* Junior RS Laura Daniela Lloreda (ankle sprain) will not play this weekend.
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 111-92 (.547) overall record and a 49-71 (.408) 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 six seasons under Hosfeld's direction. 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.
LAST TIME OUT - BAYLOR 3, TEXAS-ARLINGTON 1
Stevie Nicholas put away 23 kills and Jillian Mazzarella had a career-high 22 digs as Baylor defeated Texas-Arlington 30-21, 33-31, 21-30, 30-25 in the final match of the Baylor Classic. The Bears improved to 32-10 all-time in the Baylor Classic and claimed their sixth team title in this, the 12th edition. Nicholas and Tisha Schwartz were honored as co-MVPs of the tournament. Baylor also placed Mazzarella and Emily Huston on the all-tournament team, along with Amber Pack and Carol Bozikis of UTA, and Ivana Kuzmic of Arkansas-Little Rock. With the score tied 15-15 in game one, Stella Odion served the Bears to seven consecutive points. UTA never again got to within six points as Baylor coasted to the 30-21 victory. Baylor hit .314 as a team in the opener, holding the Mavs to a .023 team attacking percentage. Baylor found itself against the ropes in game two, trailing 29-27. However, the Bears scored six of the next eight points for the 33-31 triumph. An Elizabeth Davis service error and a Melissa Robinett attack error gave the Bears the victory. However, UTA answered strong in game three, holding the Baylor attack to a .086 percentage. Meanwhile, the Mavs hit .342 in game three for the 30-21 win. But Baylor's defense, which included 67 digs and 11.0 team blocks on the day, returned in the fourth game. The Bears held UTA's attack to a .167 percentage en route to the 30-25 victory. Schwartz added 11 kills and seven blocks. Huston had nine kills and hit .571 on the match with 18 assists, six digs and four blocks. Odion chipped in with 11 digs and three bocks, while Nicholas finished with three service aces, 13 digs and four blocks.
THE RHODE ISLAND SERIES
This is just the second meeting ever between Baylor and Rhode Island. The Bears won the first meeting 30-23, 30-23, 30-27 in Waco at last season's Baylor Classic.
THE RHODE ISLAND RAMS
Rhode Island (1-5) is in its 22nd season under the direction of head coach Bob Schneck, the winningest coach in Atlantic 10 Conference history. Schneck, who has spent his entire head coaching career at URI, has a career record of 425-270.
URI Notes: Rhode Island has played one of the toughest schedules in the nation during the first two weeks. All five URI losses this season have come to ranked opponents - then-No. 19 Illinois, then-No. 7 Florida, then-No. 9 Northern Iowa, then-No. 20 Minnesota and then-No. 7 UCLA. ...
THE NORTHEASTERN SERIES
Baylor and Northeastern have never met in volleyball. In fact, this will be the first time Baylor and Northeastern have ever met in head-to-head competition in any sport (track meets and golf tournaments excluded).
THE NORTHEASTERN HUSKIES
Northeastern (3-3) is its third season under the direction of head coach Ken Nichols. He is 98-70 in six seasons as a collegiate head coach, 45-30 at Northeastern.
NU Notes: The Huskies have lost three straight after opening the season with three straight wins. However, both losses last Saturday at the Central Florida Challenge - to Central Florida and to Stephen F. Austin - went five games. ... Northeastern is hitting .263 as a team while holding opponents to a .181 clip. The Huskies average 14.45 kills, 1.73 service aces, 16.14 digs and 2.05 blocks per game. ... Freshman MB Larissa Adomat leads the team with 3.60 kills per game, and her .485 attacking percentage is tops among regular starters. Senior OH Lindsay Wagner chips in with 3.36 kills and 2.86 digs per game. ... Adomat is a graduate of Westfield HS in Houston, Texas, and sophomore OH Rebecca Holland is a product of Winston Churchill HS in San Antonio, Texas.
THE UTAH STATE SERIES
This is the second meeting between Baylor and Utah State. The Aggies were 15-6, 15-12, 15-7 winners over the Bears in 1988 at the Anteater Invitational in Irvine, Calif. Baylor and Utah State also played twice in 1977, the final year Baylor competed as a non-varsity club team.
THE UTAH STATE AGGIES
Utah State (3-3) is its second season under the direction of head coach Burt Fuller. Last season, Fuller led the Aggies to a 20-11 mark and the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
USU Notes: The Aggies are coming off a 2-1 showing at the Texas Invitational last weekend in Austin, Texas. USU defeated Texas-El Paso (3-1) and Texas-San Antonio (3-0) after a 3-1 loss to the host Longhorns. ... Utah State is hitting .182 as a team, holding opponents to a .176 average. The Aggies average 15.41 kills, 0.95 service aces, 15.95 digs and 2.16 blocks per game. ... Junior MB Erin Cartwright and freshman OH Zuzana Cernianska lead the Aggies offensively, both averaging 4.00 kills per game. They are also the top two attackers on the team, hitting .267 and .214, respectively. Junior MB Tereza Cernianska leads USU with 2.86 digs per game, while Cartwright is tops in blocks at 1.27 per game.
LLOREDA TO MISS RHODE ISLAND CLASSIC
Junior RS Laura Daniela Lloreda will miss the Rhode Island Classic this weekend. She is still sidelined due to a grade three sprain in her right ankle during practice last Monday. Lloreda will be re-evaluated next Monday.
BAYLOR IN THE BIG 12 STATISTICAL RANKINGS
Baylor ranks in the top four of three statistical categories, according to the Sept. 9 Big 12 Conference rankings. The Bears are second in service aces per game (2.57), third in assists per game (14.24) and fourth in kills per game (15.57). Baylor is seventh in attacking percentage (.234), seventh in blocks per game (2.17), eighth in digs per game (14.14) and ninth in opponent attacking percentage (.233).
NICHOLAS LEADS BIG 12 IN THREE CATEGORIES
Junior OH Stevie Nicholas finds herself atop the Big 12 Conference statistical rankings in three categories, according to the Sept. 9 rankings. Nicholas leads the conference in kills per game (5.43), service aces per game (0.90) and point per game (6.81). She has now been the conference kills leader in 31 out of 32 weeks during her career. The gap in points per game between Nicholas and second-place Mira Topic of Texas is more than one point per game as Topic is averaging 5.71. Nicholas, the only player in the conference to reach the 30-kill plateau this season, owns three of the top five kill performance in the Big 12 this year.
OTHER BEARS IN THE BIG 12 RANKINGS
Junior MB Tisha Schwartz ranks in the top 10 of two statistical categories. She is tied for eighth in both points per game (4.38) and blocks per game (1.10). ... Junior RS Laura Daniela Lloreda ranks fifth in service aces per game (0.73). Freshman S Emily Huston is 10th in assists per game (8.53), hindered by Baylor's new 4-2 offense.
NICHOLAS STEADILY CLIMBING ACES CHART
Junior OH Stevie Nicholas pounded 11 service aces in Baylor's three matches last weekend. Included in that was an eight-ace performance against UALR, one ace shy of the Big 12 Conference record held by fellow Bear Laura Daniela Lloreda. Nicholas is now ninth on Baylor's career aces chart with 98 in her two-plus seasons. Next on the list is Sarah Sivertson, who tallied 108 aces from 1995 to 1998.
FOUR BEARS EARN ALL-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 srvice 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.
BIG 12 COACHES TAB BEARS TO FINISH SEVENTH
For the second straight season and the fourth time in the past five years, the Big 12 Conference volleyball coaches picked Baylor to finish seventh in the league's preseason poll. Last season, the Bears finished in a three-way, sixth-place tie with Texas and Texas Tech last season with an 18-12 overall record and a 9-11 mark in Big 12 play. Four-time defending Big 12 Champion Nebraska was picked to finish first; the Huskers received every first-place vote. Texas A&M followed in second, Missouri and Colorado tied for third, and Kansas State was slotted in the fifth position. Texas was picked sixth, followed by Baylor, Texas Tech and Kansas with Iowa State and Oklahoma tying for the final spot.
NICHOLAS EARNS PRESEASON ALL-BIG 12 HONORS
Two-time all-Big 12 honoree Stevie Nicholas joined five other athletes on the preseason all-Big 12 Conference team. Nebraska dominated the squad with three seniors being named to the team - S Greichaly Cepero, MB Amber Holmquist and OH Laura Pilakowski. Nicholas was named to the preseason team for the second straight season. She joined sophomore RS Mira Topic of Texas as the only non-seniors on the team. Colorado senior S Elizabeth Gower rounded out the six-player squad. Cepero, the 2000 AVCA National Player of the Year, was the pick as preseason player of the year. Redshirt freshman Shen Danru of Missouri was selected as preseason newcomer of the year, and Texas A&M OH Laura Jones was the pick as preseason freshman of the year.
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 returns home to begin Big 12 Conference play Wednesday, Sept. 18 against Colorado. The match is set to start at 7 p.m. CDT at the Ferrell Center. Colorado swept last year's series, winning 3-1 in Waco and 3-2 in Boulder, Colo.
