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BAYLOR
vs.
KANSAS STATE

2:00 p.m. CDT
Sept. 21, 2002
Ferrell Center
Waco, Texas

Baylor continues a three-match home stand Saturday, hosting Kansas State for a 2 p.m. CDT match at the Ferrell Center. The Bears (6-4, 0-1) dropped a 27-30, 30-28, 30-18, 30-27 decision to Colorado at home Wednesday night, snapping a six-match winning streak. The Wildcats (4-5, 0-1) lost their fourth straight match Wednesday night, falling to No. 5 Nebraska 30-25, 30-16, 30-27 at Manhattan. Both teams are among those also receiving votes for the Volleyball Magazine Top 20, while Kansas State is also receiving votes for the USA Today/AVCA Coaches Poll. Live stats for the Baylor-Colorado match 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 4-9 all-time against Kansas State, 3-9 as Big 12 foes. Kansas State swept last season's series, but the series is even 3-3 over the past three years.

* The .350 team attacking percentage posted Wednesday night by Colorado is the highest by a Baylor opponent in a regular-season four-game match since Rice hit .351 in a 3-1 Owls' victory Oct. 4, 1995. Current Baylor assistant coach Tiffany Carrethers, then a Rice sophomore, hit .439 (21-3-41) in that match.

* Junior OH Stevie Nicholas leads the Big 12 Conference in kills per game (5.43), service aces per game (0.97) and points per game (6.81). She has now been the Big 12 kills leader in 32 out of 33 weeks during her career.

* Junior OH Lisa Smith is hitting .381 (35-11-63) over the last three matches with 2.69 kills and 2.77 digs per game.

* With five service aces Wednesday against Colorado, junior OH Stevie Nicholas moved into fourth all-time at Baylor with 115 on her career. She now trails only Cory Sivertson (195, 1991-1994), Heather Williams (168, 1989-1992) and Jana Ranly (136, 1985-1988).

* Junior OH Stevie Nicholas has posted at least 10 kills in 21 consecutive matches, at least 20 kills in three consecutive matches, and at least 10 points in 54 consecutive matches.

* Baylor has tallied at least one service ace in 43 consecutive matches and at least three service aces in 14 straight matches.

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 114-93 (.551) overall record and a 49-72 (.405) 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 3-9 against Kansas State. Hosfeld's first victory over K-State came Oct. 20, 1999, a 3-1 triumph at Manhattan.

LAST TIME OUT - COLORADO 3, BAYLOR 1
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.

THE KANSAS STATE SERIES
This is the 14th meeting between Baylor and Kansas State with the Wildcats holding a 9-4 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. The series is tied 3-3 over the past three years with the home team going 2-1 both ways. In 12 meetings as conference opponents, Baylor and Kansas State have gone three-games just three times. Last season, the Wildcats withstood a furious Baylor rally for a 30-15, 30-23, 22-30, 26-30, 15-11 victory at Manhattan. Kansas State then won a tight three-game match 30-25, 34-32, 30-27 in Waco.

THE KANSAS STATE WILDCATS
Kansas State (4-5) 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 24-13 on her career, all coming at K-State.

K-STATE Notes: Kansas State sports a deceptive 4-5 record. Four of the Wildcats' losses have come to teams ranked nationally at some point this season - Colorado State, South Florida, Michigan State and Nebraska. The fifth was to Georgia Tech, which has been just out of the Top 25 most of the season. Still, the Wildcats come to Waco on a four-match skid. ... K-State hits .215 as a team, holding opponents to a .185 clip. The Wildcats average 14.75 kills, 1.69 service aces, 16.44 digs and 1.89 blocks per game. A solid passing squad, Kansas State has allowed just 33 service aces this season (1.03 per game). ... Senior MB Lauren Goehring leads the attack for Kansas State with a .365 attacking percentage and 3.03 kills per game. Junior OH Cari Jensen leads the team with 3.06 kills per game; she is one of four Wildcats putting away at least 2.00 kills per game. Sophomore S Gabby Guerre paces the K-State attack with 11.47 assists per game to go along with 1.62 kills per game and a .368 attacking percentage. Junior L Laura Downey-Wallace is tops on the team with 4.44 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 - No. 22 KANSAS ST. 3, Baylor 0 (NOV. 14, 2001)
WACO, Texas - Stevie Nicholas tallied 18 kills and Kimmy Scott collected 17 digs in Baylor's 30-25, 34-32, 30-27 loss to No. 22 Kansas State. Tatiana Kenon and Dana Chuha were the only Bears to hit better than .300 on the night. Kenon had 12 kills and hit .364, while Chuha had five kills and hit .333. But the Bears could not find a way to stop KSU's Lauren Goehring, who pounded 14 kills with only one error in 21 swings (.619). As a team, Baylor hit just .205 as opposed to K-State's .253 percentage. The Bears committed 10 attacking errors in the opener, just five fewer than Kansas State committed all night, for a first-game percentage of .164 (19-10-55). The Bears did not attack much better in game two, swinging at a .190 clip (20-9-58). However, Baylor still had its chances to win and even the match. The Bears broke out of a 26-26 tie with three straight points to reach game point at 29-26. Kansas State answered, though, with four consecutive points to grab game point at 30-29. Baylor withstood four Wildcat game points, but a Jenny Pollard cross-court kill gave KSU the win. Baylor finally got the offense going in the third game, attacking at a rate of .303 (16-6-33) as a team. However, four Kansas State service aces gave the Wildcats enough of a push to get past the Bears.

LLOREDA QUESTIONABLE FOR KANSAS STATE MATCH
Junior RS Laura Daniela Lloreda is listed as questionable for today's match against Kansas State. The 2001 Big 12 preseason newcomer of the year, Lloreda has missed the last seven matches due to a grade three sprain in her right ankle. She hit .309 with 2.18 kills per game in Baylor's first three matches.

BAYLOR IN THE BIG 12 STATISTICAL RANKINGS
Baylor ranks in the top five of three statistical categories, according to the Sept. 19 Big 12 Conference rankings. The Bears are first in service aces per game (2.46), third in assists per game (14.32) and tied for fifth in attacking percentage (.259). Baylor is also sixth in kills per game (15.59), tied for eighth in blocks per game (2.12), 10th in digs per game (12.97) and 11th in opponent attacking percentage (.250).

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. 19 rankings. Nicholas leads the conference in kills per game (5.43), service aces per game (0.97) and points per game (6.81). She has now been the conference kills leader in 32 out of 33 weeks during her career. The gap in points per game between Nicholas and second-place Mira Topic of Texas is exactly one point per game as Topic is averaging 5.81. Nicholas, the only player in the conference to reach the 30-kill plateau this season, owns four of the top 10 kill performances in the conference this year. ... Junior MB Tisha Schwartz is seventh points per game (4.57).

OTHER BEARS IN THE BIG 12 RANKINGS
Junior MB Tisha Schwartz ranks in the top 10 of two statistical categories. She is seventh points per game (4.76) and 10th in blocks per game (1.03). ... Freshman MB Stella Odion ranks 10th in service aces per game (0.43).

SMITH BEGINS TO HEAT UP
Junior OH Lisa Smith has carried a hot hand for Baylor over the past week. Smith is hitting .381 (35-11-63) over the last three matches with 2.69 kills and 2.77 digs per game. Included in that streak are career-high kill totals of 13 against Northeastern and 14 against Utah State. She also posted career-high dig totals of 12 against Northeastern and 15 against Utah State. Those two performances helped Smith earn all-tournament honors at the Rhode Island Classic. Wednesday against Colorado, Smith hit .889 (8-0-9) with nine digs. On the season, Smith is hitting .240 with 1.82 kills and 2.32 digs per game.

NICHOLAS ON PACE TO SHATTER ACES RECORDS
With five service aces Wednesday night against Colorado, junior OH Stevie Nicholas moved into fourth place all-time at Baylor with 115 on her career. She now trails only Cory Sivertson (195, 1991-1994), Heather Williams (168, 1989-1992) and Jana Ranly (136, 1985-1988). Furthermore, she has posted 36 aces in just 11 matches, well on schedule to eclipse her 2001 total of 59. That total was four shy of Sivertson's 1992 mark and was good enough for a school-record 0.53 per-game average. The Big 12 record for service aces in a season is 75 by Texas Tech's Heather Hughes-Justice in 2000. To put things in perspective, Nicholas is just eight aces shy of 10th place on Baylor's single-season list and just nine shy of cracking the Big 12 single-season Top 10 list.

BAYLOR WINS 17TH IN-SEASON TOURNAMENT
With a 3-0 record at the Rhode Island Classic last weekend, Baylor claimed the program's 17th in-season tournament title and the second this season. 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 last weekend's 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 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 steps out of Big 12 Conference play Thursday, Sept. 26, for the final match in a three-match home stand. The Bears host former Southwest Conference foe Houston at 7 p.m. CDT at the Ferrell Center. Houston leads the all-time series 29-1, but the teams have not met since 1995, the final year of Southwest Conference play.