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BAYLOR
vs.
HOUSTON

7:00 p.m. CDT
Sept. 26, 2002
Ferrell Center
Waco, Texas

Baylor concludes a three-match home stand Thursday, stepping out of the Big 12 Conference for a 7 p.m. match against former Southwest Conference foe Houston. The Bears (6-5) have dropped two straight, including a 30-17, 30-22, 30-23 loss at home last Saturday to Kansas State. Baylor is among teams being considered for the Volleyball Magazine Top 20. The Cougars (8-4) snapped a four-match losing streak Sunday with a four-game victory over St. Mary's. This is the first Baylor-Houston meeting since 1995, the final season of the Southwest Conference. Live stats for the 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 and Houston meet Thursday night for the first time since 1995, the final season of the Southwest Conference. Houston has won 29 of 30 previous meetings.
* The Bears start Big 12 Conference play 0-2 for the second straight season. Last year, Baylor dropped its first four conference matches before going 9-7 in the rest of its Big 12 schedule.
* Baylor's 17 points in game three against Kansas State was the Bears' lowest single-game point total since scoring 17 in game four of their Oct. 27, 2002 match against Texas.
* Junior OH Stevie Nicholas leads the Big 12 Conference in kills per game (5.45), service aces per game (0.95) and points per game (6.81). She has now been the Big 12 kills leader in 33 out of 34 weeks during her career.
* With two service aces Saturday against Kansas State, junior OH Stevie Nicholas has now notched at least two service aces in 10 of 11 matches this season.
* Junior OH Stevie Nicholas has posted at least 10 kills in 22 consecutive matches and at least 10 points in 55 consecutive matches.
* Baylor has tallied at least one service ace in 44 consecutive matches and at least three service aces in 15 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 114-94 (.548) overall record and a 49-73 (.402) 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. HOUSTON
Head coach Brian Hosfeld has never faced Houston in his seven seasons as a collegiate head coach.

LAST TIME OUT - KANSAS STATE 3, BAYLOR 0
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 had six blocks.

THE HOUSTON SERIES
This is the 31st meeting between Baylor and Houston but the first since Nov. 8, 1995. Houston dominates the all-time series 29-1, winning the first 24 meetings and the last five meetings. Baylor's lone victory in the series, which dates back to the 1998 season, was a 15-12, 13-15, 15-12, 8-15, 15-11 triumph Sept. 22, 1993 in Waco.

THE HOUSTON COUGARS
Houston (8-4) is in its 17th season under the direction of head coach Bill Walton, who is 344-191 while with the Cougars. Walton owns a 22-year career record of 554-246.

UH Notes: The Cougars snapped a four-match losing streak Sunday, defeating St. Mary's in four games. Houston opened the season 7-0 before losses to Lamar (3-0), No. 4 Stanford (3-0), Ohio (3-1) and No. 2 Hawai'i (3-0). UH is 2-1 on opponents' home courts this season, winning at Lamar and at Rice, and losing at Hawai'i. ... The Coogs hit .197 as a team, the same percentage to which they are holding opponents. Houston averages 14.67 kills, 1.76 service aces, 17.60 digs and 2.55 blocks per game. ... Senior MB Jenny Tanneberger is Houston's biggest threat. She leads the team in attacking percentage (.322), kills per game (4.36) and blocks per game (1.29). Freshman L Jackie Gonzalez paces the team defensively with 3.79 digs per game.

LAST MEETING - HOUSTON 3, Baylor 1 (Nov. 8, 1995)
HOUSTON, Texas - Four Cougars reached double figures in kills and Baylor hit just .132 as a team as Houston defeated the visiting Bears 13-15, 15-1, 15-12, 15-10 to close out the Southwest Conference regular season. Baylor hit .232 (21-8-56) in the first game and held Houston to a .145 clip (22-13-62). However, the Cougars answered furiously in game two with a .625 percentage, putting away 12 kills with only two errors in 16 swings. Meanwhile, the Bears hit minus-.200 (4-8-20) in the second. The Bears rebounded both offensively and defensively in game three, hitting .128 (12-6-47) to Houston's .186 (18-7-59). However, the Cougars put the match was with 22 kills in game four. Nicole DeNault led Baylor with 17 kills to go along with 12 digs and a pair of blocks. Sarah Sivertson and Sharon Pratt both had 10 kills, while Pratt added 13 digs and three blocks. Erin McElwain led Baylor with six blocks, while Suzanne Scott had four blocks and a team-best 15 digs. Houston was paced by Nashika Stokes, who hit .528 with 22 kills. Debbie Vokes (16 kills, 17 digs), Marie Tourillon (15, 18) and Kristin Guidish (10, 12) all posted double-doubles. Tourillon also had eight blocks, while Crystal Kubena and Cortney Williams had seven blocks each.

LLOREDA PROBABLE FOR HOUSTON MATCH
Junior RS Laura Daniela Lloreda is listed as probable for Thursday's match against Houston. The 2001 Big 12 preseason newcomer of the year, Lloreda has missed the last eight 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 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 Sept. 23 statistical rankings, Baylor is seventh in kills per game (15.45) and 11th in digs per game (13.15). The Bears lead the conference with 2.38 service aces per game and rank third with 14.18 assists per game. However, Baylor ranks sixth in attacking percentage (.246), 10th in blocks per game (2.06) and 11th in opponents' attacking percentage (.254).

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. 23 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 33 out of 34 weeks during her career. The gap in points per game between Nicholas and second-place Mira Topic of Texas more than one point per game as Topic is averaging 5.67. 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 ninth points per game (4.54).

NICHOLAS EVEN STRONGER IN BIG 12 MATCHES
As dominant as she has been in non-conference matches, junior OH Stevie Nicholas has stepped up her play against Big 12 competition. Through two conference matches, Nicholas leads the conference in kills per game (5.86) and points per game (7.36). She is also tied for second with 1.00 service aces per game and tied for ninth with 3.00 digs per game.

NICHOLAS ON PACE TO SHATTER ACES RECORDS
Junior OH Stevie Nicholas now stands fourth all-time at Baylor with 117 service aces 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 six aces shy of 10th place on Baylor's single-season list and just seven shy of cracking the Big 12 single-season Top 10 list.

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 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 travels to Norman, Okla., for its first Big 12 Conference road match of the season. The Bears face Oklahoma at 2 p.m. CDT Saturday at the OU Field House. Baylor swept Oklahoma last season, winning in three games both in Waco and at Norman.