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BAYLOR
HOSTS
BAYLOR CLASSIC
Sept. 6-7, 2002
Ferrell Center
Waco, Texas
Baylor returns to action this weekend, hosting the 12th edition of the Baylor Classic. The Bears welcome Mississippi, Arkansas-Little Rock and Texas-Arlington for the two-day, round-robin event. Baylor faces Mississippi at 1:30 p.m. CDT Friday and UALR that night at 7. The Bears conclude the tournament Saturday against UTA at 3 p.m. CDT. Baylor is the fifth team listed among those receiving votes for the Volleyball Magazine Top 20. Live stats for all Baylor 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 29-10 (.744) all-time in the Baylor Classic, claiming first place five times.
* UALR is making its second appearance at the Baylor Classic, Mississippi its third and UTA its first.
* Baylor's 0-3 start is its slowest since the 1995 opened with six straight losses.
* Baylor is 13-11 all-time in home openers, 4-2 under head coach Brian Hosfeld.
* Junior OH Stevie Nicholas moved into fourth place on Baylor's all-time career kills list last weekend. She now has 1,273 in her two-plus seasons.
* Junior OH Stevie Nicholas has posted at least 10 kills in 14 consecutive matches and at least 10 points in 47 consecutive matches.
* With her 30 kills against Oral Roberts, junior OH Stevie Nicholas became the first player in Baylor history to reach the 30-kill plateau in a season-opener. It was the eighth 30-kill match of her career (a record she already owns) and was just the fourth 30-kill performance in a four-game match ever at Baylor.
* Baylor's loss to Loyola-Chicago last Saturday was just the seventh time in head coach Brian Hosfeld's tenure that the Bears have hit .300 or better as a team and lost.
* Baylor has tallied at least one service ace in 36 consecutive matches.
* Junior RS Laura Daniela Lloreda will miss the Baylor Classic due to a grade three ankle sprain sustained Monday in practice. She is expected to miss 1-2 weeks.
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 108-92 (.540) overall record and a 49-71 (.408) mark in the rugged Big 12 Conference. In 1999, Hosfeld led the Bears to the greatest season in the program's 24-year history. Baylor posted a 26-9 record and finished fifth in the conference at 13-7. The 1999 Bears matched the school record for wins in a season and shattered the standard for conference wins. The season culminated with the Green and Gold making its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament. There, Baylor knocked off Temple in the first round before falling to eventual national champion Penn State. Hosfeld holds the highest winning percentage in school history. He has amassed the most wins, both overall and in conference play, of any coach in school history.
HOSFELD BAYLOR'S WINNINGEST COACH
With the Bears' five-game victory Oct. 20, 2001 at Kansas, head coach Brian Hosfeld claimed his 102nd-career victory at Baylor, breaking the Baylor record for career coaching victories. The mark was previously held by Tom Sonnichsen (1989-1995). Hosfeld reached 101 wins in 182 matches; Sonnichsen took 247 matches to amass his win total. Hosfeld currently holds the highest career winning percentage of any coach in school history at .540 (108-92).
BAYLOR CLASSIC HISTORY
This is the 12th edition of the Baylor Classic, formerly known as the American Airlines Invitational. The event was first held as the Baylor Invitational in 1980; the Bears posted a 3-0 record in that tournament with wins over Mary Hardin-Baylor, Stephen F. Austin State and Howard Payne. The tournament did return until the 1990 season, then under the sponsorship of American Airlines. In 1993, LaQuinta Inns joined American Airlines as a sponsor; Dr Pepper replaced LaQuinta in 1995. The tournament was not hosted during the 1997 and 1998 seasons, but re-emerged in 1999 as the Baylor Classic. The Bears are 29-10 (.744) all-time in their own tournament, claiming first place in 1992, 1993, 1996, 1999 and 2001, and second place in 1991 and 2000.
LAST TIME OUT - No. 5 LONG BEACH STATE 3, BAYLOR 0
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. Baylor battled LBSU 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 kills 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.
THE MISSISSIPPI SERIES
This is the third meeting between Baylor and Mississippi with the Bears winning each of the first two contests. Mississippi is making its third appearance in the Baylor Classic. In 1992, Baylor posted a 15-5, 15-11, 15-2 victory over the Lady Rebels, and in 1999, the Bears were 15-4, 15-3, 15-5 winners.
THE MISSISSIPPI LADY REBELS
Mississippi (2-1) is in its first season under the direction of head coach Joe Getzin, who is 37-61 in four seasons as a collegiate head coach. ... Ole Miss assistant coach Kim Crandall played collegiately at Nebraska.
UM Notes: Ole Miss opened its 2002 season last weekend at the Ruby's Inn/Montana Invitational in Missoula, Mont. The Lady Rebels posted victories over Eastern Kentucky (3-0) and Boise State (3--0) before falling to the host Grizzlies in four games. ... Mississippi is averaging 14.40 kills, 2.30 service aces, 13.80 digs and 2.20 blocks per game. As a team, the Lady Rebels are hitting .239 while holding opponents to a .157 clip. ... Freshman MB Rachel Refenes leads the Ole Miss attack with a .348 attacking percentage and 3.30 kills and 1.50 blocks per game. ... Junior OH Karla Zschau is the younger sister of former Kansas State all-American Kim Zschau (1995-1998). ... Five Lady Rebels hail from Texas: freshman DS Erin Faught (Austin/McCallum HS), freshman S Katie Griffin (Austin/McCallum HS), sophomore OH Elena Garcia (Austin/Westlake HS), senior MB Sarah Lansden (Kingwood/Kingwood HS) and senior MB Erin Newsom (Argyle/Northwest HS).
THE ARKANSAS-LITTLE ROCK SERIES
This is the second meeting between Baylor and Arkansas-Little Rock. The Lady Trojans won the first meeting 15-7, 15-6, 15-11 at the 1994 Baylor Classic.
THE ARKANSAS-LITTLE ROCK LADY TROJANS
Arkansas-Little Rock (2-0) is its 15th season under the direction of head coach Van Compton. She is 254-168 in her career, all coming at UALR.
UALR Notes: The Lady Trojans opened their 2002 season last weekend with wins over Nicholls State (3-2) and Northwestern State (3-0) at the Arkansas State Classic in Jonesboro, Ark. ... UALR is averaging 10.12 kills, 1.88 service aces, 11.00 digs and 3.06 blocks per game through two matches this season. The Lady Trojans are attacking at a .106 percentage and holding opponents to .120. ... Sophomore OH Ivana Vracar leads UALR attack, hitting .259 with 3.00 kills and 1.12 blocks per game. Sophomore MB Alexandria Hepburn leads the team with 1.62 blocks per game. ... Senior OH MacKenzie Eisler prepped at Marcus HS in Double Oak, Texas.
THE TEXAS-ARLINGTON SERIES
While Baylor has a significant more lengthy history with Texas-Arlington than with Mississippi or UALR, this is the first time UTA has participated in the Baylor Classic. The Lady Mavs lead the all-time series 12-5; however, the Bears have won each of the last five meetings, including a 30-21, 30-26, 30-24 decision last season in Waco. UTA leads the series 5-3 in Waco, but the Lady Mavs have never won at the Ferrell Center. Their last victory in Waco came Sept. 20, 1989 at Marrs McLean Gymnasium. Baylor and UTA first met Sept. 18, 1978. Baylor's second match as an intercollegiate varsity program resulted in a 15-5, 15-10 UTA victory.
THE TEXAS-ARLINGTON LADY MAVS
Texas-Arlington (1-2) is its 9th season under the direction of head coach and former Texas all-American Janine Smith, who has spent her entire head coaching career at UTA. In that time, Smith has posted a 139-119 record. ... UTA lost to Texas in the first round of the 2001 NCAA Tournament.
UTA Notes: The Lady Mavs enjoyed what should be considered a positive note last weekend at the Labor Day Invitational in Louisville, Ky. UTA dropped close matches to then-No. 6 Arizona (3-1) and now-No. 22 Louisville (3-2) before defeating 2001 NCAA Tournament participant American 3-1.
LLOREDA TO MISS BAYLOR CLASSIC
Junior RS Laura Daniela Lloreda will miss the Baylor Classic this weekend due severely sprained ankle. Lloreda sustained a grade three sprain in her right ankle during practice Monday. She is expected to be out 1-2 weeks.
SLOW START ODD FOR BEARS
Baylor is off to its slowest start in seven years at 0-3. The 1995 squad lost six straight to start the season and was the last Baylor team to lose its season opener. However, Baylor has shown a propensity for overcoming slow starts. Last season, the Bears opened Big 12 play 0-4 before going 9-7 the rest of the way in conference action.
BAYLOR IN HOME OPENERS
The Bears are 13-11 all-time in home openers, 4-2 during head coach Brian Hosfeld's tenure. Baylor has won three straight home openers since dropping a five-game match to Northwestern in 1998. The Bears' other home opener loss under Hosfeld was to then-No. 19 UCLA in 1997. Baylor is 7-4 in home openers played at the Ferrell Center. Last season, the Bears clipped Texas-Arlington 30-21, 30-26, 30-24 in their first home match. This is the first time Baylor has faced Mississippi in a home opener.
NICHOLAS NOW FOURTH IN KILLS, NINTH IN ACES
Add another Baylor career statistical list on which the name Stevie Nicholas can be found. With eight service aces at the Mizuno Inviational, including a season-high five against Oral Roberts, Nicholas passed Elisha Polk (1996-1999) and into a ninth-place with Shelly Ginter (1985-1988) on Baylor's career aces chart. Nicholas now has 87 in her two-plus seasons. Next on the list is Sarah Sivertson (1995-1998), who tallied 108 aces in her career. ... Meanwhile, Nicholas moved into fourth place all-time at Baylor in career kills. She now has 1,273 on her career, passing Jenny DeLue (1,241, 1990-1993). Next on the kills list is Kia Young (1,449, 1996-1999). ... Nicholas also recorded her 3,000th career attempt over the weekend.
30-KILL CLUB, AGAIN
Junior OH Stevie Nicholas pounded 30 kills in Baylor's season opener against Oral Roberts. It was the eighth time in her career she has reached the 30-kill plateau, extending the school record she already owned. It marked just the fourth time in Baylor history that a player has tallied 30 or more kills in a four game match - twice by Elisha Polk (1996-1999) and now twice by Nicholas. She also became the first Bear to total 30 or more kills in a season opener.
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 to action next weekend at the Rhode Island Invitational in Kingston, R.I. The Bears face host Rhode Island at 6 p.m. CST Friday with matches Saturday against Northeastern at 11:30 a.m. CST and Utah State at 3:30 p.m. CST.
