Oct. 21, 2003
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#21 Texas A&M (14-5, 6-3 Big 12) at
Baylor (11-11, 3-6 Big 12)
When: Wednesday, Oct. 22
Where: Ferrell Center
Time: 7 p.m.
Live Stats: www.baylorbears.com
Baylor hosts the second of three-straight nationally ranked opponents as it takes on No. 21 Texas A&M on Wednesday at the Ferrell Center. The Bears will then hit the road to take on No. 8 Kansas State on Saturday and Oklahoma in Norman next Wednesday.
The Bears dropped a 3-0 decision to then-No. 8 Nebraska at home on Saturday, while Texas A&M swept Oklahoma on the road. The Aggies have won the last seven meetings in the series, with the Bears' last victory coming on Oct. 6, 1999 in Waco.
Senior outside hitter Tisha Schwartz has a streak of five-straight double-doubles, a feat which has been accomplished by only two other Baylor players, Stevie Nicholas and Elisha Polk, who hold the record with eight in a row.
CAREER NIGHT
In the victory over Texas Tech on Oct. 15, several Bears recorded career highs. Sophomore setter Emily Huston had 65 assists, topping her previous high of 56, which she had done twice. Senior outside hitter Tisha Schwartz had 22 digs, eclipsing her old mark of 21 she recorded on Sept. 24 against Kansas State...Freshman middle blockers Desiree Guilliard-Young and Nicole LeBlanc each had 15 kills to pass their previous highs, while fellow freshman Eszter Kovacs had eight kills to top her old mark of six.
MILLENNIUM MILESTONE
Senior libero Stevie Nicholas became only the fifth player in Baylor history to record 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs for her career with her sixth dig early in game two against Kansas on Sept. 27. She joined Elisha Polk (1996-99), Heather Williams (1989-92), Jenny DeLue (1990-93) and Cory Sivertson (1991-94)...Nicholas currently ranks fourth on the all-time kills list with 1,432 and has moved up to eighth with 1,074 digs, passing Erin McElwain (1992-95) against Oklahoma on Oct. 1.
HEAVY HITTERS
Baylor hit a season high .451 in the victory over Jacksonville on Sept. 13, the third-highest attacking percentage in Baylor history. The match included a .714 performance from freshman middle blocker Desiree Guilliard-Young (11-1-14) and .667 from freshman middle blocker Nicole LeBlanc (12-0-18), who led the team for the first time this season with 12 kills. The Bears are 8-1 this season when hitting better than .250.
DOING IT WITH DEFENSE
In the Oct. 5 victory over Alcorn State, the Bears held the Braves to a -.114 attack percentage for the match, the lowest opponent attack percentage in Baylor history. The Braves hit for a negative percentage in all three games, including a match-low -.222 in game two...The 47 points scored by Alcorn State was also the lowest ever point total by a Baylor opponent...Prior to this season, Baylor had held an opponent to fewer than 15 points in a game only once. The 2003 Bears have now accomplished the feat three times, the first against Jacksonville in game three on Sept. 13 and twice against Alcorn State.
UPSET SPECIAL
The Sept. 24 victory over No. 9 Kansas State was the biggest upset in school history. Prior to that win, the highest ranked team the Bears had ever beaten was No. 10 Texas A&M on Nov. 9, 1996...Baylor's last victory over a ranked opponent was on Oct. 25, 2000 against No. 23 Kansas State. Of the Bears' nine victories all-time against ranked teams, four have been against the Wildcats...Head coach Brian Hosfeld has raised the bar for success in his seven-plus seasons at the helm of the program. Hosfeld boasts eight of the Bears' nine victories over ranked opponents and the only two victories over top 10 opponents in school history.
CAN YOU DIG IT?
Baylor has outdug its opponents 11 times this season and are 9-2 in those matches, including the Sept. 24 upset of No. 9 Kansas State.The Bears had 82 digs compared to only 59 for the Wildcats, marking the largest dig differential of the season for the Bears...Senior libero/outside hitter Stevie Nicholas, who leads the team with 3.12 digs per game, has recorded double-digit digs in 15 of the 22 matches, including a season-high 22 against Kansas State. Nicholas now has 1,074 digs for her career and has moved into eighth place all-time at Baylor. Senior outside Tisha Schwartz also added 21 digs to the effort against the Wildcats and posted a career-high 22 against Texas Tech on Oct. 15.
SERVING 'EM UP
Baylor had a season-high 12 service aces in the Sept. 20 victory over Iowa State, all in the last three games. The only game the Bears lost in the match was the first, when they had no aces and six service errors...Sophomore outside hitter Stella Odion had a career-high five aces, including a pair for the final two points of game two. Sophomore setter Emily Huston, who ranks eighth in the league in aces, punctuated the night with an ace on match point. Huston then had a career-high six aces, the most by a Bear this season, against Sam Houston State on Monday and the Bears had 11 as a team. Odion, who had three aces against the Bearkats, served 10-straight points for Baylor in game three...The Bears are 9-4 when recording more than five aces and 2-7 when posting five aces or fewer.
BLOCK PARTY
Freshman middle blocker Nicole LeBlanc recorded 12 total blocks (3 solo) in the Sept. 10 victory over Houston. It was the first double-digit block total by a Bear since Tisha Schwartz had 10 against Kansas on Sept. 27, 2000. It was also the first career double-double for LeBlanc, who added 10 kills. LeBlanc is second on the team with 1.01 blocks per game, trailing fellow freshman Desiree Guilliard-Young who ranks second in the Big 12 with 1.27 blocks per game...The Bears had a season-high 16 blocks as a team in the match against the Cougars and have at least 10 blocks in 11 of their 22 matches.
SPRIGGS SPRINGS OFF THE BENCH
Sophomore outside hitter Kelly Spriggs hammered a career-high 20 kills in the Sept. 24 upset of No. 9 Kansas State. Spriggs has been a sparkplug off the bench for the Bears with double-digit kills in six of the last nine matches and led the team or tied for the team lead in kills against Kansas State, Kansas and Colorado.
TOPPING 20
Senior outside hitter Tisha Schwartz has recorded at least 20 kills in eight matches this season, including a season-high 26 against Ole Miss on Aug. 30 and 25 against Wyoming on Sept. 13 in Jacksonville. She has recorded double-digit kills in 20 of 22 matches and moved up to fifth on Baylor's all-time kills list against Alcorn State on Oct. 5. Sophomore outside hitter Kelly Spriggs is the only other Bear to post 20 kills this season, slamming a career-high 20 against No. 9 Kansas State on Sept. 24. Freshman outside hitter Andrea Vakulya came close with 19 against Wyoming on Sept. 13.
TOUGH COMPETITION
Baylor has a difficult 2003 slate, facing five teams currently ranked in the top 25, including three in the top 10. The Bears have lost to No. 2 Hawai'i and still have two matches left, one at home and one on the road with No. 21 Texas A&M. Baylor also has one match left with the other Top 25 teams, all on the road, against No. 8 Kansas State, No. 11 Nebraska and No. 24 Missouri.
BRINGING HOME THE HARDWARE
Baylor claimed its second tournament title of the season by winning the Hampton Inn/JU Classic Sept. 12-13 in Jacksonville, Fla. The Bears also won the Baylor Classic Aug. 29-30 in Waco. Senior outside hitter Tisha Schwartz was tabbed the Most Valuable Player of both tournaments. Freshman outside hitter Andrea Vakulya was named to the all-tournment team at the Hampton Inn/JU Classic, while sophomore setter Emily Huston and freshman middle blocker Nicole LeBlanc made the all-tournament team at the Baylor Classic.
INSIDE BAYLOR SPORTS
"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.
