Nov. 29, 2003
Box Score
COLUMBIA, Mo. - - Senior outside hitter Stevie Nicholas led Baylor with 22 kills as the Bears fell to Missouri, 3-1 (25-30, 30-28, 30-28, 30-25) in the season finale of Big 12 volleyball Saturday night at the Hearnes Center. Fellow senior outside hitter Tisha Schwartz added 18 kills and ending up with 1,501 for her career and becoming only the fourth player in school history to reach 1,500.
Nicholas also had 10 digs for her fourth double-double of the season and topped 20 kills for the fourth time in five matches. Schwartz had a team-high 12 digs for her team-leading 17th double-double of the season. Freshman middle blocker Nicole LeBlanc added 10 kills, 10 digs and five blocks for the second double-double of her career, while sophomore setter Emily Huston posted her ninth double-double of the season with 54 assists and 11 digs for the Bears (12-22, 4-16 Big 12).
Shen Danru led Missouri (19-10, 12-8) with 24 kills, while Jessica Vander Kooi added 12 kills. Sara Parks and Juliana Godoi had 14 digs each for to lead the Tigers.
Baylor took a 5-1 lead early in game one, but Missouri fought back to tie the game at 9-9. The two teams traded the lead until the Bears scored three-straight to go up 20-16, but the Tigers came right back with a four-point rally to tie the game, 20-20. The Bears pulled away with three-straight to take a 26-23 lead, and held on for a 30-25 win led by six kills from Nicholas and five from Schwartz.
The Bears gained control early in game two as well, as they put together a four-point run which included a pair of aces by LeBlanc to take a 13-7 lead. With Baylor leading 15-9, the Tigers went on a 13-2 run to take a 22-17 lead. The Bears fought back to within one at 27-26 and 28-27, but Missouri held on to tie the match with a 30-28 victory. Nicholas and Schwartz had six kills each.
Missouri scored five-straight to go up 5-2 in game three, and scored four-straight to take a 16-11 lead. The Bears fought back to tie the game, 19-19, but the Tigers scored two-straight to go up, 28-26, and took the advantage with a 30-28 win.
The Tigers led by as many as five midway through game four, but the Bears came back to tie the game, 18-18. Missouri scored two-straight to take a 25-23 lead and closed out the match by winning, 30-25.
Baylor hit .261 for the match, compared to only .214 for Missouri. The Bears also outblocked the Tigers, 13-10, and outdug them, 62-58. Missouri came up with 11 service aces, while Baylor had eight.
