Nov. 7, 2003
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Iowa State (11-14, 3-11 Big 12) at
Baylor (11-16, 3-11 Big 12)
When: Saturday, Nov. 8
Where: Ferrell Center
Time: 7 p.m.
Live Stats: www.baylorbears.com
Baylor returns home to host Iowa State for Homecoming Saturday night at the Ferrell Center.
The Bears have lost six in a row following Wednesday's 3-0 loss to Colorado, while Iowa State was swept by No. 5 Kansas State. The Cyclones did however record their first-ever victory over Texas last Saturday in Ames. Baylor won the first meeting against Iowa State this season, 3-1, in Ames on Sept. 20 and have won 10 of 11 in the series.
The Bears return to action when they travel to Dallas to take on SMU in non-conference action on Wednesday.
DID YOU KNOW...
Senior outside hitter Tisha Schwartz is on pace to become only the fourth player in Baylor history with 500 kills in a season...Schwartz has as more digs this season (299) than her previous three seasons combined (258)...Sophomore setter Emily Huston has already posted the seventh-highest single-season assist total in Baylor history and already ranks seventh on the Bears' career list...Freshman middle blockers Desiree Guilliard-Young and Nicole LeBlanc currently have the fourth- and fifth-highest, respectively, single-season attack percentages in school history.
TOPPING 20
Senior outside hitter Tisha Schwartz has recorded at least 20 kills in 10 matches this season, including a season-high 26 against Ole Miss on Aug. 30 and 25 against Wyoming on Sept. 13 in Jacksonville and against Texas A&M on Oct. 22. She has recorded double-digit kills in 25 of 27 matches and moved up to fifth on Baylor's all-time kills list against Alcorn State on Oct. 5. In a loss to Texas A&M on Oct. 22, Schwartz also passed teammate Stevie Nicholas for fifth on Baylor's all-time total attempts list. 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 split a pair of matches with No. 5 Kansas State and still have one left with No. 10 Nebraska, No. 21 Texas A&M and No. 25 Missouri -- all on the road.
MILLENNIUM MILESTONES
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 into seventh with 1,141 digs, passing Brenda Kunz (1990-93) on Oct. 29 at Oklahoma...In the Oct. 22 match against Texas A&M, sophomore setter Emily Huston posted the first 1,000 assist season of her career and became the first setter in the Big 12 to reach the mark this season. She has the seventh-highest single-season assist total (1,210) and ranks seventh on Baylor's career list.
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 8-3 this season when hitting better than .250.
CAREER NIGHT
Several Bears have had career nights in both matches against Texas Tech this season...In the victory over the Red Raiders on Oct. 15, sophomore setter Emily Huston had 65 assists, topping her previous high of 56, which she had done twice. Senior outside hitter Tisha Schwartz had a career-high 22 digs in the first match against Tech, then broke that mark again with 26 on Saturday...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 in the first match. Then, LeBlanc topped that mark by pounding 17 kills on Nov. 1.
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 12 times this season and are 9-3 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. Baylor had its best dig total of the season on Nov. 1 against Texas Tech with 86, but the Red Raiders had 93. Senior libero/outside hitter Stevie Nicholas, who leads the team with 3.16 digs per game, has recorded double-digit digs in 17 of the 24 matches, including a season-high 22 against Kansas State on Sept. 24 and Texas A&M on Oct. 22. Nicholas now has 1,141 digs for her career and has moved into seventh place all-time at Baylor. Senior outside Tisha Schwartz also added 21 digs to the effort against the Wildcats and posted a career-high 26 against Texas Tech on Nov. 1.
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. Sophomore defensive specialist Marisa Kersten had the longest point streak of the season when she served 11-straight in game two at Oklahoma on Oct. 29. Kersten also had a career-high five aces, including three of the first four points of game four...The Bears are 9-5 when recording more than five aces and 2-11 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 third in the Big 12 with 1.27 blocks per game...The Bears had a season high 17 blocks against Oklahoma on Oct. 29 and have at least 10 blocks in 13 of their 26 matches.
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.
