Sept. 30, 2003
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Oklahoma (8-7, 0-3 Big 12) at
Baylor (9-7, 2-2)
When: Wednesday, Oct. 1
Where: Ferrell Center
Time: 7 p.m.
Livestats: www.baylorbears.com
Tonight marks the midway point of the season for Baylor as it hosts Oklahoma in its only Big 12 Conference match of the week. The Bears also host Alcorn State in non-conference action on Sunday.
Oklahoma won both meetings against Baylor last year, snapping the Bears' six-match winning streak in the series. Baylor has a chance to even score in Waco as Oklahoma holds a 6-5 advantage.
Both teams are coming off losses this past weekend as the Baylor dropped a tough five-gamer on the road at Kansas, while Oklahoma was swept by No. 9 Kansas State in Manhattan. Baylor upset the Wildcats last Wednesday, while the Sooners are still looking for their first conference win.
UPSET SPECIAL
The Sept. 24 victory over No. 9 Kansas State was the biggest upset in school history. 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.
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 Saturday. She joins 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 1,431, has moved up to ninth with 1,010 digs and needs only eight more digs to move into eighth.
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 6-1 this season when hitting better than .250.
CAN YOU DIG IT?
Baylor has outdug its opponents 10 times this season and are 8-2 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 ranks 9th in the Big 12 with 3.24 digs per game, has recorded double-digit digs in 11 of the 16 matches, including a season-high 22 against Kansas State. Nicholas now has 1,010 digs for her career and needs only eight more to move into eighth place all-time at Baylor. Senior outside Tisha Schwartz also added a career-high 21 digs to the effort, while sophomore defensive specialist Marisa Kersten has recorded double-digit digs in the last three matches, including a career-high 15 at Sam Houston State on Sept. 22.
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 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 8-3 when recording more than five aces and 1-4 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 1.02 blocks per game, trailing fellow freshman Desiree Guilliard-Young who is averaging 1.34. Both are among the top 10 in blocks in the Big 12...The Bears had a season-high 16 blocks as a team in the match against the Cougars and have at least 10 blocks in eight of their 15 matches.
BIG 12 COACHES TAB BEARS TO FINISH EIGHTH
The Big 12 Conference volleyball coaches picked Baylor to finish eighth in the league's 2003 preseason poll. Defending Big 12 Champion Nebraska was picked to finish first, receiving six of the 11 first-place votes. Texas came in second, with Kansas State just one point back in third. Texas A&M and Missouri tied for fourth, followed by Kansas in sixth and Colorado in seventh place. Baylor slotted in the eighth spot, with Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Iowa State rounding out the 11-team field...Nebraska and Texas A&M also dominated the preseason all-conference squads, with each team receiving two places on the six-person team. Nebraska's Anna Schrad and Kansas State's Lauren Goehring were named co-preseason players of the year...Colorado's Ashley Nu'u was tabbed preseason freshman of the year, and Texas' Darium Acevedo, a sophomore transfer from Oregon, was named preseason newcomer of the year.
TOPPING 20
Senior outside hitter Tisha Schwartz has recorded at least 20 kills in five 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 14 of 15 matches. Sopohomore 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.
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 four of the last five matches and has led the team or tied for the team lead in each of the last two matches.
TOUGH COMPETITION
Baylor has a difficult 2003 slate, facing three teams currently ranked in the top 10 and two others just outside the top 25. The Bears have lost to No. 2 Hawai'i and still have two matches left with No. 7 Nebraska and No. 22 Texas A&M. Baylor also has one match left on the road against No. 12 Kansas State and Missouri, which received the fifth-most votes by a team not in the top 25.
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.
