Volleyball Back Home Against No. 24 Kansas
10/1/2004 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 1, 2004
Baylor-Kansas Notes
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Baylor (7-7, 1-4 Big 12) faces its third ranked opponent in as many games as it hosts No. 24 Kansas tonight at the Ferrell Center. The Bears will be looking to rebound after back-to-back sweeps on the road against No. 25 Colorado and No. 14 Texas A&M. The Jayhawks have also lost two straight against ranked opponents as they were swept by No. 22 Texas last Saturday and No. 7 Nebraska Wednesday. All three of Kansas' losses this season have come against ranked opponents.
Balance has been Baylor's game plan as junior Stella Odion leads the team with 162 kills, followed closely by sophomores Nicole LeBlanc (159) and Desiree Guilliard-Young (157). Blocking has also been key with junior Adeline Meira averaging 1.62 blocks per game, Guilliard-Young 1.27 and LeBlanc 1.06. Kansas is led by junior Josi Lima, who averages 3.70 kills, 2.19 digs and 1.00 blocks per game.
It doesn't get any easier for the Bears from here as they return to action when they hit the road to face No. 7 Nebraska Wednesday night in Lincoln.
BLOCK PARTY...
Baylor has dominated the blocking category, outblocking its opponents in 12 of 14 matches and only recording fewer than eight blocks twice...Baylor has registered double-digit blocks in eight of the last 10 matches...The Bears are outblocking their opponents with 3.05 blocks per game compared to only 1.59 per game for the opposition...Junior Adeline Meira (1.64), sophomore Desiree Guilliard-Young (1.27) and sophomore Nicole LeBlanc (1.06) are averaging more than one block per game individually.
SERVING IT UP...
Baylor ranks fourth in the Big 12 Conference with 1.78 service aces per game, and junior setter Emily Huston is second in the league individually with 0.61 per game and sophomore right-side hitter Nicole LeBlanc is fourth with 0.49 per game...Huston recorded the 100th ace of her career against Sam Houston State Sept. 11 and ranks 10th all-time at Baylor with 105...Aces have been a telling statistic this season as the Bears are 6-1 when they have more aces and 1-6 when they have equal or fewer.
CAREER NIGHT...
Seven of the eight Bears that played in the opener against UT-Arlington Sept. 1 set or tied a career high in at least one category...Nicole LeBlanc in kills (28); Stella Odion in kills (20) and digs (23); Desiree Guilliard-Young in kills (16) and digs (4); Emily Huston in assists (68) and digs (15); Maggie Chlebana in digs (15) and service aces (2)...Adeline Meira and Kristen Schramek were playing their first career matches, so each set career highs in several categories...Kelly Spriggs was the only player not to set a career high, but still played well with 16 kills.
ROAD WARRIORS...
Baylor wrapped September, a month that saw them play 11 of its first 14 matches away from the Ferrell Center, including the three-match tournament at Ole Miss Sept. 3-4 and the four-match slate at Sam Houston State Sept. 10-11...The Bears have already posted a 2-1 record in the Ferrell Center for the month ...Baylor ended a nine-match road losing streak with a sweep of Sam Houston State Sept. 11.
YOUTH MOVEMENT...
The Baylor roster has no seniors, a void left by two of the best players to come through the program, outside hitters Tisha Schwartz and Stevie Nicholas...What the Bears do have is a host of juniors and redshirts who have been together for three seasons. Junior setter Emily Huston and junior outside hitter Stella Odion have played two full seaons, and junior outside hitter Kelly Spriggs has seen a lot of action in her one-and-a-half seasons...Sophomore middle blocker Desiree Guilliard-Young and right-side hitter Nicole LeBlanc are coming off tremendous rookie campaigns in which both were among the Big 12 leaders in attacking percentage and blocks. Redshirts Kristen Schramek and Adeline Meira have been solid so far in their first seasons and are looking to contribute even more after sitting out the 2003 campaign with injuries...All totaled, the Bears boast five juniors, two sophomores and five freshmen.
BALANCED ATTACK...
The Bears' offense has been much more spread out this season than in years past, as evidenced by the Sept. 22 victory over Oklahoma when five Bears recorded double-digit kills...Junior Stella Odion leads the team with 162 kills and 446 attacks, while sophomore Nicole LeBlanc is right behind at 159 kills and 378 attacks and Desiree Guilliard-Young is third at 157 kills and 300 attacks...Odion is set 25 percent of the time, LeBlanc - 21 percent, Guilliard-Young - 17 percent and Kelly Spriggs - 16 percent...Last season, Tisha Schwartz received 1,480 of Baylor's 5,089 attacks (29 percent), 728 more than any other Bear...2002 was even more lopsided, with Schwartz receiving 1,334 of Baylor's 4,048 attacks (33 percent), 756 more than the next highest player.
