Volleyball Hits Road to Battle No. 18 Kansas State
10/19/2004 12:00:00โฏAM | Volleyball
Oct. 19, 2004
Baylor-Kansas State Notes
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BAYLOR (10-9, 3-6 Big 12) at NO. 18 KANSAS STATE (12-6, 6-3 Big 12)
Wednesday, Oct. 20 - 7 p.m.
Ahearn Fieldhouse - Manhattan, Kan.
Baylor (10-9, 3-6 Big 12) will hit the road once again to wrap up the first half of Big 12 Conference play against No. 18 Kansas State. The Bears will end up playing seven of its first 12 Big 12 matches on the road, but will settle in with five of their last seven at home.
The Bears are coming off a sweep of Northwestern State in non-conference action Saturday, but lost their last Big 12 match to Texas Tech, 3-1, at home on Oct. 13. Kansas State has won seven of its last nine, including a sweep of Texas Tech Saturday in Lubbock.
Baylor has three players averaging at least three kills per game - sophomore middle blocker Desiree Guilliard-Young, sophomore right-side hitter Nicole LeBlanc and junior outside hitter Stella Odion. Freshman Kristen Schramek leads the Bears defensively with 3.23 digs per game, while junior middle blocker Adeline Meira leads the team with 1.66 blocks per game. Kansas State is led by Vali Hejjas, who is averaging 3.42 kills per game and Angie Lastra, who is averaging 4.07 digs per game.
Baylor returns to action when it hosts No. 4 Nebraska on homecoming Saturday at 7 p.m.
QUICK SETS...
Junior outside hitter Kelly Spriggs has five-straight double-digit kill matches off the bench...Freshman libero Kristen Schramek has recorded 10 digs or more in each of the last nine matches...Junior setter Emily Huston served up three more aces Saturday, moving up to fifth all-time at Baylor with 116, eight behind Stevie Nicholas...Freshman middle blocker Karin Peer saw the first action of her career Saturday, while freshman defensive specialist Heather Marcus played every game of a match for the first time this season and recorded a career-high three digs.
BLOCK PARTY...
Baylor has dominated the blocking category, outblocking its opponents in 14 of 19 matches and only recording fewer than seven blocks once...Baylor has registered double-digit blocks 10 times this season, including a season-high 18.0 Oct. 9 at Iowa State...The Bears are outblocking their opponents with 3.05 to 2.01 blocks per game...Baylor is one of only three Big 12 teams (Texas A&M, Nebraska) to sport three players with at least 1.00 block per game: junior Adeline Meira (1.66), sophomore Desiree Guilliard-Young (1.27) and sophomore Nicole LeBlanc (1.04)...Guilliard-Young registered the first 10-block match of her career Oct. 9 at Iowa State, while Meira has accomplished the feat twice this season.
SERVING IT UP...
Baylor ranks sixth in the Big 12 Conference with 1.73 service aces per game, and junior setter Emily Huston is second in the league individually with 0.60 per game and sophomore right-side hitter Nicole LeBlanc is ninth with 0.40 per game...Huston recorded the 100th ace of her career against Sam Houston State Sept. 11 and is fifth all-time at Baylor with 116, just eight behind Stevie Nicholas...Huston's average of 0.60 currently ranks second among single-season marks all-time at Baylor...Aces have been a telling statistic this season as the Bears are 8-1 when they have more aces and 2-8 when they have equal or fewer.
HITTING THE FLOOR WITH SCHRAM...
Redshirt freshman Kristen Schramek has recorded double-digit digs in the last nine matches, including a career-high 22 Oct. 6 at No. 5 Nebraska...Schramek has started the last eight matches at libero, nine overall this season, and has posted double-digit digs each time...She now has double figure digs in 13 of the 19 matches this year and has recorded five digs or fewer only twice...Schramek ranks fifth in the Big 12 with 3.91 digs per game in league matches only and is one of two Bears (Stella Odion) averaging three digs per game or more for the season (3.23)...With a few bounces going her way, Schramek recorded a career-high three kills against Texas Tech Oct. 13.
SPRIGGS ON A SPREE ...
Junior outside hitter Kelly Spriggs has registered double-digit kills in each of the last five and has had a higher attack percentage than the match before during the streak...Spriggs has nine double-digit kill efforts this season and 17 for her career.
EM MOVES UP CHARTS...
Junior setter Emily Huston passed Sharon Pratt for third on Baylor's all-time assists list Oct. 9 at Iowa State...At 2,822 assists, Huston still has a way to go to challenge the marks of Dana Chuha (4,955) and Cory Sivertson (4,846)...With three more aces Saturday, Huston moved up to fifth all-time ...With 116 career aces, Huston is only eight behind Stevie Nicholas at fourth...Huston's average of 0.60 aces per game this year currently ranks second only Baylor's single-season list.
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 209 kills and 617 attacks, while sophomore Nicole LeBlanc is second with 208 kills and 540 attacks and Desiree Guilliard-Young third with 200 kills and fourth with 404 attacks...Odion is set 24 percent of the time, LeBlanc - 21 percent, Kelly Spriggs - 18 percent and Guilliard-Young - 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.
ROAD WARRIORS...
Baylor wrapped up September with a record of 7-7...The month 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 were 2-1 in the Ferrell Center for the month ...Baylor ended a nine-match road losing streak with a sweep of Sam Houston State Sept. 11...With Saturday's win over Iowa State, Baylor won its first Big 12 road match since a five-game victory at Texas Tech Oct. 15, 2003.
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.
BAYLORBEARS.COM...
BaylorBears.com is the official web site for Baylor athletics and offers bio information on players and coaches, statistics, rosters and much more. You can catch every home volleyball on Gametracker or, new for this season, listen to the web cast. There will also be four matches carried on live video. Don't miss any part of the Baylor volleyball season, click on BaylorBears.com.
INSIDE BAYLOR SPORTS...
Inside Baylor Sports is a half-hour show devoted to coverage of all 17 of Baylor's varsity sports. The show features highlights of the past week's action, features on individual athletes and a preview of the week ahead. Join co-hosts John Morris and Lori Scott-Fogleman every Sunday night at 10:30 p.m. on KCEN-TV Ch. 6 or on Fox Sports Net every Wednesday at 1 p.m.
