Volleyball Readies for Fourth-Ranked Nebraska
10/22/2004 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 22, 2004
Baylor-Nebraska Notes
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BAYLOR (10-10, 3-7 Big 12) vs. NO. 4 NEBRASKA (16-1, 10-0 Big 12)
Saturday, Oct. 23 - 7 p.m.
Ferrell Center - Waco, Texas
Audio: BaylorBears.com (Commentary: Larry Little, Stevie Nicholas)
Live Stats: Gametracker on BaylorBears.com
Baylor (10-10, 3-7 Big 12), 3-3 in its last six matches, hosts No. 4 Nebraska, which is on a 13-match winning streak, on homecoming Saturday at 7 p.m. Admission is free with a ticket to the Baylor-Iowa State football game.
The Bears are coming off a 3-0 loss to No. 18 Kansas State Wednesday night in Manhattan, Kan., while the Huskers were pushed to the limit before squeaking out of Austin with a 3-2 victory over No. 10 Texas. Nebraska has yet to lose a Big 12 match through the first half of the season, while Baylor is looking to take advantage of a home-friendly slate down the stretch.
Baylor is led by junior outside hitter Stella Odion at 3.16 kills per game, while Nebraska freshman Sarah Pavan is averaging 4.60 kills per game.
QUICK SETS...
Freshman libero Kristen Schramek has recorded 10 digs or more in each of the last 10 matches...Junior setter Emily Huston served up two more aces Wednesday, now ranking 19th in the nation with 0.60 per game and moving to within six of Stevie Nicholas at fourth on Baylor's all-time list...As of Oct. 17, junior middle blocker Adeline Meira ranked 10th in the NCAA with 1.66 blocks per game, she now averages 1.69 bpg...Baylor is 1-4 this season against teams ranked in the AVCA Top 25.
BLOCK PARTY...
Baylor has dominated the blocking category, outblocking its opponents in 14 of 20 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 3.04 to 2.11 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 (1.69), sophomore Desiree Guilliard-Young (1.23) and sophomore Nicole LeBlanc (1.01)...Guilliard-Young registered the first 10-block match of her career Oct. 9 at Iowa State, while Meira, who ranks 10th nationally, has accomplished the feat twice this season.
SERVING IT UP...
Baylor has moved back up to second in the Big 12 Conference with 1.77 service aces per game, and junior setter Emily Huston is second in the league individually (19th nationally) with 0.60 per game and sophomore right-side hitter Nicole LeBlanc is eighth with 0.39 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 10 matches, including a career-high 22 Oct. 6 at No. 5 Nebraska...Schramek has started the last nine matches at libero, 10 overall this season, and has posted double-digit digs each time...She now has double figure digs in 14 of the 20 matches this year and has recorded five digs or fewer only twice...Schramek ranks fourth in the Big 12 with 4.00 digs per game in league matches only and is the only Bear averaging three digs per game or more for the season (3.30)...With a few bounces going her way, Schramek recorded a career-high three kills against Texas Tech Oct. 13.
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 2,848 assists, Huston still has a way to go to challenge the marks of Dana Chuha (4,955) and Cory Sivertson (4,846)...Huston ranks fifth all-time with 118 career aces, only six 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 218 kills and 643 attacks, while sophomore Nicole LeBlanc is second with 212 kills and 556 attacks and Desiree Guilliard-Young third with 204 kills and fourth with 418 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.
