Volleyball Back Home vs. No. 14 Texas A&M
11/2/2004 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 2, 2004
Baylor-Texas A&M Notes
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BAYLOR (11-13, 3-10 Big 12 vs. NO. 14 TEXAS A&M (14-5, 10-3)
Wednesday, Nov. 3 - 7 p.m.
Ferrell Center - Waco, Texas
Broadcast: BearCast video and audio on BaylorBears.com
Commentary: Larry Little and Marisa Kersten
Baylor (11-13, 3-10 Big 12) will look to end a five-match conference losing streak as they play five of their final seven at home, starting Wednesday against No. 14 Texas A&M (14-5, 10-3) at 7 p.m. at the Ferrell Center.
The Bears are coming off a five-game victory on the road against Texas-San Antonio Sunday as junior Stella Odion posted Baylor's first triple-double since 1999. Baylor lost its last Big 12 match against Texas, 3-0, Saturday in Austin. Texas A&M lost the first game against Oklahoma Saturday, but took care of the Sooners in four its last time out.
Odion leads the Bears with 3.06 kills per game, while Laura Jones leads the Aggies with 4.75 kills per game and has been named Big 12 Player of the Week two of the last three weeks.
Baylor returns to action when they face Iowa State Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Ferrell Center.
QUICK SETS...
Junior outside hitter Stella Odion had 14 kills, 11 digs and a career-high 10 blocks to record Baylor's first triple-double since Tatiana Kenon accomplished the feat Oct. 27, 1999... Freshman libero Kristen Schramek tied her career high with 25 digs at Texas-San Antonio Sunday...Junior setter Emily Huston served up two more aces Wednesday, now ranking 17th in the nation with 0.61 per game and moving into a tie Stevie Nicholas for fourth on Baylor's all-time list with 124...Huston became the third Baylor setter to record 3,000 career assists at UT-San Antonio Sunday...The Bears had a season-high 22.5 blocks at UT-San Antonio Sunday, the fourth-highest total in school history.
BLOCK PARTY...
Baylor has dominated the blocking category, outblocking its opponents in 18 of 24 matches and only recording fewer than seven blocks once...Baylor has registered double-digit blocks 14 times this season, including a season-high 22.5 against UT-San Antonio, the fourth-highest total in school history...The Bears are outblocking their opponents 3.11 to 2.06 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 (1.28) and sophomore Nicole LeBlanc (1.07)...Guilliard-Young registered the first 10-block match of her career Oct. 9 at Iowa State, while Meira, who ranks seventh nationally, has accomplished the feat three times this season, including a career-high 11 against Nebraska Oct. 23...Meira leads the Big 12 with 1.73 blocks per game in conference matches only...Meira and LeBlanc had 11 blocks each against Nebraska Oct. 23 to lead the Bears as they became the first team this season to outblock the Huskers (14.0-11.0), who lead the nation in blocks...Stella Odion posted the first double-digit block total of her career with 10 against UT-San Antonio Sunday.
SERVING IT UP...
Baylor ranks fifth in the Big 12 Conference with 1.56 service aces per game, and junior setter Emily Huston is second in the league individually (17th nationally) with 0.55 per game...Huston recorded the 100th ace of her career against Sam Houston State Sept. 11 and is tied for fourth on Baylor's career aces list with Stevie Nicholas at 124...Huston's average of 0.55 currently ranks second among single-season marks all-time at Baylor...Aces have been a telling statistic this season as the Bears are 9-1 when they have more aces than their opponent and 2-12 when they have equal or fewer.
HITTING THE FLOOR WITH SCHRAM...
Redshirt freshman Kristen Schramek has recorded double-digit digs in 12 of the last 14 matches, including a career-high 25 twice last week (Oct. 31 at UT-San Antonio and Oct. 27 at Texas Tech) and her first 20-plus dig effort with 22 at No. 5 Nebraska Oct. 6...Schramek has started the last 13 matches at libero, 14 overall this season, and has posted double-digit digs all but twice...She now has double figure digs in 16 of the 23 matches this year and has recorded five digs or fewer only twice...Schramek ranks sixth in the Big 12 with 3.79 digs per game in league matches only and is the only Bear averaging three digs per game or more for the season (3.38)...With a few bounces going her way, Schramek recorded a career-high three kills against Texas Tech Oct. 13.
ODION SNAPS TRIPLE-DOUBLE DROUGHT...
Junior outside hitter Stella Odion had 14 kills, 11 digs and a career-high 10 blocks against Texas-San Antonio Sunday to record Baylor's first triple double since Tatiana Kenon accomplished the feat against Colorado Oct. 27, 1999...Odion became only the fifth player in school history to record a triple double, joining Kenon, Jenny DeLue, Heather Williams and Cory Sivertson, who has the most triple-double in school history with 22.
EM MOVES UP CHARTS...
Junior setter Emily Huston became the third player in Baylor history to tally 3,000 career assists as she posted 46 in Sunday's win over UTSA, but at 3,014 she still has a way to go to challenge the marks of Dana Chuha (4,955) and Cory Sivertson (4,846)...Huston passed Sharon Pratt for third on Baylor's all-time assists list Oct. 9 at Iowa State...With two more aces Sunday, Huston tied Stevie Nicholas for fourth all-time at Baylor with 124 career aces...Huston's average of 0.55 aces per game this year is second in the Big 12 (17th nationally) and 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 263 kills and 785 attacks, while sophomore Nicole LeBlanc is second with 257 kills on 689 attacks...Desiree Guilliard-Young is third with 252 kills and fourth with 523 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.
