Volleyball Hits Road to Mississippi
9/2/2004 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 2, 2004
The Baylor volleyball team will look to rebound from Wednesday's heartbreaking five-game loss in the season-opener at Texas Arlington with three matches at the Magnolia Invitational hosted by Ole Miss Friday and Saturday in Oxford, Miss. The Bears were effective offensively with Desiree Guilliard-Young, Stella Odion and Nicole LeBlanc each setting career highs in kills and Emily Huston handing out a career high in assists. Baylor outplayed UTA in almost every category, but could not close out the Mavericks at key points in the match. All three opponents, Morehead State, Ole Miss and Eastern Michigan opened with wins on Wednesday. Baylor returns to action against UT-Pan American in the home opener Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Ferrell Center. LAST TIME OUT...
Baylor junior outside hitter Stella Odion, sophomore right-side hitter Nicole LeBlanc and sophomore middle blocker Desiree Guilliard-Young each had career highs in kills but it wasn't enough as the Bears couldn't hold off a scrappy Texas-Arlington team in a five-game heartbreaker (30-23, 28-30, 30-23, 29-31, 15-17) in the season-opener Wednesday at Texas Hall. Odion notched the first 20-20 match of her career with career-highs of 20 kills and 23 digs. LeBlanc blasted a career-high 28 kills to go along with 13 digs, while Guilliard-Young had a career-high 16 kills. Junior setter Emily Huston had a career-high 68 assists, while junior libero Maggie Chlebana had a career-high 15 digs. 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 seaons. 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 were solid in the Green-Gold Match and are looking to contribute after sitting out the 2003 campaign with injuries. All totaled, the Bears boast five juniors, two sophomores and five freshmen. CAREER NIGHT...
Seven of the eight Bears that played in Wednesday's opener 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 will play 11 of its first 14 matches away from the Ferrell Center, including the three-match tournament at Ole Miss and a four-match slate at Sam Houston State. The Bears only play three matches at home in September, the home opener against UT-Pan American Sept. 8 and conference matches against Texas on Sept. 15 and Oklahoma on Sept. 22...Baylor will be looking to change it's ways as it has dropped eight in a row on the road, dating back to a five-game victory over Texas Tech Oct. 15, 2003, in Lubbock. 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 and three road matches on audio. 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.
