Volleyball Concludes Spring Season Saturday
4/27/2005 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
April 27, 2005
Tournament Schedule - April 30
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WACO, Texas - The Baylor volleyball team will host Houston, TCU, LSU and Oklahoma in its final tournament of the spring season Saturday at the McLane Student Life Center. The Bears will play TCU at 9 a.m., Houston at 12 p.m., LSU at 2:30 p.m. and Oklahoma at 4 p.m.
The tournament follows round robin format and will be played on three courts. McLane Student Life Center is located adjacent to the Baylor Sciences Building on 2nd Street and Speight Avenue.
Head coach Jim Barnes, entering his second year at Baylor, feels the Bears have improved overall as a team and has moved some players to new positions to increase the Bears' efficiency on both sides of the net.
"There is a difference this year, every workout has been purpose driven," Barnes said. "We're not out there just working hard, we are trying to achieve something and work toward a goal.
"We will have five seniors and they are really stepping up and are driven to go out and finish on top. I knew there would be a learning curve with the position changes, but I knew in the end it would pay off and we would be a better team."
Junior Kelly Spriggs will move to the right side in 2005, where Barnes said she has been much better, more explosive and more consistent this spring. Spriggs was one of the standouts in the Bears' victory at the tournament in Las Vegas April 16.
Sophomore Nicole LeBlanc moves to outside hitter , where the Bears can take advantage of all of her skills, becoming a better ball-control team. Junior Stella Odion will move to middle blocker with junior Adeline Meira likely redshirting next season. Barnes said Odion has hit .400 in every spring tournament and has become a much better blocker.
Barnes notes sophomore Desiree Guilliard-Young is playing better than her honorable mention All-Big 12 season, hitting around .450 and picking up her blocking. The coaching staff has challenged Guilliard-Young to be more aggressive and said she has been dominant throughout matches instead of just in spurts.
Junior setter Emily Huston has been the Bears' most consistent player this spring, running a steady offense and becoming more involved on the defensive end. Barnes said she is setting better balls and giving the hitters a chance to excel.
Junior Deja Sweeney is still learning to hit from the outside and adjusting to a new system, but Barnes said she is outstanding defensively and with ball control. Redshirt freshman Kristen Schramek is holding down the libero position and continues to improve everyday, just as she did during the regular season.
When the 2005 season begins, Baylor will have all of their letterwinners and starters returning. They will be joined by Sweeney and signee Kelsey Smith. The 2005 schedule is near completion and will be released as soon as all matches are finalized.
