Nov. 7, 2006
Volleyball Preview: Baylor at Kansas State
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BAYLOR (16-11, 4-10 Big 12) at Kansas State (9-16, 1-14 Big 12)
Wednesday, Nov. 8 - 7 p.m.
Ahearn Fieldhouse - Manhattan, Kan.
Live Audio Broadcast: BaylorBears.com
Baylor hits the road for four of its next five matches, beginning Wednesday against Kansas State at 7 p.m. at Ahearn Fieldhouse in Manhattan, Kan.
The Bears are led by senior outside hitter Nicole LeBlanc, who averages 3.47 kills and 3.15 digs per game. Senior middle blocker Desiree Guilliard-Young ranks fifth in the Big 12 Conference with a .354 hitting percentage, while averaging 2.95 kills per game and ranking second in the league with 1.58 blocks per game. Freshman setter Taylor Barnes paces the offense with 11.40 assists, 1.34 kills and 2.25 digs per game, while leading the conference with 0.55 service aces per game. Junior libero Kristen Schramek leads the Bears defensively, ranking fifth in the Big 12 with 4.23 digs per game.
In its last match, Baylor downed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 3-1, Monday night in its final non-conference match of the season. Guilliard-Young led the Bears with 17 kills and nine blocks and became the second player in Baylor history to record 1,000 kills and 500 blocks for her career, joining Cory Sivertson. The Bears also finished with the program's best-ever non-conference record at 12-1, topping the 1999 squad's 13-2 mark and the 2001 squad's 9-1 record.
Kansas State is led by Sandy Werner, who averages 3.48 kills per game. Junior setter Stacey Spiegelberg averages 12.31 assists, 2.16 digs, 0.89 kills and 0.94 blocks per game. The Wildcats are led defensively by Angie Lastra, who ranks fourth in the Big 12 with 4.47 digs per game.
The Wildcats were swept at home by Texas A&M in their last match Saturday afternoon. Lastra led Kansas State with 13 kills, while Megan Kroeker had 12 and Werner had 10. Leslie Townsend and Lauren Rosenthal led the Wildcats with 11 digs each.
In this year's previous meeting, Barnes recorded a triple-double with 11 kills, 15 digs and 52 assists in a 3-1 Baylor victory over Kansas State. LeBlanc led the Bears with 18 kills, while Schramek had 23 digs. Werner had 18 kills for the Wildcats, while Lastra had 25 digs.
The Bears head right back to the road when they return to action Saturday against Texas Tech at 5:30 p.m. at United Spirit Arena in Lubbock, Texas.
