Volleyball Makes Clean Sweep of Clarion Invitational

Volleyball 9/2/2006 12:00:00 AM

Sept. 2, 2006

WACO, Texas - Baylor blanked Houston in its afternoon match, 3-0 (30-19, 30-28, 30-19), then completed the sweep of its home tournament with a 3-0 (30-19, 30-23, 30-16) victory over Arkansas-Little Rock in the evening finale Saturday in the Clarion Invitational. Freshman Taylor Barnes (Arlington, Texas) was named the tournament's most valuable player, while senior outside hitter Nicole LeBlanc (Tampa, Fla.) and senior middle blocker Desiree Guilliard-Young (Berkeley, Calif.) were named to the all-tournament team.

"It's good for our team to show some consistency by sweeping these matches," head coach Jim Barnes said. "Houston had a chance to take a game from us, but we were really scrappy and were able to pull through. It's our goal to get better as we work toward conference play, and I believe we've improved every time we've taken the floor so far."

Against UALR, Barnes had four kills, seven digs and 24 assists in two-and-a-half games, while LeBlanc posted her third double-double of the season with 10 kills and 11 digs. Guilliard-Young hit .529 with 11 kills and seven blocks in the night-cap.

Redshirt freshman Kelsey Smith (Lubbock, Texas) hit .700 with seven kills, while freshman Katie Sanders (Katy, Texas) had seven kills and four blocks. Junior Kristen Schramek (San Antonio, Texas) led the Bears defensively with 12 digs.

Amila Barakovic had nine kills and nine digs for UALR (4-5), while Ana Carolina Buccini, the tournament's outstanding defensive player, had 22 digs.

Baylor hit .312 for the match, while holding UALR to -.008. The Bears outdug the Trojans, 58-53, and outblocked them, 13.0-0.0.

Baylor 3, Houston 0 LeBlanc hit .306 with 13 kills and eight digs, while Barnes had four kills, 10 digs and 33 assists as Baylor swept Houston Saturday afternoon.

Guilliard-Young had seven kills and seven blocks, while Sanders and fellow freshman middle blocker Anna Breyfogle (Buda, Texas) had six kills each.

Senior outside hitter Deja Sweeney (Sacramento, Calif.) was solid all-around with four kills, 13 digs, five blocks and three aces. Schramek led the Bears with 16 digs, while sophomore defensive specialist Amanda Renz (The Woodlands, Texas) added 10.

Justine Farmer and Sunshine Misa-Uli had 10 kills each to lead Houston, while Farmer added 11 digs. Ashley Calhoun led the Cougars with 14 digs.

The Bears hit .222, while holding the Cougars to .014. Baylor outdug Houston, 61-58, and outblocked them, 13.5-6.0.

Baylor returns to action when it hits the road to face Texas State Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Strahan Coliseum in San Marcos, Texas. Live audio for the match will be available through CSTV's All-Access on BaylorBears.com.

Clarion Invitational All-Tournament Team MVP: Taylor Barnes, Baylor Nicole LeBlanc, Baylor Desiree Guilliard-Young, Baylor Justine Farmer, Houston Kelly Therkelson, New Mexico Ivanka Davidova, UALR Outstanding Defensive Player: Ana Carolina Buccini, UALR

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