No. 24 VB Hosts Big 12 Foe Kansas
9/24/2009 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 24, 2009
MATCH 15
vs. KANSAS • Sept. 26, 2009 • Ferrell Center (Waco, Texas)
INTERNET AUDIO:
LIVE STATS: Live GameTracker stats at BaylorBears.com
LAST TIME AGAINST THE JAYHAWKS
KU's Karina Garlington tallied a match-high 20 kills and Kansas overcame a one-set deficit to defeat Baylor 3-1 (20-25, 25-20, 28-26, 25-18) on at the Horejsi Family Center. The loss snapped Baylor's two-match overall winning streak. Katie Sanders led Baylor with 16 kills and added 15 digs for her 14th kill-dig double-double of the season. Allison King tallied 11 kills on a career-best .303 hitting, along with 20 digs. Taylor Barnes contributed 46 set assists, and Anna Breyfogle added eight kills and five total blocks, including a solo.
LAST TIME OUT...
Baylor's 24th ranked volleyball got a triple-double from senior Taylor Barnes and controlled the match in a 3-0 sweep (25-23, 25-19, 33-31) over No. 11 Iowa State on Wednesday night at the Ferrell Center. The win marked the highest-ranked team that Baylor has defeated in program history. As Iowa State tried to stop Baylor's big guns, the Bears spread the ball to other options with six players netting at least five kills. The Cyclones keyed in on outside hitter Katie Sanders and middle blocker Anna Breyfogle, but Barnes, the setter, spread the ball to Ashlie Christenson, Torri Campbell, and took some of the offense on her own shoulders with a season-high 10 kills. Barnes dished out 39 assists, and along with her 10 kills and 11 digs, recorded the first triple-double of the season for Baylor. Christenson led the way with 11 kills, while Campbell added 10. Allison King had a team-high 17 digs, while Breyfogle, Campbell and Liz Graham each had six blocks.
BREYFOGLE APPROACHING
1,000 Senior Anna Breyfogle is just four kills away from amassing 1,000 in her spectacular career. She would become just the 12th player in program history to achieve the feat. Known more for her defense than offense, Breyfogle will also become just the second player in school history to rack up 1,000 kills and 500 blocks. Her career block total stands at 533, currently fourth all-time at BU and 10th all-time in the Big 12.
CHRISTENSON SIZZLING
Junior oustide hitter Ashlie Christenson has been the go-to option for the Baylor attack over the last six matches. The Cleburne, Texas, native has led the Bears in kills in five of the last six matches. In three of those matches Christenson has recorded double-digit kills with a season-high 14 against Kansas State last Saturday. In three conference matches, she is averaging a team-best 3.30 kills per set, while leading the Bears with 33 kills on 83 total attempts.
DIGGIN' IT
Sophomore libero Allison King has been a model of consistency for the Bears' defense this season. Playing every set of the season, King has recorded double-digit digs in 13 of the Bears' 14 matches. In her only match short of double figures, King had nine digs in a sweep over New Orleans. The Carrolton, Texas native has recorded 20 digs twice this season. Both efforts came on the same day with 22 against UTSA, and 20 against Purdue, as part of the Baylor Classic. King has also been nearly flawless in serve-receive for the Bears, making just seven errors in 171 total attempts for a .959 reception percentage.
HISTORY VS. RANKED OPPONENTS
• After beating No. 11 Iowa State, Baylor is 14-165 all-time vs. ranked opponents, with a 5-35 mark in the Jim Barnes era
• The Bears are 3-7 (.300) as a ranked team against a ranked opponent including an 1-1 mark in 2009
• The win over No. 11 Iowa State on Wednesday was the highest-ranked team Baylor has ever beaten
• Baylor has only defeated two or more ranked in the same season twice in program history (1999, 2006)
BAYLOR VS. '09 RANKED OPPONENTS
Baylor is now 2-1 overall against ranked opponents after dismantling Iowa State in a 3-0 sweep over the 11th-ranked Cyclones on Wednesday. It marked the highest ranked team Baylor has ever defeated. The Bears win over 24th-ranked Purdue in the title game of the Holiday Inn & Suites Baylor Classic was the first over a ranked opponent since a five-set win at the Ferrell Center against 16th-ranked Missouri on Oct. 27, 2006. Baylor had lost 17 consecutive games against ranked opponents coming into the Purdue match. On Sept. 16, Baylor played its second ranked team of the season in No. 2 Texas, but fell 3-0 to an athletic Longhorns squad. The loss dropped Baylor's record against ranked teams to 1-1 in 2009.
BEARS REMAIN IN TOP 25
Despite suffering their first loss of the season to No. 2 Texas, the Bears bounced back to beat Kansas State, remaining at 24th in the latest AVCA Coaches Top 25 poll. Entering the rankings on Sept. 14th marked the first time since the 2001 season that the Bears were in the top 25, climbing as high as 20th. The Bears first cracked the top 25 in 1999, finishing the season 20th. Baylor then entered the 2000 season ranked 21st and climbed as high as 19th, the highest ranking in school history.
DEFENSE, DEFENSE, DEFENSE
Baylor's defense has proved to be one of its strong points this season, holding opponents to a league-leading .128 hitting percentage and 10.0 kills per set. The Bears have racked up 116.5 blocks for an average of 2.5 per set, and 673 digs for an average of 14.6 per set. Middle blocker Anna Breyfogle has been a force at the net averaging 1.56 blocks per set, while libero Allison King is leading the back row with 190 total digs for an average of 4.13 per set.
LEAGUE LEADERS
Anna Breyfogle is at the top of the Big 12 in blocks per set with 1.56. The Buda, Texas native has totaled 67 blocks on the season, nine more than any other blocker in the Big 12. Breyfogle also has the highest single-match block total in the league, when she had 12 against Houston earlier this season.
CLOSE CALL
Baylor has been perfect this season in five-set matches, winning all three. The Bears came from behind to beat TCU on Sept. 1, then beat No. 24 Purdue at home, and knocked off New Mexico in five on the road. It was the Bears fifth five-set win in a row dating back to last season. Baylor was 3-2 in five-set matches in 2008 with wins over Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Missouri, and losses to Kansas State and Oklahoma.
TOURNAMENT CHAMPS
Baylor won all three tournaments they entered this season, most recently taking the Comcast Challenge title at the University of New Mexico, defeating the host, as well as Pittsburgh and Cal State Fullerton. Baylor won all three games at the Holiday Inn & Suites Baylor Classic on Sept. 4-5. The Bears opened with sweeps of UCF and UTSA, before handing 24th-ranked Purdue a five-set loss in the tournament title game. For their efforts, Katie Sanders was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, while teammates Taylor Barnes and Ashley Byrd earned all-tournament team honors. With a perfect 3-0 record at the Flo Hyman Invitational hosted by the University of Houston, the Bears claimed co-tournament champion honors. Baylor shared the title with the University of Indiana, as the two did not meet.
TOURNAMENT HONORS
Three Bears received tournament honors at the Comcast Challenge on Sept. in Albuquerque, N.M., led by tournament Most Valuable Player Taylor Barnes. The senior setter racked up 117 assists in three tournament matches, along with 11 kills, 23 digs, and six blocks. Barnes narrowly missed a triple-double against New Mexico with eight kills, 53 assists and eight digs. Middle blocker Anna Breyfogle and outside hitter Ashlie Christenson were named to the all-tournament team for their performances. Breyfogle was a force at the net with at least six blocks in all three matches, and totaling 31 kills with a career-high 21 against New Mexico. Christenson was also a go-to option on offense with double-digit kills in two of the three matches, and totaling eight blocks on the weekend.
LIKE A BROKEN RECORD
Anna Breyfogle continued her legacy as one of the best blockers in BU history setting a school record for blocks in a three-set match with 12 against Houston in the Bears second match of the season. The senior recorded one solo and 11 block assists in a three-set sweep of the Cougars. With 23 total blocks in nine sets at the Flo Hyman Invitational, Breyfogle, who led the Big 12 in blocks per set in 2008, averaged 2.56 bps in the team's first three games. Comparatively, in 2008, she averaged 1.45.
MAKE IT 11!
With three wins at the Comcast Challenge, Baylor ran its winning streak to a school-record 11 matches before losing to No. 2 Texas on Sept. 16. The streak set the record for most wins to open a season and ties the record for overall winning streak. The previous record of eight wins to open a season had been accomplished three times in school history with the most recent coming last season. The overall winning streak record was set in 2006 when Barnes' crew ripped off 11 in a row.
OUT OF THE GATES
In the Jim Barnes era, the Bears have become accustomed to starting the season off on the right foot. After losing the season-opener in Barnes' first season, Baylor has won its first match of the season each of the last five years with a win to open 2009 over Southeastern Louisiana. In 2008, Barnes' crew ripped off eight consecutive wins to open the season, losing just three sets along the way. That streak included a 13-set winning streaking, starting with the last two sets at Texas State and ending with a third-set loss against Rice.
ALL-BIG 12 PRESEASON TEAM
For the second-straight season, Taylor Barnes and Anna Breyfogle were named to the preseason All-Big 12 team. Barnes, a senior setter, was named to the preseason team for the third-straight year. In 2008, she parlayed her preseason accolade into All-Big 12 First Team postseason honors, leading the Big 12 in service aces per set. Barnes also earned all-AVCA central region honors and ranked fourth in the Big 12 with 10.32 assists per set. Breyfogle, a senior middle blocker, earned the preseason honor for the second-straight year. Like Barnes, Breyfogle also earned both All-Big 12 First Team and all-AVCA central region honors in 2008. The Buda, Texas, native led the Big 12 in blocks per set with 1.45, while ranking seventh in the nation in that category.
ADDITIONS AND SUBTRACTIONS
Baylor lost just one letterwinner from its 2008 squad, while adding the three recruits that make up the 14th-ranked class in the nation, accoring to Prepvolleyball.com. Amarillo's (Texas) Torri Campbell, ranked 30th in the country, enters Baylor as its second-highest ranked recruit in program history. Zoe Adom, an ultra-athletic outside hitter from Euless, Texas, and Kiley Sherman, a versatile outside and defensive player from Oswego, Ill., round out the class for the Bears.
LIVE ON THE WEB
Don't forget to check out live stats on Gametracker on BaylorBears.com. Baylor's official website will also feature a live radio webcast with veteran play-by-play announcer Larry Little handling the duties for home matches, and Todd Zeidler bringing you the action from the road.
