2015 Green & Gold Scrimmage Box

THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas -- Baylor volleyball played its annual Green & Gold Scrimmage on Saturday morning at the Ferrell Center, giving fans their first look at this year's team that officially begins the 2015 season on Friday under new head coach Ryan McGuyre.

The Green team swept the scrimmage, 25-16, 25-22, 25-19, led by 24 kills and a .321 hitting percentage from Katie Staiger. Shelly Fanning added 13 kills, Morgan Reed had 29 assists, and Jana Brusek had a match-high 19 digs, followed by Alex Banister with 11 digs. Banister contributed three of the five serve aces in the match, and Fanning led the way with seven block assists. The Green team hit .330 as a unit, while the Gold team hit .183.

The Gold team was led by Andie Malloy and Tola Itiola with 12 kills apiece. Amy Rosenbaum contributed 29 assists, and Rosenbaum joined Mackenzie Mayo in recording team-highs with 10 digs apiece.

HIGHLIGHTS
• The Green team roster featured freshman Jordan Vail, sophomore Jana Brusek, sophomore Katie Staiger, freshman Shelly Fanning, freshman Kelsey Slechta, junior Morgan Reed, junior Alex Banister and senior Adrien Richburg. It was coached by assistant coach Sam Erger.
• The Gold team roster featured senior Amy Rosenbaum, senior Andie Malloy, junior Tola Itiola, freshman Amanda Lesikar, freshman Jaelyn Jackson, freshman Ashley Fritcher and senior Mackenzie Mayo. It was coached by assistant coach Trevor Johnson.
• Green hit .448 on its way to a 25-16 first-set victory, the best attack percentage in any set by either team during the match.
• Staiger was credited with a team-high 25.5 points, followed by Fanning with 16.5 points, Itiola at 14.5 points and Malloy with 13.0 points.
• Staiger had nine kills in both the first and third sets, accounting for 62% of the Green teams' kills in those sets (18-of-29).
• The Green team out-blocked Gold 19-8, and Fanning's seven block assists were more than the entire Gold team (six).

STAT OF THE DAY
24 -- Katie Staiger had 24 kills in the match, nearly twice as many as the next closest player, Shelly Fanning with 13.

TOP QUOTE
Head coach Ryan McGuyre on Saturday's scrimmage ...
"I liked a lot of things. Katie (Staiger) did a great job swinging, managing her swings and hitting hard. I really loved the competitiveness that we got out of Morgan (Reed) and Jana (Brusek). Morgan did a great job helping her team offensively -- they were tough to stop and she moved the ball around well, while Jana (Brusek) helped lock down that serve-receive. They (Green team) went the whole match without getting aced, and that's something we've been focused on, so that was great to see. Tola continues to shine, and I think she was the bright part for the Gold side, both as a blocker and being up early for us to set her and run her in transition. We're young, and it's exciting because we have the potential so far out in front of us. We've got a lot of new weapons and different weapons, and we're utilizing a lot of the team's strength from last year in different ways, so the future is bright."

WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor officially opens the 2015 season on Aug. 28 at Colorado State as part of the Rams Volleyball Classic. The Bears will also play Northern Iowa and UC Davis at the tournament before returning home to host the Hampton Inn Waco North Baylor Invitational, which runs Sept. 4-5.