Baylor
Oklahoma
Volleyball Overcomes Lapses To Down Oklahoma
11/8/2000 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 8, 2000
NORMAN, Okla. - There must have been something wrong with the East-end court at Oklahoma Field House. Whatever it was, the Baylor women's volleyball team overcame the oddity of the East end for a 15-17, 15-1, 15-13, 15-6 victory here Wednesday against the Oklahoma Sooners.
With the victory, the Bears improve to 14-11 on the season and 7-9 in the Big 12 Conference. The win also put an end to a three-match losing streak that tied for the longest skid of the year for BU. Baylor's triumph in game two snapped a 10-game losing stretch, the longest since the 1998 season. Oklahoma fell to 7-16 with the loss and 2-13 in the conference play.
Baylor served from the East End of the court in games one and three and served from the West End in games two and four. The Bears struggled late in games one and three, costing them in the opener. On the flip side, Baylor dominated in games two and four, never letting the Sooners even sniff a chance at winning.
National Freshman of the Year candidate Stevie Nicholas pounded Oklahoma for 32 kills, a personal career high for a four-game match. She came two kills shy of Kia Young's school four-game mark, tying for the second-largest, four-game total in school history.
Nicholas, who hit .338 on the night and collected seven digs, also posted her 13th match with at least 20 kills, breaking a tie with Elisha Polk for the Baylor record. But that is not all. She has now posted four matches with at least 30 kills this season, tying the school record established by Polk in 1998.
Sunny Nicholas was not too shabby either with 20 kills and 10 digs for her third double-double of the season. Dana Chuha paced the Bear offense with 66 assists, maintaining her NCAA-best 15.34 assists per game average, she also had 14 digs.
Kirsten Berg, in the starting lineup for the first time in three weeks, put down 13 kills and tallied a match- and career-high 18 digs. Tisha Schwartz came off the bench for a career-high tying 13 kills and a .308 attacking percentage.
The Bears looked to be in control of the first game, opening up a 12-8 lead thanks to a 6-1 run. However, the offense stalled from there and the Sooners charged back to take the lead 15-14. Baylor managed to tie the game 15-15, but then OU closed it out 17-15.
Game two was anything but tight. Dana Atkinson opened the game with a school-record eight consecutive points off serve. The Sooners finally snapped the run and put a point on the board, but the Bears then went on a 7-0 run to close out the game.
The third game saw the Bears again build a comfortable lead at 12-6. Oklahoma did not give up, though, putting together a 7-1 spurt to tie the match at 13-13. But this time, Baylor held its ground and held on for a 15-13 victory.
Game four was much like game two -- all Baylor. Oklahoma found itself down 11-0 before getting on the board. The Sooners did put together five straight points, but could get no closer as the Bears closed it out 15-6.
As a team, the Bears hit .245 with large differences from games one and three to games two and four. In game two, Baylor blistered OU with 16 kills and a .462 attacking percentage while holding the Sooners to only three kills. Cathy Cook had a successful night for OU, though, putting down 22 kills with only one error for a .568 attacking night.
The Bears will return to action Saturday, hosting Colorado at 5 p.m. as part of Homecoming festivities. Baylor defeated the Buffaloes in three games Oct. 4 in Boulder.
