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BAYLOR
at
IOWA STATE

7:00 p.m. CDT
Oct. 5, 2002
Hilton Coliseum
Ames, Iowa

Baylor hits the road this weekend for a 7 p.m. CDT match Saturday at Iowa State. The Bears (6-8, 0-4) dropped a 30-24, 30-27, 30-16 decision at home Wednesday night to Texas. Baylor has lost five straight overall. The Cyclones (9-7, 0-5) have also lost five straight, including a 30-17, 30-26, 30-19 loss Wednesday night at No. 21 Missouri. Score updates for the match will be available online at www.BaylorBears.com, the official website of Baylor Athletics and a member of the Official College Sports Network.

HEAD COACH BRIAN HOSFELD
Baylor is in its seventh season under the direction of head coach Brian Hosfeld. During his tenure, the Bears have compiled a 114-97 (.540) overall record and a 49-75 (.395) mark in the rugged Big 12 Conference. Hosfeld is credited with putting Baylor volleyball on the map. After losing seasons in 14 of 18 seasons prior to Hosfeld's arrival, Baylor has finished above .500 in four of the last six seasons. Baylor has made two NCAA Tournament appearances in that time, advancing to the second round before losing to eventual national champion Penn State in 1999. Owner of the highest winning percentage of the program's seven head coaches, Hosfeld has amassed the most wins, both overall and in conference play, of any coach in school history.

HOSFELD vs. IOWA STATE
Head coach Brian Hosfeld is 11-1 during his career against Iowa State. He has led the Bears to eight consecutive wins over the Cyclones.

LAST TIME OUT - TEXAS 3, BAYLOR 0
WACO, Texas - Although Jillian Mazarella posted her fourth double-double in her last five matches, Baylor could not overcome strong Texas attack in a 30-24, 30-27, 30-16 loss. The Bears battled Texas in the first two games, leading as late as 20-19 in game one and 17-16 in game two. However, in both games the Longhorns put together late runs and took advantage of poor Baylor passing to take control of the games. With the score tied 9-9 in game three, Texas scored eight straight points and never looked back. The Longhorns hit .289 as a team. After hitting just .216 in the first game, UT improved to .279 in game two and .382 in game three. Baylor, meanwhile, hit just .047 as a team and dipped to negative-.051 in game three. Tisha Schwartz led Baylor with nine kills, while Kelly Spriggs added seven kills. Mazzarella had 22 assists and 12. Texas produced its most balanced offensive attack of the season as Mira Topic, Kathryn Wilson and Kathy Hahn all had 11 kills. Wilson hit .579 on the night, committing no errors in 19 swings. Caron Blotch chipped in with 12 digs and 34 assists. The crowd of 1,012 tied for the ninth largest volleyball crowd in Ferrell Center history. Six of the top 11 attended matches have been against Texas.

THE IOWA STATE SERIES
This is the 15th meeting between Baylor and Iowa State with the Bears holding a commanding 11-3 advantage in the all-time series. Baylor has won eight straight against Iowa State, dating back to a four-game loss at home Nov. 15, 1997. That is the only time the Cyclones have defeated the Bears since the inception of the Big 12 Conference in 1996. In the current eight-match Baylor winning streak, Iowa State has won just one game, a 16-14 decision in game three of the 2000 match in Waco. Baylor is 6-0 all-time at Ames, and the Bears have never lost a game there in Big 12 play.

THE IOWA STATE CYCLONES
Iowa State (9-7, 3-2) is in its fourth season under the direction of head coach Linda Crum, who is 18-80 during her time at Ames. Crum holds a career record of 125-169 in 10 seasons as a collegiate head coach.

ISU Notes: The Cyclones have dropped five straight, all coming in Big 12 play, after starting the season 9-2. ISU has lost all five of its conference matches in three games. ... Iowa State hits .172 as a team, holding opponents to a .171 clip. The Cyclones average 14.18 kills, 1.51 service aces, 17.00 digs and 3.01 blocks per game. ... Senior MB Mandi Harms leads the Cyclone attack with a .284 attacking percentage and 2.87 kills and 1.49 blocks per game. Sophomore OH Brittany Dalager averages 3.51 kills and 4.22 digs per game, both team bests. Along with Harms, freshman MB Ashlie McWee (1.26) and junior OH Renae Pruess (1.07) give Iowa State three players with at least 1.00 blocks per game. Freshman MB Katie Kruenegel averages 0.97 blocks per game. ... Freshman OH Katy Amundson prepped at Bellaire (Texas) High School.

SEVERAL STREAKS PENDING
Baylor has lost five straight for the first time since the 1998 season when the Bears had two five-match losing streaks. The Bears had another five-game losing skid in 1997. Baylor has never lost six straight during head coach Brian Hosfeld's tenure. The last time the Bears lost six straight was in 1995 when they started 1-12 with a pair of six-match skids surrounding a five-game win over Stephen F. Austin. ... Baylor is also riding a four-match Big 12 losing streak. The Bears opened last year's Big 12 schedule with four straight losses before a three-game victory at Iowa State. BU has never started the Big 12 season 0-5. ... Like Baylor, Iowa State has lost five straight. ... Baylor is 6-0 all-time at Ames, and the Bears have won eight consecutive matches and 10 consecutive games against Iowa State.

LAST MEETING - BAYLOR 3, IOWA STATE 0 (Oct. 24, 2001)
WACO, Texas - Stevie Nicholas pounded 12 kills with 12 digs and Laura Daniela went for 11 kills and 12 digs as Baylor defeated Iowa State 30-25, 30-27, 30-23. It marked Baylor's eighth consecutive victory over Iowa State. Baylor struggled to find its rhythm on the offensive side of the ball, but the Bears still managed to hit .255 as a team compared to the .144 clip turned in by Iowa State. The Bears are now 66-5 over the past four seasons when attacking at a higher percentage than their opponent. The Bears enjoyed their best attacking game in the opener, swinging at a .269 percentage. Leading 9-8 in the first game, Baylor put together a six unanswered points and never looked back. Iowa State closed to within three points on five occasions, but the Cyclones could never get any closer. Tisha Schwartz came off the bench to give Baylor a third player in double figures for kills, putting 11 on the floor. Schwartz also had three blocks, joining Stevie Nicholas for the team high. Sunny Nicholas and Tatiana Kenon had the hottest swings of the night for the Bears, though. Sunny Nicholas had eight kills and hit .318 for the match, while Kenon's eight kills came with a .318 attacking percentage. Dana Chuha had four errorless kills in 10 swings to go along with a match-high 44 assists.

MAZZARELLA STEPS UP OFFENSIVE OUTPUT
After tallying just 29 kills in her first 112 collegiate games, sophomore S Jillian Mazzarella has posted 23 kills in her last 11 games. Mazzarella put away 10 kills last Thursday against Houston and matched that total last Saturday at Oklahoma; both performances were career bests. The Bonita, Calif., native has six double-doubles this season, including three in last four matches.

NICHOLAS SIDELINED WITH TORN MENISCUS
Junior OH Stevie Nicholas is out for an undetermined amount of time due to a torn medial-meniscus in her right knee. Prior to Thursday's match against Houston, Nicholas had started 72 consecutive matches and had played in 260 consecutive games, missing just three rotations along the way. Nicholas sustained the injury during Baylor's Oct. 19 match against Colorado.

MAZZARELLA NOTCHES FIRST TRIPLE-DOUBLE
With 10 kills, 37 assists and 15 digs Thursday against Houston, sophomore S Jillian Mazzarella posted the first triple-double of her career. It was also the first triple-double by a Bear since Tatiana Kenon had 18 kills, 11 digs and 10 blocks Oct. 27 against Colorado. Mazzarella's 10 kills were a career-high, doubling the five she had against Arkansas-Little Rock earlier this season.

BEARS IN THE NATIONAL STATISTICAL RANKINGS
Junior OH Stevie Nicholas ranks nationally in both service aces and kills, according to the Sept. 30 NCAA statistical rankings. Nicholas ranks fifth nationally with 0.95 aces per game and 13th nationally with 5.45 kills per game.

BAYLOR IN THE BIG 12 STATISTICAL RANKINGS
Baylor finds itself in unusual territory statistically this season - not among the league leaders in kills and digs per game. The Bears have finished third or better in kills per game and fifth or better in digs per game in the Big 12 Conference in each of the past three seasons. According to the Oct. 3 statistical rankings, Baylor is seventh in kills per game (15.08) and ninth in digs per game (13.20). The Bears lead the conference with 2.22 service aces per game and rank fifth with 13.78 assists per game. However, Baylor ranks sixth in attacking percentage (.224), 10th in blocks per game (2.11) and 11th in opponents' attacking percentage (.253).

NICHOLAS LEADS BIG 12 IN THREE CATEGORIES
Despite being sidelined with a torn meniscus, junior OH Stevie Nicholas retains her leader position in the Big 12 Conference statistical rankings in three categories, according to the Oct. 3 rankings. Nicholas leads the conference in kills per game (5.45), service aces per game (0.95) and points per game (6.81). She has now been the conference kills leader in 34 out of 35 weeks during her career. The gap in points per game between Nicholas and second-place Mira Topic of Texas more than one point per game as Topic is averaging 5.55. Nicholas, the only player in the conference to reach the 30-kill plateau this season, owns five of the top 10 kill performances in the conference this year.

SCHWARTZ CLIMBS INTO CONFERENCE RANKINGS
Now that junior OH/MB Tisha Schwartz is carrying the majority of the load for Baylor, she has climbed into the Big 12 statistical rankings in two categories, according to the Oct. 3 rankings. Schwartz is seventh with 3.90 kills per game and seventh with 4.73 points per game. The Amarillo, Texas, native is averaging 4.73 kills and 5.41 points per game since moving to outside hitter.

BAYLOR WINS 17TH IN-SEASON TOURNAMENT
With team titles at the Baylor Classic and at the Rhode Island Classic, Baylor has claimed the program's 16th and 17th in-season tournament titles. Eleven of those titles have come during head coach Brian Hosfeld's tenure (since 1996). The Bears have won at least one in-season tournament in six of Hosfeld's seven seasons, claiming two such titles five times.

THREE BEARS EARN URI CLASSIC HONORS
Baylor juniors OH Stevie Nicholas, MB Tisha Schwartz and OH Lisa Smith were named to the all-tournament team at the Rhode Island Classic. Nicholas was selected as MVP, marking the fifth time in her career she has been named MVP at an in-season tournament. On the weekend, Nicholas hit .316 with 5.25 kills and 2.58 service aces per game and 12 service aces. Schwartz, meanwhile, averaged 4.50 kills per game on the weekend; she also hit at a .406 clip with 11 blocks and five service aces. Smith averaged 2.50 kills and 2.36 digs per game with two double-doubles on the weekend.

FOUR BEARS EARN BAYLOR CLASSIC HONORS
Junior OH Stevie Nicholas, junior MB Tisha Schwartz, sophomore S/DS Jillian Mazzarella and freshman S Emily Huston all earned all-tournament honors at the 2002 Baylor Classic. Nicholas and Schwartz were named co-MVPs. Nicholas averaged 5.10 kills, 1.10 srvice aces, 3.70 digs and 0.90 blocks per game on the weekend, totaling 67.5 points. Schwartz finished the weekend with 52.0 points and per-game averages of 4.00 kills, 1.60 digs and 1.50 blocks. Huston and Mazzarella paced the Bear offense to a .249 attacking percentage and 16.60 kills per game. Huston hit .600 for the weekend (20-2-30) with 2.00 kills, 5.90 assists, 1.70 digs and 0.60 blocks per game. Mazzarella hit .345 on the weekend (12-2-29) with 1.20 kills, 7.30 assists, 3.90 digs and 0.50 blocks per game.

NICHOLAS EARNS PRESEASON ALL-BIG 12 HONORS
Two-time all-Big 12 honoree Stevie Nicholas joined five other athletes on the preseason all-Big 12 Conference team. Nebraska dominated the squad with three seniors being named to the team - S Greichaly Cepero, MB Amber Holmquist and OH Laura Pilakowski. Nicholas was named to the preseason team for the second straight season. She joined sophomore RS Mira Topic of Texas as the only non-seniors on the team. Colorado senior S Elizabeth Gower rounded out the six-player squad. Cepero, the 2000 AVCA National Player of the Year, was the pick as preseason player of the year. Redshirt freshman Shen Danru of Missouri was selected as preseason newcomer of the year, and Texas A&M OH Laura Jones was the pick as preseason freshman of the year.

BAYLORBEARS.COM
Baylor's official athletic web site can be found at www.BaylorBears.com. The comprehensive site, which includes releases, photos, biographical sketches and audio broadcasts, is part of the Official Colles Sports Network. OCSN currently hosts sites for more than 100 universities, including eight Big 12 schools.

INSIDE BAYLOR SPORTS TV SHOW
Inside Baylor Sports, a half-hour look at the world of Baylor athletics, airs weekly throughout Central Texas and the region. The program, co-hosted by John Morris and Lori Scott-Fogleman, airs on KCEN-TV Channel 6, Fox Sports Net Southwest and the College Channel (Waco cable channel 18). KCEN carries the show at 10:30 p.m. Sundays, and it airs at 1 p.m. Wednesdays on FSN Southwest.

UP NEXT...
Baylor returns home for a 7 p.m. CDT match Oct. 9 against Texas Tech at the Ferrell Center. Tech swept the season series last year, winning in four games in Waco and in five games at Lubbock. The Red Raiders have won the last three meetings in the series.