Aug. 26, 2003
WACO, Texas - Three of Baylor's head coaches spoke to the media at Tuesday's press luncheon. Below are excerpts from their comments.
Head Soccer Coach George Van Linder:
On the upcoming season:
"We return seven seniors this year, and five are expected to start; the other two should be the first off the bench. We finished 8-9 last year, so we didn't expect the Big 12 coaches to pick us to win, but our players -- especially our seniors -- think we are due some recognition."
"The thing for us is that victory and failure are contagious. We believe that last year was a hiccup in a Baylor string of winning seasons."
On this weekend's tournament:
"This Friday at 7 p.m. we play Eastern Washington; they are returning four all-conference players. Eastern Washington is in what they say is their third year of a five-year building plan. Sunday at 7 p.m., we face the University of North Texas. That's a big interstate rival for us. Last year they finished 14-5-1, and the preseason polls expect them to finish second in their conference. We expect this will be a good challenge for us; a victory against North Texas will send a message to everyone in this part of the country that Baylor is back to how it was in the past. Hopefully, it will get more and more people excited about Baylor soccer for the future."
Head Volleyball Coach Brian Hosfeld:
On the upcoming season:
"We're looking forward to starting the season. Coming off last year, the returning group as well as myself have high hopes coming into this season, wanting to beat up on some people and looking for revenge. So much so, in fact, that we have had to tone down our attitude, but from our standpoint, it's a good thing to have in our players.
"The team we're going to be putting out on the floor will have two seniors. We'll have Stevie Nicholas in the libero position, a specialized place where they hit and pass but don't serve. We will miss her ace-and-a--half per game, but she'll be controlling and learning how to be on the receiving end of putting the ball in a better place for someone else to finish. That's actually been the hardest thing for her to change over, since she had normally been the person finishing for us.
"The other senior is Tisha Schwartz, who has made a big jump in the last year in terms of maturity and has been able to develop a comfort level that has allowed her to get out there and contribute in a major fashion. We are excited to have those two back, and they are both committed to leadership and the winning history of Baylor volleyball, and they are leading us that way.
"On the other outside hitter position we have Kelly Spriggs, who has come back from mono and has made good strides lately in practice. We have also picked up a Hungarian player by the name of Andrea Vakulya, who will be ahead of Kelly in that position right now. She is a very comfortable player with international experience who will be able to calm things down and control the ball.
"In the middle position we have two freshmen. One is a redshirt, Desiree Guilliard-Young, who is six-foot-five. She has an impressive vertical and when blocking can get into the 10-foot range, where she will be above most people. She has great tactics and uses good angles. The other one is a true freshman, Nicole LaBlanc, from Tampa Bay. She has a great personality and brings a lot of life to the floor. She is a good hitter and is very good off one foot.
"On the right side we have another tremendous athlete, Stella Odion, who is also in the 10-foot range and is really starting to get comfortable in that spot. In the middle we have Emily Huston; with her at 6-foot-1, we will probably have one of the best blocking teams we have ever had.
"At our scrimmage on Friday we had about 3,000 people, which created a good level of energy. We had good ball control, and that will save us face throughout the season. As far as our health, we had one torn ACL [Adeline Meira], and another freshman [Kristen Schramek] broke her foot. Hopefully Kristen will be back sooner rather that later."
On this year's schedule:
"Our schedule is set up so that we will be tested right away. Houston will be a young team but fairly experienced, so that will be a challenge after UTSA. Wyoming is an experienced team with a good coaching staff, so that will be another good test for us. It will let us know where we are. Then we finish up with Ole Miss on Saturday. After that, we have Hawaii. We will play UOP, which was a two-time national champion back in the 1980s. Hawaii is the number two team in the nation, so we will be tested right away."
On Stevie Nicholas' health:
"Stevie is a hundred percent for what we are looking for. She will be able to set the ball and play defense. Remember, she led us in digs as well as attacking. So far in the last three weeks, she has really gotten after it. She really brings that competitive spirit and energy."
Head Football Coach Guy Morriss:
On the team's preparation for the season:
"I feel good with Aaron at the helm. He has progressed in the summer through spring training and into two-a-days. You know these guys that are sitting here feel that they have what it takes to win with the game plan that we give them. We feel good that we haven't overloaded them. We are going to help Aaron from the side and set him down when he comes back from a series and see what we can do from the press box.
"As far as our back field goes, I feel comfortable and expect a lot of production from them. The thing we need to do now is go play some games. The guys have been very committed through our training. The questions we do have can be answered when we start playing games. I'm curious as to what kind of football team we are going to be, and how we will react in certain situations. We will have to learn how to play when we are ahead and when we are tied and when we are behind. I think they are in a good mindset; I know as coaches we feel like we are right on schedule.
"We are big believers of fundamentals. We have talked about this a lot, that we have got to hang on to the football. We can't be jumping offsides -- those things will kill you quicker than anything. We've addressed those problems from the beginning of training camp. We want to make sure we throw it to the green and white rather than to our opponents. I know I was watching last night and we didn't have one interception, one offsides or one football on the ground. We understand the importance of that."
On the first game:
"I don't think getting them motivated will be a problem. We may have to calm them down because of "first game of the year" jitters. Getting them going won't be a problem; they are ready."
"Our first game last year [at Kentucky] we were much like this team. We had a good night and hopefully we will have a good one Saturday. It's new for all of us with the kids; there's a lot of finding out to do under the lights. We're getting to know each other under a first-time situation."
On UAB:
"UAB is a good football team. They have a good field goal kicker, a new punter and a good punt return team. Offensively they have several people back. I think you will see them in the "I" a little bit. For the most part they like to be in the shotgun with one back, and they like to throw. Their running game is somewhat limited, but they run a draw. They have a power scheme to screen and draw you downfield.
"They have a new defensive coordinator and will be in the same boat as us. They run an aggressive 4-3 and replace 3 of the 4 linemen. On first down they will have eight people in the box and try to stop the run. They play cover-two zone a lot."
On Baylor's running game:
"I think at the running back spot we are in good shape; we have a little depth there. That was part of the reason that prompted us to move Paul Mosley to fullback. I think Rashad Armstrong will start the game and see what kind of start he gets us off to. Then we will rotate some people in there. John Evans will start at fullback for us, and Paul will share some time."
On Baylor's offensive line:
"The offensive line is a tough situation to throw freshman in there in this league and expect them to perform like a senior. We know there will be some freshman mistakes, but we are short-handed up front. We are going to put our best five guys up there, and if one happens to be a freshman, he will have to grow up in a hurry. We expect them to get it done and we will give them some help."
