Oct. 15, 2005

Box Score

WACO, Texas - Baylor had No. 20 Kansas State on the ropes but couldn't deliver the knockout blow as the Wildcats mounted a furious rally and escaped with a five-game victory (30-23, 30-21, 27-30, 20-30, 11-15) in Big 12 Conference volleyball action Saturday afternoon at the Ferrell Center.

Junior outside hitter Nicole LeBlanc (Tampa, Fla.) posted her eighth double-double of the season with a match-high 19 kills, 11 digs and five blocks for the Bears (10-10, 2-7 Big 12), while senior outside hitter Kelly Spriggs (Houston, Texas) had 18 kills and six blocks. Senior middle blocker Stella Odion (Houston, Texas) added 16 kills eight digs and eight blocks. Senior setter Emily Huston (Santa Rosa, Calif.) posted her team-leading 10th double-double with 53 assists, 13 digs and seven blocks. Sophomore libero Kristen Schramek (San Antonio, Texas) had a match-high 22 digs, while sophomore defensive specialist Heather Marcus (Grand Prairie, Texas) added a career-high 14 and senior defensive specialist Maggie Chlebana (Calgary, Alberta) had 10. Junior middle blocker Desiree Guilliard-Young (Berkeley, Calif.) had a match-high 10 blocks, the second time this season she's hit double figures.

Sandy Werner led the Wildcats (15-4, 6-3) with 18 kills, while Agata Rezende added 15. Angie Lastra led Kansas State defensively with 20 digs, while Stacey Spiegelberg had 10.

Kansas State scored the first three points of game one, but Baylor answered back by scoring the next seven. The Bears pushed the lead to 20-12, but the Wildcats rallied to within two at 22-20. Baylor settled down and scored eight of the final 11 points to claim a 30-23 win. The Bears hit .371 for the game while holding the Wildcats to .122.

Baylor held a 14-12 lead in game two, the put it away by scoring eight straight. Odion served up back-to-back aces to match the Bears' biggest lead of the game at 27-17 and they went on for a 30-21 victory. Baylor hit .196, while Kansas State was held to .038.

The Bears continued to pound away at the Wildcats and led by as much as 22-15 in game three. The Bears held the lead at 24-19, but fell apart as Kansas State ripped off a 10-1 run, including six straight points, to take a 29-24 lead and extend the match with a 30-27 decision. Kansas State hit only .129, but Baylor hit only .024.

Deflated by the game three outcome, Baylor fell behind 6-1 in game four, but answered back with five straight to tie the game. A four-point run put Kansas State up 17-11 and was enough to hold the Bears off the rest of the way and the Wildcats tied the match with a 30-20 win. Kansas State had their best game of the match, hitting .308 and holding Baylor to .132.

Kansas State scored four straight points early in game five to take a 5-2 lead and never looked back. Holding a 9-7 lead, the Wildcats ripped off five straight to go up 14-7 and eventually clinch the match, 15-11. The Bears were held to -.048 for the game, while the Wildcats hit .125.

Baylor outplayed Kansas State in nearly every statistical category, outhitting the Wildcats, .148-.139, outdigging them, 83-68 and outblocking them, 20.0-15.0. The Wildcats had more aces, 12-7, and five fewer attacking errors.

The Bears return to action when they hit the road to face No. 24 Texas A&M Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum in College Station, Texas.