Sept. 3, 2005

Box Score

WACO, Texas - Senior middle blocker Stella Odion (Houston, Texas) hit .700 with 16 kills and four blocks as Baylor recorded its second sweep of the day with a 3-0 (30-15, 30-18, 30-16) victory over McNeese State as the Bears hosted the Hilton Invitational in non-conference volleyball action Saturday. Odion also led the team with 12 kills in the Bears' 3-0 (30-17, 30-24, 30-19) sweep of North Texas in the morning match.

"This morning we played great defensively and it was nice to get our offense going and put both ends together tonight," head coach Jim Barnes said. "Stella and Emily (Huston) were off and on in executing (before today), but they really answered the call. Everyone was passing and serving well. We can beat anybody we play if we have that mentality of hard work and teamwork."

The Bears (4-0) hit .535 as a team against McNeese State (2-2), the second-highest team attacking percentage in school history, behind a .556 performance against Jackson State exactly six years ago to the date.

Senior outside hitter Kelly Spriggs (Houston, Texas) added 10 kills and four blocks against McNeese State, while sophomore libero Kristen Schramek (San Antonio, Texas) led the team with a match-high 17 digs. Junior outside hitter Nicole LeBlanc (Tampa, Fla.) had eight kills, no errors and added nine digs, while senior outside hitter Melanie Hamerly (Orange, Texas) hit .600 with seven kills.

Baylor started off hot against McNeese State and never looked back, beginning game one with a 10-1 run. The Bears hit an eye-popping .652 for the game and won 30-15. The Cowgirls rebounded in game two and battled to a 15-14 lead over the Bears. That would be the last run of the match for McNeese State as the Bears ripped off 10 consecutive points behind the serve of Schramek to take a 24-15 lead and scored the final four points of the game to win 30-18.

The Bears were once again on top of their offensive game in game three, hitting .606. The Bears slowly pulled away with three and four point spurts and closed out the match with a 30-16 decision.

Baylor 3, North Texas 0

Hamerly had 10 kills against North Texas and Schramek had 15 digs, while LeBlanc chipped in with nine kills and 13 digs.

Baylor jumped out to an 8-1 lead in game one behind the serve of senior setter Emily Huston (Santa Rosa, Calif.), who totaled five service aces on the day. The Bears extended the lead to 21-9 before closing out the game 30-17. North Texas hung with the Bears in game two, tying the game at 14-14 and staying within two points until late in the game. LeBlanc's serve and Hamerly's attack took over as the Bears scored five straight to get to game point at 29-23 and held on for the 30-24 win.

The Bears' defense took over in game three, holding the Mean Green to -.032 hitting. North Texas was within one at 11-10, but Baylor scored the next six points to jump out to a 17-10 lead. The Bears pushed the lead to 12 at 27-15 after five straight points behind the serve of sophomore Amanda Modglin (Houston, Texas) and closed out the match with an ace by junior Deja Sweeney (Sacramento, Calif.) at 30-19.

McNeese State downed North Texas 3-1 (30-22, 31-29, 27-30, 30-28) in the afternoon match. Trisha Seale led the Cowgirls with 19 kills, while Tiffany Baker had 16 and Marquita Williams had 15. Jessica Strama added 35 digs for McNeese State. Rachel Raley led the Mean Green with 18 kills, while Katy Prokof added 16 kills and 22 digs.

The Bears return to action when they host Texas State Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Ferrell Center, before playing in the Comcast Lady Vol Classic Friday and Saturday in Knoxville, Tenn.