Sept. 6, 2005
Box Score
WACO, Texas - Junior outside hitter Nicole LeBlanc (Tampa, Fla.) hit .318 with 21 kills and 17 digs to lead Baylor to a 3-1 (28-30, 30-19, 30-28, 30-17) victory over Texas State in non-conference volleyball action Tuesday night at the Ferrell Center. The Bears won their fifth straight match to open the season for the first time since 2001.
Senior outside hitter Stella Odion (Houston, Texas) hit .343 with 19 kills, while senior outside hitter Melanie Hamerly (Orange, Texas) had 10 kills. Sophomore middle blocker Amanda Modglin (Houston, Texas) had six kills and the first double-digit block match of her career with 10, three solo. Sophomore libero Kristen Schramek (San Antonio, Texas) led the Bears defensively with 22 digs, while junior Deja Sweeney (Sacramento, Calif.) had 13, senior setter Emily Huston (Santa Rosa, Calif.) 12 and senior defensive specialist Maggie Chlebana (Calgary, Alberta) 10.
Stephanie Bruggeman led Texas State with 13 kills and added 10 digs. Karry Griffin chipped in with 11 digs.
The Bears (5-0) came out slow in the first game, hitting only .162. The Bobcats jumped out to a 17-10 lead, but the Bears came back and cut the lead to two at 19-17. Texas State started to pull away at 28-23, but Baylor ripped off four straight to get to within one. After a timeout, the Bobcats got kills from Bruggeman on two of the last three points to take the first game.
Baylor rebounded in game two, hitting .256. The Bears led 19-15, then outscored the Bobcats 11-4 the rest of the way and holding them to an .082 attack percentage.
Texas State fought hard in game three and tied the match at 23-23. The Bears tried to pull away at 27-24, but the Bobcats forced a timeout when they fought off two game points to get within one. The Bears executed out of the break and got a kill from LeBlanc to take the game 30-28.
The Bears put the match away early in game four, scoring seven straight points behind the serve of Huston to go up 17-9. Baylor pushed the lead to 26-17, then scored the last four points to clinch the match.
Baylor outdug Texas State, 88-57, and outblocked the Bobcats 15.0-13.5. The Bears hit .220 while holding the Bobcats to .102.
The Bears hit the road for seven straight and will compete in the Comcast Lady Vols Classic Friday and Saturday in Knoxville, Tenn. Baylor faces host Tennessee Friday at 6 p.m., followed by College of Charleston Saturday at 10 a.m. and Central Michigan at 4 p.m.
