Volleyball Heads To Baylor Wednesday
Oct. 20, 2008
LAWRENCE, Kan. –
Game Notes 
Kansas volleyball (9-9, 3-6 Big 12) will head to Baylor this Wednesday, Oct. 22, in the first of a two-match road stint for the Jayhawks. Kansas and Baylor (13-6, 5-4 Big 12) are scheduled to battle at 6:30 p.m.
Free live stats and audio for the contest is available on the Kansas Athletics’ official website at www.kuathletics.com. In addition, fans can access live video streaming on the website for a subscription fee.
About Kansas
After dropping a four-set match at Border Showdown rival Missouri Wednesday, the Jayhawks bounced back with a four-set victory of its own versus Oklahoma in Lawrence Saturday evening to halt a two-match winless streak. KU (9-9, 3-6 Big 12) has three players contributing over two kills per set in Big 12 matches led by sophomore Karina Garlington with 3.78, who ranks fourth in the league. Sophomore Jenna Kaiser and senior Savannah Noyes trail with 2.26 kps and 2.20, respectively. Noyes also paces the team with the conference’s sixth-best attack percentage at .355. Freshman setter Nicole Tate can also be found in the Big 12 rankings as her 10.30 aps rank fifth in league contests. Defensively, sophomore libero Melissa Manda averages 3.35 dps, which is 10th in the Big 12.
Head coach Ray Bechard is in his 11th season as head coach of the Jayhawks with a 170-152 overall record.
Scouting Baylor
Baylor enters Wednesday’s contest receiving votes in the latest AVCA poll and as the fourth-best team in the Big 12 with a 5-4 league record and 13-6 overall mark. The Bears, who opened the year with an 8-2 non-conference record, are coming off a 3-1 win at Texas A&M to stop a three-match skid, two of which were against ranked teams. BU has lost just one contest at home so far this season, a four-set loss to Iowa State on Oct. 11. Katie Sanders paces the Bears’ offense in Big 12 matches averaging 3.53 kps. Taylor Barnes runs the BU offense with 10.50 aps and also leads the conference with 0.47 service aces per set. Defensively, Baylor is second in the Big 12 holding opponents to a .199 attack percentage. Libero Allison King digs up 4.00 balls per set, sixth in league contests. Anne Breyfogle leads the Big 12 with 1.74 bps as the Bears are also tops in the conference with 2.41 bps.
Baylor is coached by Jim Barnes, who is 72-74 in his fifth year as head coach of the Bears.
Series History
Kansas trails the all-time series with Baylor, 17-10. Baylor holds a 15-9 edge over the Jayhawks in Big 12 play, including a 10-2 advantage in Waco. KU, who has lost its last three contests with BU, was last victorious on the Bears’ home court on Nov. 26, 2003.
Last Meeting With the Bears
Waco, Texas — Three players finished with double-digit kills and Emily Brown recorded her third consecutive triple-double, but it was still not enough as Baylor notched its fifth straight Big 12 victory with a 3-1 (30-19, 20-30, 30-24, 30-22) win over the Jayhawks. Jenna Kaiser led the Kansas offense hitting at a career-best .538 clip on 16 kills. Natalie Uhart also had double-figures with 11 kills. Freshman libero Melissa Manda led all players with 17 digs. Katie Martincich pitched in 13 digs of her own as well as 23 assists.
Last Time Out
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Senior Savannah Noyes recorded a season-high 17 kills, while sophomore Karina Garlington and freshman Nicole Tate chipped in double-doubles as Kansas volleyball defeated Oklahoma 3-1 during the third annual Dig for the Cure match.
Noyes also swung at a season-high clip committing just two errors on 26 attempts for a .577 attack percentage. Garlington matched Noyes with 17 kills to go along with 11 digs. Tate ran an efficient KU offense totaling 51 assists on the night, while digging up 12 balls.
Attendance Leaders
Once again, Kansas volleyball continues to be among the nation’s leaders in average home attendance. The Jayhawks are currently 37th in the country averaging 923 fans per contest at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center.
RPI Rankings
In the latest RPI rankings released Oct. 13, Kansas finished in the top third coming in at No. 83 out of 329 Division I volleyball programs. All members of the Big 12 Conference were listed in the top 100.
Noyes In the Career Charts
Senior Savannah Noyes picked up a solo block at Texas A&M to crack KU’s top 10 career solo blocks list. Noyes has 49 solo rejections for her career, tying 2007 senior Emily Brown at No. 10 on the list.
The 6-3 Indianola, Neb., native is currently fifth on KU’s attack percentage list with a .252 career hitting percentage. She is also just 11 sets shy of getting her name on the career sets played list.
Player Notables
» Outside hitter Karina Garlington has notched 10 or more kills 15 times this year, including eight of her last nine outings. Garlington also has three straight double-doubles heading into Wednesday’s contest and four total on the season.
» Since returning to the Kansas lineup during conference play, outside hitter Jenna Kaiser has recorded double-digit kills in five of her eight matches played and currently has a streak of three straight contests.
» Setter Nicole Tate leads the team with six double-doubles. Tate also notched the league’s most single match assists this season with 64 at Wyoming on Sept. 12.
» Savannah Noyes leads the team with a .355 attack percentage in Big 12 matches and has had seven matches hitting over .350.
Up Next
The Jayhawks return to Texas this Saturday, Oct. 25 to take on Texas A&M. Match time with the Aggies is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
