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Daily Bears Report 9/21

Soccer’s Lindsay Burns named Big XII Defensive Player of the Week. Equestrian ranked No. 5 nationally.

By Ohio Baylor Fan
NCAA Football: Baylor at Rice Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Today’s Events

Volleyball

vs. North Texas Highlights

Volleyball extends it’s win streak to seven. News Channel 25 has the story, stats and highlights.

Baylor volleyball (11-4) tallied a four-set win over North Texas (6-9), 25-14, 25-18, 26-28, 25-23, to cap off its home nonconference season Tuesday night at the Ferrell Center.

It pushes Baylor’s match-winning streak to seven matches, dating back to Sept. 9. The Bears were led offensively by redshirt junior Katie Staiger and sophomore Aniah Philo, posting 17 and 12 kills, respectively.

Baylor’s current seven-match winning streak dates back to Sept. 9 where BU swept Little Rock and Florida A&M on the road.

“We started out great both of the sets. We got to get some people in and see what they could do. We definitely fell out of rhythm over the course of the match. We weren’t very terminal with our attacking. The lesson is, once you’re in the flow, you’ve got to fight hard to stay there.” –Baylor head coach Ryan McGuyre on the tighter competition in the third and fourth sets.

Volleyball goes back on the road today playing at Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches at 6:30 p.m.

Softball

Baylor’s Fall Softball schedule doesn’t seem to be fixed in stone and I can find no information about today’s match/scrimmage except that the athletics calendar lists Baylor hosting Navarro College late this afternoon at 5:00 p.m. Baylor Bears dot com has listed the Baylor Fall schedule that they have. There was supposed to have been a Meet the Bears event last Saturday at Getterman stadium but I haven’t (<— there really should not be an “e” in this contraction, its annoying) seen any other information on it or even the results of the scrimmage that accompanied the event.

Carrying an 18-member squad, the Lady Bears will break in five freshman newcomers, with (last) Saturday’s contest as the first opportunity for fans to see the team in action.

Taylor Ellis, Maddison Kettler, Madi O’Neal, Shelby McGlaun, and McKenzie Oviatt add to a balanced roster, anchored by the four seniors, Kelsee Selman, Ari Hawkins, Riley Browder, and Lindsey Cargill.

The BU squad will host 12 additional scrimmages on seven upcoming dates, with two more intra-squad scrimmages this month, scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 23 and 10:00 a.m. on Sept. 24.

The 10 scrimmage October schedule will feature an intra-squad scrimmage followed by a matchup with a visiting opponent. The two exceptions are a doubleheader with Northwestern State on Oct. 1 and a doubleheader in the Spring Klein College Tournament in Spring Klein, Texas on Oct. 8.

The Bears will host Tyler Junior College on Oct. 4, Temple College on Oct. 6, and McLennan Community College on Oct. 13.

Argus Leader Sports of the USA Today Network selected Baylor commit Lexi Koltz from Roosevelt High School as Athlete of the Week. Here’s the link to the story and video.

At the forefront of Roosevelt’s quest for a third consecutive state softball title is senior pitcher Lexi Koltz.

Koltz, who threw a perfect game against Brookings last week and has struck out 17 in her two starts since, commands her pitches and can alter speeds to keep hitters off balance. The Roosevelt ace’s elite skill set combined with her size – she stands at over six feet tall – makes her an intimidating figure in the circle.

“Her work ethic is second to none,” Roosevelt coach Scott Roth said. “(She’s) probably the most highly-decorated and recruited athlete to come out of the softball world in the state.”

Soccer

Baylor soccer senior defender Lindsay Burns was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week, the league announced Tuesday. From Baylor Bears dot com.

The weekly honor is Burns’ first in her career and BU’s first defensive weekly award since 2012 (Kat Ludlow, Sept. 5). The Yakima, Washington native gave the Bears their 10th Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week accolade and second from a non-goalkeeper (Ludlow, 2012). Burns is the second Bear to garner a weekly award this season as Lauren Piercy was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week on Aug. 30. Overall, Burns gave BU its 35th Big 12 weekly award and 20th under the Jobsons.

Burns led Baylor's defense to a pair of shutout wins on last week, and added a goal. Last Friday in a 2-0 win vs. Washington she guided BU's defense to a dominant performance as UW managed just four shots, two on goal and three corners. Last Sunday in a 7-0 win vs. Jackson State she led BU's defense to another dominant effort as JSU had just one shot all game. Burns also scored her second goal of the season. Overall, Burns helped BU's defense allow just five shots, three on goal, and three corners in last week’s two matches.

Equestrian

Baylor equestrian will kick off its 2016-17 season ranked at No. 5 in the National Collegiate Equestrian Association’s preseason national team rankings. From Baylor Bears dot com.

Coming off a 2015-16 season with a 13-5 ranking, including a 7-5 mark in conference and 7-0 at home, the Bears will hope to best last year’s national quarterfinals and Big 12 runner-up finish.

BU will host both the Big 12 Championship and the NCEA Championship in Waco this year for the first time since the 2013-14 season.

Since the 2012-13 season, the first in which national team rankings were produced, Baylor is one of only four teams in the country to appear in every poll since, joined by Georgia, Auburn, and TCU.

Additionally, Baylor is one of only three schools to appear in the top five of the preseason polls each of the last three seasons, joining Georgia and Auburn.

Baylor kicks off its season on Friday, Sep. 23 at South Carolina before returning home to host the Willis Invitational in Waco on Sep. 30-Oct. 1.

Athletics Update Video

Football

FoxSports must have forgotten that currently undefeated West Virginia joined the Big XII a few years back and perhaps didn’t notice that the December 3 match-up could be a defacto Big XII championship game. However, that’s months away and doesn’t matter at all today as FoxSports brings us this pre-game analysis of the upcoming Saturday game between Oklahoma State and Baylor.

Baylor remains the only undefeated team in the Big 12 Conference. But the 16th-ranked Bears will get a better gauge of how just good they are when they open Big 12 play on Saturday night against visiting theOklahoma State Cowboys at McLane Stadium in Waco, Texas.

The Bears played arguably the weakest nonconference schedule in the Big 12, romping to a 55-7 win over FCS Northwestern State, a 40-13 win over SMU and a 38-10 victory over Rice.

"The best measuring stick is going to be on the field Saturday," Baylor wide receiver Lynx Hawthorne told the Waco Tribune. "We'll hopefully come together and put some points on the board and get our first conference win."Baylor's ground game is averaging 282 yards per game which leads the Big 12 and ranks ninth nationally. Three running backs -- Shock Linwood, Terence Williams and JaMycal Hasty -- are averaging at least 71 yards per game. Linwood finished with 57 yards rushing at Rice and passed Walter Abercrombie's career rushing mark at Baylor in that contest. He now has 3,674 yards for his career with nine games left.

Oklahoma State leads the all-time series with Baylor, 19-15. The Bears won 45-35 last year in Stillwater, Okla., however, and are hoping for more of the same Saturday.

Barry Trammel of NewsOK asks the question: Why doesn’t every team use the Baylor offense?

It’s Baylor Week in Stillwater. It will be Baylor Week in Norman in November. And the message will be the same.

The Baylor offense is incredibly tough to defend. The Art Briles scheme puts wide receivers split to the sideline, which spreads out the defense, creating problems. Defenses can’t adjust quickly, can’t shift quickly, which means the quarterback’s recognition of defensive alignment is simplified. Run support from cornerbacks is minimized. The blocking becomes eight-on-eight instead of 10-on-10.

“It’s eight-man football, right?” Mike Gundy said.

In some ways, yes. The wide defensive splits create running lanes, and Baylor likes to run the ball. If you bring up a safety to help against the run, those speedy receivers on the end are sent deep against one-on-one coverage.

It’s brilliant strategy. So I had a question for Gundy, and it will be a good question for Bob Stoops in November. If it’s such a great offense, why doesn’t every team run it?

“It’s gaining some ground,” Gundy said, without answering the question.

WacoTrib brings us this story about Oklahoma State’s Mason Rudolph, written by Mark Cooper of Tulsa World.

Mike Gundy goes back to Waco, Texas, this weekend in a much different state of mind than the last time he was there. His team does, too, because of the decisions made that week (in Nov. 2014).

With that in mind, let’s take stock of what has happened with Oklahoma State football since Gundy decided to play Mason Rudolph, sacrificing his redshirt, on Nov. 22, 2014:

— The Cowboys are 14-5, with one win over Oklahoma, a win in the Cactus Bowl and a Sugar Bowl appearance. They also appeared in the top 10 in the polls for a time last season;

— They’ve erased the question marks at quarterback. Rudolph, who was an unknown entity the last time he stepped into McLane Stadium, now holds OSU’s single-game passing record after throwing for 540 yards against Pittsburgh on Saturday;

— While there are questions about this year’s team following their 2-1 start, the holes don’t compare to what the 2014 Cowboys looked like when they traveled to Waco with a 5-5 record and a four-game losing streak.

ODB’s Peter Pope has our First Look at Oklahoma State up. This almanac of Saturday’s upcoming game even tells you what color clothing to wear.

NFL Baylor Bears

Fansided’s Tyler Olson brings us this story on Xavien Howard and Corey Coleman.

It’s always a storyline when former collegiate teammates face off against each other in the pro’s. This Sunday Xavien Howard of the Miami Dolphins and Corey Coleman of the Cleveland Browns will get to do just that.

Both Howard and Coleman had successful careers at Baylor University. Now they’re both starting for 0-2 teams in the NFL.

Watch Parties

Can’t make it to the game this weekend? Perhaps there is a watch party near you?

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