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Daily Bears Report 9/30

Weekend Calendar and Magazine

By Ohio Baylor Fan
Baylor Soccer ND

Today’s Events

Soccer

Soccer will be at Morgantown, West Virginia today and will face off against the Mountaineers at 6 p.m. CT. The teams have not met since the 2014 season as the 2015 match was canceled due to weather.

The match will feature live stats and video on WVUSports.com. Twitter updates can be found on the @BaylorFutbol official account. Baylor bears dot com has match info and quick notes.

Equestrian

Willis Invitational Preview

No. 5 Baylor equestrian (1-0) will host the ninth-annual Willis Invitational tournament this weekend, running today and tomorrow at the Willis Family Equestrian Center. From Baylor Bears dot com:

The tournament consists of three individual head-to-head meets, featuring matchups with No. 9 Fresno State (0-0), No. 10 New Mexico State (0-0), and South Dakota State (0-0).

The Baylor squad has won all eight previous Willis titles, including a 3-0 sweep of last season's tournament field of Tennessee-Martin, NMSU, and FSU.

For the second season, Baylor will host live scoring updates of unofficial scores on BaylorBears.com.

Cross Country

Notre Dame Invitational Preview

Baylor's cross country teams will race in the 61st-annual Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational at the Burke Golf Course in Notre Dame, Ind., on Friday. From Baylor Bears dot com:

The women's 5,000-meter race will start at 1 p.m. CT with the men’s five-mile run immediately following around 1:45 p.m. CT.

All races are strictly team races, and each team will be limited to nine runners in the team race. Teams may enter up to 15 individuals and run additional team members in the 2:30 p.m. CT open race.

For the BU women, who are coming off a second-place finish at last weekend’s Texas A&M Invitational, 11 student-athletes will make the trip, including Alison Andrews-Paul, Lindsey Bradley, Alex Davis, Kathryn Foreman, Hana Marsheck, Aaliyah Miller, Maggie Montoya, Gabby Satterlee, Peyton Thomas, Anna West and Madie Zimmerman.

The men's team will be racing for the first time since winning the Ken Garland Invitational on Sept. 17. The Bears are slated to race nine individuals, including Eric Anderson, Matt Henderson, Henry Huff, Jeff Kirwin, Matt League, Sean McCullough, Devin Meyrer, Matthew Parham andJordan West.

Saturday’s Events

Softball

Softball continues its fall scrimmage schedule with a double header Saturday against Northwestern State.

Volleyball

Baylor Volleyball will take it’s 10 win streak on the road Saturday as they take on the No. 8 ranked Kansas Jayhawks in Lawrence. This story is from kuathletics dot com where you can also find TV and radio information for the match. Apparently the game will be televised on ESPN3 and on the school’s “JTV” with a replay three hours later.

It will be a formidable defensive matchup as Kansas and Baylor enter the weekend ranked first and second, respectively, in the Big 12 in hitting percentage allowed and kills per set allowed. The Jayhawks feature a superb back-row defense with the Big 12's leader in digs per set, libero Cassie Wait, while Baylor's net protectors lead the Big 12 in blocks.

After a sluggish start to the season with losses to UT Rio Grande Valley and UC-Santa Barbara, the Bears (14-4, 2-0) are now winners of 10-straight matches, including a three-set sweep over then-No. 23 Kansas State to open Big 12 play on Sept. 25. Baylor outside hitter Katie Staiger was named AVCA National Player of the Week for her 23-kill, 11-dig effort against the Wildcats.

Men’s Tennis

Three Baylor men's tennis players, Jimmy Bendeck, Constantin Frantzen and Max Tchoutakian, will compete in the 2016 Saint Francis Health System ITA Men’s All-American Championships, held in Tulsa, Okla., from Oct. 1-10. Baylor Bears dot com has more.

The tournament will be hosted by University of Tulsa at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center for the 12th-straight season. The 2016 event will be held in three different stages. The prequalifying draws will take place on Oct. 1-2, the qualifying draws on Oct. 3-4, and the main draw will be held on Oct. 6-10.

Senior Max Tchoutakian will represent the Bears in the main draw singles portion of the event, while freshman Constantin Frantzen competes in the qualifying singles draw. Sophomore Jimmy Bendeck will compete in the prequalifying singles round. Tchoutakian and Frantzen will also be teaming up in qualifying doubles play. All three Baylor men’s tennis players come into this tournament with recent success.

FOOTBALL

#SicISU

The Olean Times Herald in the Allegheny Mountains of New York presents us with this pregame capsule for tomorrow’s game.

Teams that lose road games at Iowa State typically don't win Big 12 titles, and Baylor needs some wins with a three-game stretch at Texas, vs. TCU and at Oklahoma looming in a few weeks. For the Cyclones, beating a ranked opponent would give their fans tangible proof that the program's rebuilding project is ahead of schedule.

From FoxSports:

Baylor became just the second team in FBS history, along with BYU (1979-81), to lead the nation in scoring three years in a row with 48.1 points per game. The Bears have dipped a bit in that regard, averaging 42 points while playing just one Power Five school. But Iowa State is just seventh in the Big 12 in scoring defense, and Saturday's weather, often a big problem in the league's most northern outpost, is forecast to be perfect.

No. 13 Baylor (4-0, 1-0 Big 12) is the only team in the league with four wins. Last week it used four turnovers to hold off a talented Oklahoma State team 35-24 , and with Iowa State (1-3, 0-1) and Kansas (1-2, 0-0) up next, Baylor has a very realistic shot at finishing the first half of the season unbeaten.

''I think we've got to improve to be the kind of team we're capable of being. But I think we've got a talented football team,'' Grobe said.

It's easy to forget how lopsided this series used to be - in favor of Iowa State. The Cyclones won four straight matchups from 1997-2004, including a 41-0 blowout in Ames in 2001. But Iowa State hasn't beaten Baylor since 2012, losing in Waco 71-7 the following season.

WacoTrib’s John Werner focuses on Baylor’s defense piling up the turnovers. BearsExtra has lots more of this story.

During the last three games, the Bears have forced nine turnovers to match Oklahoma State for the most in the Big 12 through four games.

Baylor forced four turnovers in its 35-24 win over the Cowboys last weekend, and all were crucial to seal the Big 12 opener.

“It’s very important to our success,” said Baylor nickelback Travon Blanchard. “Coach (Phil) Bennett preaches to us every time we can get our hands on the ball — whether it be interceptions or punching the ball out or something — we need to take our chances.”

Sunday’s Events

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