Fall sports off to hot starts
Led by new coach Art Briles and freshman quarterback Robert Griffin, Baylor football has earned a good deal of attention this fall from fans and the media, and rightly so. Saturday’s home game against top-ranked Oklahoma (11:40 a.m. kickoff; get tickets or tune into Fox Sports Net’s national broadcast) will be yet another excellent test for this young team. But several other Baylor teams are off to excellent starts this season, as well.
Baylor volleyball began the season 8-0, tying the program record for most consecutive wins to start a year. Head coach Jim Barnes’ Bears also opened Big 12 play 3-0, their best-ever conference start. The team enters tonight’s home match against Colorado with an impressive 11-3 record (3-1 Big 12), and two of their three losses came against ranked teams. That early season success has Baylor receiving votes in the CSTV/AVCA Coaches Poll for the first time since 2006.
The women’s cross country squad has won both of its meets so far this season, with Nichole Jones and Erin Bedell each earning Big 12 Runner of the Week honors. Men’s golf has been similarly successful, winning a pair of tournament titles in the season’s first two weeks and breaking into the national rankings at No. 10. The equestrian team is also highly ranked, coming in at No. 6 nationally after opening the year with three straight wins while hosting the Willis Equestrian Invitational.
The Baylor tennis teams have only one tournament under their belts so far, but received a good deal of respect in the ITA preseason rankings. On the men’s side, Denes Lukacs was ranked No. 2 nationally in singles and was joined by three teammates among the top 125 players; the Bears also had one doubles team ranked among the top 60. The Lady Bears lead the nation with six ranked singles players, led by No. 8-ranked Lenka Broosova; a pair of doubles teams were also ranked.
Sic ’em, Baylor athletics!