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Sports news from The Baylor Lariat.

It’s going to be a tough task for No. 7 Baylor soccer to continue on an undefeated path this weekend as they travel to a hostile environment to take on Missouri and Texas A&M in College Station.

The Bears (4-0-0) will begin with a game against Missouri at 4 p.m. today and then face Texas A&M at 7 p.m. Sunday.

“I love coming up to weekends like this,” senior defender Kat Ludlow. “This is going to be one of the hardest weekends that we will have this season. They are two tough competitors and we’ve never beaten A&M, so it’s always great competition against them.”

Baylor football did what they were expected to do and more in a 69-3 thrashing of FCS opponent Wofford on Saturday night in Waco.

While the Bears’ offense is expected to produce loads of points, most eyes were on the defensive side of the ball.

Baylor has historically been a poor defensive program. In the first half of last season, they ranked last in most FBS statistical categories.

Through seven games, Baylor allowed an average of 553.71 yards per game. That would have broken the all-time record for yards allowed per game if they continued at that porous pace.

Chemistry is not just a science, but also an art. A team can have all the talent in the world, but without chemistry, the team can falter. Just look at the 2012-2013 Los Angeles Lakers and how they flopped with an all-star roster. Fortunately for Baylor’s high-powered offense, the chemistry continues to grow.

Baylor’s offensive firepower has the nation watching as head coach Art Briles has turned the Bears into consistent contenders with a notoriously explosive offensive attack. Baylor put up 692 yards of offense against Wofford, the third most in program history.

The last time Baylor volleyball played SMU, their NCAA Tournament dreams were being dashed in a 3-1 loss in the season finale. This season Baylor (1-3) beat SMU (2-2) in straight sets 3-0.

Sophomore outside hitter Laura Jones led Baylor with 14 kills. She headlined the first set with seven kills and a hitting percentage of .875.

No. 9 Baylor soccer (4-0-0) earned two key road wins this weekend against the University of Washington Huskies and the Southern Methodist University Mustangs. The Bears defeated the Huskies 1-0 in Seattle on Friday night and then conquered SMU 2-0 on Sunday night in Dallas.

Despite playing in hostile environments, Baylor’s defense got the job done limiting the Huskies to six shots and the Mustangs to nine. The Baylor defense was on full display when the team didn’t allow the Huskies to have its first shot until the 71st minute. SMU’s offense was kept in check as the Bears earned a fourth straight shutout.

If there is one thing that Baylor football does not lack, it’s wide receiver depth. There were some preseason question marks about the lack of experience at the position, even though there is a plethora of raw talent at receiver for the Bears.

Senior inside receiver Tevin Reese and incoming true freshman wide receiver Robbie Rhodes have received immense preseason press, but those two student-athletes are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the wealth of talent at receiver for Baylor.

“We have incredible wide receiver depth this year,” Reese said. “We have a lot of receivers who can play and it’s all about just getting them the ball.”

No. 23 Baylor started the season in superb fashion by decimating FCS opponent Wofford 69-3 on Saturday night at Floyd Casey Stadium.

With all the questions surrounding Baylor football heading into the season with a new quarterback, a revamped offensive line and returning the 113th ranked scoring defense, the Bears resoundingly answered those lingering questions by dominating Wofford in every facet of the game.

No. 7 Baylor soccer defeated the Southern Methodist University Mustangs 2-0 on Sunday night in Dallas.

The underclassmen came up big again scoring the two goals in the game. After firing the first shot of the game, freshman midfielder Ashley York scored in the 18th minute to give Baylor a 1-0 lead. Sophomore forward Bri Campos helped York score with the assist.

With Baylor’s defense holding on to a slim lead, Campos’s header off a pass from senior midfielder Kat Ludlow gave Baylor a two-goal cushion. The Bears outshot the Mustangs 17 to nine and had seven shots on goal compared to SMU’s two.

After three years of backing up Robert Griffin III and Nick Florence, fourth year junior Bryce Petty played in his first career collegiate start at quarterback.

“Being out there, it was very humbling,” Petty said. “Just a blessing. It wasn’t necessarily a blur, but I was just in the moment.”

Petty looked poised early in the pocket, finishing 7-8 with 113 yards and a touchdown in the first quarter, including a 27-yard bomb to Antwan Goodley in the back of the end zone.

Trouble ensued early in the second quarter when Petty had a stretch of having a ball batted down from his hand for a fumble, dropping a snap and throwing a pass to a defender that was mercifully dropped.

The Baylor Bears started the 2013 season off with a dominating 69-3 win over the Wofford Terriers with a high-octane offensive barrage and an intense defensive effort at Floyd Casey Stadium on Saturday night.

“It’s a great way to start,” head coach Art Briles said. “We know that we certainly have a long way to go. That’s a team that is a very well respected team. Over the last few years they’ve played a lot of football games and won a lot of football games. But, we should be better and we were better. We were tonight. That’s our job. We were at home and we should win. Our thought process going in was, we are going to play Big 12 football.”

No. 7 Baylor soccer will be tested on the road at 5:30 p.m. Friday against the University of Washington Huskies.

The Huskies (1-1) struggled offensively last weekend scoring only one goal in two matches despite having 29 attempts. In the game against UNC Greensboro, the Huskies outshot the opponent 24-4, but it took two overtimes to get a win. The Huskies fell 0-3 to No. 21 UCF in their season opener. The team struggled to generate any kind of offense as UCF only allowed five shot attempts. Despite the offensive drought, Baylor is not going to underestimate the opponent.

Baylor volleyball begins their 2013 campaign on the road with a three game swing in Colorado, with games against Northern Colorado, Cal Poly and the season opener against Colorado State in Fort Collins on Friday.

Baylor is coming off a season where they finished with 20 wins, but just missed out on the NCAA Tournament. The Bears played their Green/Gold scrimmage on Tuesday night in front of a crowd of 732 at the Ferrell Center.

Shehan Jeyarajah, sports writer for The Baylor Lariat, takes a look at each of the Big 12 teams playing this week and their opponents in a preview of week one of college football.

A youth movement has given No. 7 Baylor soccer new life as the team begins the journey for a back-to-back Big 12 Championship Title.

Coming off the best season in program history, Baylor lost three key goal scorers in Dana Larsen, Lisa Sliwinski and Hanna Gilmore. The trio combined for 28 of the 58 goals scored. Despite losing that kind of productivity, Baylor’s freshmen class is making a big impression.

Baylor volleyball gave the hundreds of fans in attendance an early preview of their 2013 team with the annual Green/Gold scrimmage Tuesday night at the Ferrell Center.

Baylor Green dominated, winning the match 3-0. They won the first set 25-14, second set 25-22 and third set 26-24. Sophomore outside hitter Thea-Munch Soegaard led the match with 16 kills on a match high .419 hitting percentage.

To go or not to go, that’s the question women are asking themselves after the National Football League implemented a new stadium bag policy.

From this season onward, purses larger than a small clutch, binocular cases, diaper bags, printed patterned plastic bags, coolers, briefcases, backpacks, fanny packs, seat cushions, camera bags and laptop bags are prohibited.

It’s the circle of life for the No. 7 Baylor Bears as they quickly answered any concern about the offense with consecutive 5-0 wins against UTSA and Northwestern State. Despite losing the top three goal scorers from the previous year, the underclassmen came up big scoring six of 10 goals.

Baylor volleyball returns to Waco this Tuesday when the Bears play their annual Green / Gold scrimmage. The event will allow fans to get an early look at the 2013 team.

The Bears scrimmage is free to the public and all students are encouraged to attend. Pizza will be provided after the game and fans will have the opportunity to meet the players after the game to receive autographed posters.

The Baylor Lariat Sports Editor Daniel Hill, wrote this football preview taking a look at the Baylor Bears football team position by position. Positions covered include: quarterback, receivers, tight ends, linebackers, running backs, offensive line, defensive line, defensive backs.

Who will come out on top? That’s the burning question many are asking as Big 12 teams went though the offseason. Eights teams are expected to have different quarterbacks this fall and some teams made coaching changes. Texas Tech gained a new coach in Kliff Kingsbury, the former Tech quarterback was Johnny Manziel’s former offensive coordinator at Texas A&M during his Heisman winning season. The Big 12 also didn’t get much respect in the AP poll. No Big 12 team is ranked in the top 10 this season. This was also the first time since 2000 that Oklahoma began outside of the top 10. The Big 12 is up for grabs this year with no obvious clear-cut favorite.

Despite finishing with 20 wins for the sixth time in program history, Baylor women’s volleyball fell just short of the NCAA tournament last season.

“Last year was a real bummer,” senior libero Kayci Evans said. “We didn’t finish how we wanted to.”

Sophomore outside hitter Thea Munch-Soegaard started last season as a fresman and ranked fourth on the team with 293 digs and fifth on the team with 184 kills. Munch-Soegaard has high expectations for the upcoming season.

It’s officially game week for the Baylor Bears football team. Fall camp has wrapped up and head coach Art Briles and the players have been working feverishly to game plan for the home season opener versus the Wofford Terriers at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

Originally the Bears were scheduled to open up against Southern Methodist University, but SMU recently changed conferences from Conference USA to the American Athletic Conference. As a result, the Mustangs replaced the Baylor matchup with a game against Montana State. This forced the Bears to search for an opponent.

Senior outside hitter Zoe Adom was named to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team in early August.

Adom has been named team captain for two straight seasons and was a 2012 First-Team All-Big 12 selection.

“It’s an honor to be put up there with all the other girls in the Big 12,” Adom said. “I just love being a leader, a role model for my teammates.”

Adom was MVP of her Trinity High School team and named 5-5A First Team All District, but was not considered a highly touted prospect.

After redshirting the 2009 season, Adom increased her starts every season.

Ever since the beginning of the Art Briles era in 2008, Baylor has been characterized by strong receiver play. David Gettis, Kendall Wright, Josh Gordon and Terrance Williams are wide receivers from Baylor who have been drafted since the Briles era began. All four Baylor products are expected to produce for NFL teams this season.

This 2013 team has much of the same talent as other teams that were under the direction of Briles, but the vast majority of this receiving corps is unknown and unproven.

If there’s one thing that junior Baylor running back Lache Seastrunk does not lack, it’s confidence.

“I’m going to win the Heisman. I’m going to win it in 2013,” he said last December.

When recently asked whether he regretted making the Heisman comments, he was clear.

“I said I would win the Heisman because that’s what I believe,” Seastrunk said. “I have conviction. Nobody is going to take that away from me, that I believe I can do it.”

Seastrunk’s journey to this point has been anything but conventional.

After capping off a successful season with a Big 12 Championship Title and being named to the Big 12 All-Newcomer team, sophomore forward Bri Campos has added another achievement to her resume because she made the cut for Mexico’s U-20 National Team.

“The Baylor soccer family is very proud of Bri and the work she continues to put forth through the summer to remain in camp with Mexico’s U-20 National Team,” said Baylor co-head coach Paul Jobson. “We are excited to follow her progress and know that it will only prepare her for what’s ahead this fall in Waco.”

Baylor soccer enjoyed its best season in program history last year that ended with a trip to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen.

Despite a heartbreaking loss to eventual national champion North Carolina, Baylor is looking to build upon last year’s success.

According to Top Drawer Soccer rankings, Baylor is ranked No. 10. In the Big 12 preseason poll the Bears are No. 3 for the second straight year. Co-head coach Marci Jobson isn’t letting the extra attention or the lack of respect distract her team.

The message of committee scoring was heard loud and clear by No. 10 Baylor on its way to a 5-0 win over Northwestern State on Sunday. Baylor was aggressive outshooting Northwestern State 34 to five.

The underclassmen are productive once again as freshman midfielder Ashley York set up sophomore forward Bri Campos for her second goal of the season with a cross from the left side of the box.

No. 10 Baylor didn’t miss a beat despite losing some of its best goal scorers from the previous year. Five different players scored on 19 shots as Baylor routed UTSA 5-0 on Friday.

“I think last year we had a lot of really good single goal scorers,” senior forward Vic Hoffman said. “The whole team contributed as a whole, it’s not just one player that’s doing all the work. It’s all of us: forward, midfield and defense to get it in and whoever steps up in that moment, in that game is going to get the goal.”