Athletics Celebrates a Successful Fall and Bowl Game Victory

As 2015 came to a close, Baylor student-athletes celebrated an outstanding showing; the fall semester proved to be as successful in the classroom as it was in competition. A record 349 Bears earned Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll status, an overall 3.28 term grade point average (GPA) was recorded, and 15 of Baylor’s 17 teams posted a GPA of 3.0 or higher – also a school record.

With three teams (women’s basketball, men’s and women’s golf) posting their highest-ever team GPA and four teams (acrobatics and tumbling, football, equestrian and men’s tennis) posting a record fall semester average, it’s no surprise 105 student-athletes were named to the Dean’s List and 53 finished the semester with a perfect 4.0 GPA.

Impressive accomplishments were also made on various fields of play. A few highlights, per fall sport, include:

Football:
•Behind an FBS bowl record 645 rushing yards, Baylor beat North Carolina in the Russell Athletic Bowl. The Bears made their 6th straight bowl appearance, a continuing school record, and reached the 10-win mark in three consecutive seasons for the first time.
•America’s Top Offense led the nation in scoring (48.1 ppg) and total offense (616.2 ypg) for the third consecutive season.
•Baylor is the winningest team in Texas since 2011.
•Corey Coleman won the 2015 Biletnikoff Award, was a unanimous All-American and led the NCAA with 20 touchdown receptions. Spencer Drango was named a unanimous All-American, Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year (second time), was a 2015 Outland Trophy finalist and a CoSIDA Academic All-American. Andrew Billings was named Big 12 Co-Defensive Player of the Year and Defensive Lineman of the Year.

Volleyball:
•Under first-year head coach Ryan McGuyre, the Baylor volleyball program registered its first winning season since 2012 (17-13) and narrowly missed an NCAA Tournament bid.
•The program’s NCAA RPI ranking peaked at No. 30 during the season, matching the highest in program history, and finished at No. 42 – higher than five programs that earned NCAA at-large bids.
•Senior outside hitter Andie Malloy (first-team selection) and freshman outside hitter Shelly Fanning (second-team selection; All-Freshman Team) were named to the All-Big 12 team. Fanning became the first freshman in program history to be named to both the All-Freshman Team and All-Big 12 team.

Soccer:
•A second-place finish in the Big 12 regular season tied for the program’s second-best finish.
•Freshman Lauren Piercy was named Co-Big 12 Freshman of the Year, was named second-team All-Big 12 and was a Big 12 All-Freshman Team choice along with Amanda Hoglund, Julie James and Sarah King.
•The program moved into the Williams Family Soccer and Olympic Sports Center in August 2015.

Cross Country:
•The women’s cross country team finished 4th at the NCAA South Central Regional Championships and narrowly missed an NCAA Championship berth as a team.
•Men’s cross country placed 7th at the 2015 Big 12 Championships and 6th at the NCAA South Central Regional Championships.
•Baylor women’s junior Maggie Montoya placed 86th at the NCAA Championships and led the Lady Bears in all five 2015 team races, earning All-Big 12 and All-Region honors while winning the individual race title.