By Michael Haag | Sports Editor
No. 18 Baylor volleyball started off strong with a first set win against No. 11 Washington State, but the Cougars stormed back to win in four sets, 3-1, Wednesday night in the Ferrell Center. Bears head coach Ryan McGuyre said Washington State is a “seasoned” team that proved to be too overwhelming in the end.
“Definitely a very senior-heavy, graduate [student]-heavy team on them, so I think blocking for them, like two things, they didn’t line us up very well [in] the first set and then they made adjustments,” McGuyre said. “We have to do better.”
The Bears (4-4) came close to winning the second set to jump on top 2-0, but the Cougars (9-1) willed their way to three-straight set wins to claim the midweek match. Baylor played its fourth contest of the season against a ranked opponent, and this match was only the second contest at home. The Bears took down then-No. 18 Rice in four sets on Sept. 2 at home.
Baylor committed 32 attack errors and only recorded a .168 hitting percentage as a team. It also suffered nine service errors as a unit. McGuyre attributed the lack of efficiency to the youth of his roster.
“The hard part is we don’t have the seniors to show us how to do it,” McGuyre said. “‘Hey, go hit like so-and-so!’ We have to figure it out along the way, and that probably takes a few more errors than we’d all like, but that’s part of the process.”
The first set stayed close until Baylor went on a 7-1 run to take a 17-10 lead. The Bears never let the Cougars cut their deficit to less than four the rest of the way and won the set 25-19. Baylor started the second set with three-straight points, but WSU scored two points right back.
That’s how the rest of the set went, as neither team could score more than three-straight points at a time until the Cougars broke free near the end. It started with a Baylor service error, and Washington State scored on a thunderous kill right after.
McGuyre called a timeout to try to slow things down, but the Cougars scored their third- and fourth-straight points off a pair of attack errors by the Bears. This put WSU ahead 21-17, and it held off Baylor’s efforts to win the set 25-23.
The Cougars opened the third set with a 3-0 lead and never lost that lead, despite the Bears trimming their deficit to 15-13 at one point. Baylor, on its last leg, committed a service error to give Washington State the 25-18 set win.
The Bears hit .310 in the first set, but just .146 in the second and .171 in the third. They connected at an even worse clip in the final set (.061) that they lost 25-21. Junior middle blocker Manuela Bibinbe found success, as she recorded a career-high 11 kills on .500 efficiency. She also notched four blocks, three of them being assisted.
Bibinbe said she gives all the credit to those around her who put her in the position to succeed.
“I feel like Alexis [Dacosta] and all of our defensive specialists did an amazing job,” Bibinbe said.
Baylor kept it close in the fourth set, but Washington State prevailed with the 25-21 set win to clinch the match. The green and gold will get a day of rest Thursday before hosting another ranked opponent — No. 19 Ohio State.
The Bears are set to face the Buckeyes (3-4) at 7 p.m. on Friday in the Ferrell Center. The match will also be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
Freshman outside hitter Kyndal Stowers, who totaled 20 kills and 15 attack errors, said the squad knows what it needs to take away from this loss.
“I mean, they’re a great team,” Stowers said. “We started off strong. I think the main thing that we can take into our gym tomorrow is just being able to start off strong and then finish strong.”
