By Krista Pirtle
Sports Writer
The Baylor volleyball team came up empty-handed Wednesday night in Austin, getting swept by the No. 9 Texas Longhorns, (23-25, 19-25, 16-25).
No Baylor player recorded double digits for kills, as junior Torri Campbell and senior Briana Tolbert led with nine each and hit .444 and .353, respectively.
The Bears saw most of their offensive success from the middle, as Campbell and Tolbert recorded nearly half of Baylor’s 37 total kills. Baylor recorded 38 digs, with 18 by senior libero Allison King, but the Longhorns tallied 46 kills.
Texas also dominated in hitting percentage at .396 compared to the Bears’ .221.
The first set featured 15 ties and seven lead changes.
The Bears recorded 12 kills with five errors, hitting at .184.
Texas had seven errors, but its 17 kills gave it the edge over Baylor.
The Bears came out with momentum from its upset over Oklahoma last weekend, going up on Texas 23-21, but could not finish as a 4-0 run by the Longhorns shut down the Bears.
The second set featured an errorless Texas team with 15 kills hitting .625. Baylor hit its best on the evening in this set at .360, increasing its kills by one this set and cutting down its errors by the same margin.
Baylor got out to a 2-0 start that was quickly tied up at three by Texas. Once that tie was broken by the Longhorns, there was no turning back as the lead grew to 8-4 and never dipped below four points thereafter.
The break before the third set did not do the Bears any good, as they came out hitting their worst percentage of the night at .156 with 12 kills and seven errors.
Texas had only one error in the set with 14 kills and a percentage of .464.
The action was neck and neck until the Longhorns broke a 9-9 tie and went on to clench the match.
For the NCAA tournament, Texas is confident in its admittance.
Baylor, however, is on the bubble. In hopes of popping that bubble, the Bears will likely have to finish out their conference schedule undefeated. This means defeating Iowa State in Waco and Kansas on the road. Earlier this season, Baylor got swept by Iowa State 3-0 and defeated Kansas 3-1.
The Bears will host the Cyclones at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Ferrell Center for senior night, where five players will be recognized.
