By Shehan Jeyarajah
Sports Writer
The Bears played two matches in the Baylor Invitational on Friday, winning against both Northwestern State and Appalachian State.
The second match against Appalachian State on Friday night, winning in straight sets. They won sets 29-27, 25-20 and 25-15.
The win was their second win of the day, after beating Northwestern State University in their first match. The Bears record improved to 4-6 after Friday’s matches, while Appalachian State falls to 6-3.
Sophomore outside hitter Thea Munch-Soegaard led Baylor with the Bears only double-double consisting of 14 kills and 16 digs.
Senior outside hitter Zoe Adom posted her fifth straight match in double-digit kills, finishing with 10 for the match to go along with seven digs and five total blocks.
Sophomore libero Mackenzie Mayo brought the hustle all night and finished with 19 digs.
Sophomore setter Amy Rosenbaum finished with 45 assists, four kills and five digs.
For Appalachian State, sophomore outside hitter Emily Corrigan finished with 18 kills and 12 digs on .302 hitting percentage. Three Mountaineers finished with double-digit digs, led by sophomore libero Meghan Mahoney’s 12 total digs.
The difference in this game early for Baylor was their defense. The Bears held Appalachian State to a .178 hitting percentage for the match. Baylor also caused 16 attack errors through two sets for Appalachian State. The stat that stands out for Baylor was their 12 team blocks for the game compared to Appalachian State’s one. With starting middle hitter Nicole Bardaji given the night off, freshman middle hitter Tola Itiola came in and finished with six kills and seven total blocks for the match which led all players.
In the third set, Baylor’s offense took over. The Bears hit .636 for the set and did not have a single attack error. The Bears had a balanced effort offensively led by sophomore middle hitter Adrien Richburg’s five kills in the set. Adom, Munch-Soegaard and Itiola each added four kills in the deciding third set.
Baylor completes the Baylor Invitational tournament with a match at 6 p.m Saturday against Colorado at the Ferrell Center.
