By Jessika Harkay | Sports Writer
After falling short on their first set 25-21, No.17 Baylor came back with a 3-1 upset over No. 4 Wisconsin on Friday night, making it the highest ranked win in program history.
The matchup was close throughout the night, with each set between two and four points until the Bears were able to gain an advantage in the fourth set and close out the game 25-17.
Junior outside hitter Yossiana Pressley led the team with 31 kills and 16 digs, followed by middle blocker Shelly Stafford and outside hitter Gia Milana with eight kills. The team was also led by junior setter Hannah Lockin, in her third consecutive double-double game, with 50 assists and 11 digs. Pressley described that the win was genuinely a team effort.
“Honestly what got me going was my teammates so I wanted to step up with them,” Pressley said. “It wasn’t anything like ‘I’m stuck in my head, I need to do better for me.’ It was just like, ‘everybody else is doing great so I’m just going to feed off that and keep encouraging them, focusing on them and hyping them up’ and eventually my play just started getting better.”
In the first set Baylor had a .108% efficiency and by the end forth, Baylor averaged a .277% game compared to the Badgers .211.
Contributing to the efficiency, Pressley hit at a .270, her the lowest of the season. Yet, in the last two matchups against Wisconsin, Pressley racked up at least 30 kills, and she explained that there was no secret behind her impressive game.
“Honestly I was just hitting that thing,” Pressley said. “I was just swinging away and thinking ‘hey if I miss, I miss,’ but towards the second set I was like ‘okay I have to start managing playing smart instead of just trying to go high hand every time. Obviously it wasn’t working. I was either getting blocked or hitting out every time.”
The Bears close out their road trip against No. 11 Marquette at 1 p.m. on Sunday in Milwaukee, Wis.
