By Grace Smith | Reporter, Video by Tim Longoria | Broadcast Reporter
Sweeping the court again on Friday night, Baylor volleyball (5-1) took down Oklahoma (0-4) at the Ferrell Center. The No. 2 Bears held the Sooners 25-16, 25-14, 25-16. Baylor’s fourth sweep of the season extends their home winning streak to 22 matches.
Baylor kept Oklahoma to a low .030 attack percentage overall, while senior Yossiana Pressley tallied 18 kills to lead all players for her fifth-straight double-digit kill performance. Head coach Ryan McGuyre said he can rely on Pressley every day. Pressley said everyone contributes to each other’s successes.
“I make sure that I’m serving others,” Pressley said. “If my teammates look at me, I am going to give them exactly what they’re looking for, and if I look to them, they do the same.”
In the first set, the two teams rallied back-and-forth until sophomore Kara McGhee struck down a kill that put Baylor on top 7-6. Thanks to nine attacking errors by the Sooners, the Bears closed out the first set with no problem.
Redshirt junior Marieke van der Mark made her mark in the second set when she executed an ace, putting the Bears ahead 7-4. The team used this as leverage and Pressley went off, securing eight kills. Van der Mark rounded out the set with another ace at 23-13.
With a strong lead in the third set, the Bears never gave the Sooners a chance to recover. Pressley added six more kills and three from sophomore KJ Johnson as Baylor led the entire way.
The Bears will hit the road for their next two matches against Texas Tech (3-3) on Oct. 16 and 17 in Lubbock. McGuyre said they are packing a strong defense to bring with them. He said as coach, his goal for the road is to make sure the team is “really concise” on how they are defending teams.
McGuyre said his team’s confidence comes from fixing their eyes on Jesus. Before Friday’s victory, they had a “pre-game devotional” on how faith is not in what is seen but what is unseen. McGuyre said with this mentality they multiply joy and continue to build confidence.
“I feel like today was one of our best steps forward,” McGuyre said. “Moving forward, being able to carry one another’s burdens better will strengthen our confidence more individually, but also as a team.”
