By Gio Gennero | Sports Writer
No. 15 Baylor volleyball trudged through the Baylor Invitational without a scratch, sweeping through all three matches in the Ferrell Center. The Bears capped off their dominant play with a 3-0 win over the University of Evansville on Saturday night.
“You carry momentum because it’s fun,” head coach Ryan McGuyre said. “We’re supposed to train really hard. It’s gritty. When you get to see it pay off, the joy and excitement that we can bring in playing at a high level like we did tonight. We just felt like we were in control, we were able to dominate from start to finish.”
Senior outside hitter Lauren Harrison led the way with 11 kills on the night, accompanied with a .733 hitting percentage. Sophomore outside hitter Elise McGhee finished with a perfect hitting on eight-of-eight attempts. Freshman setter Averi Carlson continued her stellar play with 33 assists in just three sets.
Baylor (6-2) struck hard from the very beginning, and multiple booming kills helped it jump out to a quick 9-3 lead, seven of those points coming off spikes. Harrison got off to a hot start of her own, starting the match six-of-six on attacks. The Bears stayed on the attack as they were able to push their lead to 14-5 with a flurry of swings. The green and gold were stingy with momentum and used it to propel them to a 25-12 set-win.
It was more of the same to start the second set, as Baylor once again bounced to an early 9-3 advantage. This set continued to mirror the first and the Bears’ unwavering onslaught brought them to a 20-8 advantage. The green and gold rode this wave to a 25-10 win, taking a 2-0 match lead.
Never letting off the gas, Baylor found itself up 8-1 to start the third set. As play continued, the Bears captured a 15-6 lead for the third time in this match. Without ever losing its groove, Baylor pushed Evansville (2-9) out of the building, taking the third and final set 25-10.
Next up, the Bears stay at home to face the University of North Texas on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the Ferrell Center.
“You’re only as good as your last match,” McGuyre said. “So we’ll train and make sure we can be one degree better on Tuesday.”
