By Gio Gennero | Sports Writer
No. 14 Baylor volleyball bounced back from its last outing with a 3-1 win over Texas Tech University. The Bears are now 13-2 against the Red Raiders under head coach Ryan McGuyre. They moved to 5-2 in conference play and 16-4 overall. Tonight they went 25-20, 23-25, 27-25, 25-19.
“It’s always great to get a win, everyone in our conference is so good,” McGuyre said. “A lot of credit to Tech for fighting with us.”
Seniors outside hitter Lauren Harrison and middle blocker Mallory Talbert led the way with 16 and 13 kills, respectively. Talbert finished with a .524 hitting percentage to go along with three blocks. Freshman setter Averi Carlson racked up 47 assists accompanied by 11 digs.
“It’s huge because we need it, we have to take what the defenses are giving us,” McGuyre said. “We have a lot of threats … we’re going to keep getting better.”
Assoah Ndomo | Photographer
The match began with the teams trading points, multiple lead changes occurred early on. Baylor went on a quick run in an attempt to separate itself from TTU, jumping ahead 11-7. By the media timeout, the Bears were leading by six points at 15-9. The teams swapped a few scores, but Baylor maintained its lead going into a Tech timeout at 21-13. The Red Raiders made an effort to cut the lead but ultimately fell to the Bears 25-20.
The second set started similar, remaining competitive and each team was fighting for every point. The contest was back-and-forth as things were tied at 10 points a piece. Midway through the set, Baylor was able to widen the gap and went ahead 15-12. Tech didn’t cooperate and pushed back to eventually retake the lead at 18-17. A slugfest ensued, with both programs recapturing the lead multiple times in the final stretch. Texas Tech came out of the set victorious 25-32, tying the match at 1-1.
Both teams were competitive from start to finish, and that didn’t change in the third set. Once again having to battle for every point, which made trying to build a lead difficult for both squads. After exchanging points, Baylor took a one-point lead after an ace at 9-8. However, this was followed by consecutive mistakes from the Bears, who went down 11-9. Tech began to slowly pull away, finding itself ahead 17-13 as play went on. Never getting discouraged, Baylor sparked a 12-5 run to take set-point at 24-23. After some resistance from Tech, Baylor closed out the set with a 27-25 win.
Assoah Ndomo | Photographer
The Bears kicked off the final set scorching hot, kicking things off with a 8-1 start. Tech began to chip at the lead, forcing McGuyre to call a timeout at 12-8. Baylor attempted to once again pull away, using a 3-1 run out of the timeout to push its advantage to 15-9. The Red Raiders responded with their own 3-0 run to cut the deficit to 15-12, forcing another Baylor timeout. Out of the break, the Bears would get back to their dominant play and extend their lead to 21-15. Finishing out the set 25-19 and taking the match 3-1.
Baylor hits the road for a road match in the Little Apple against Kansas State University. First serve is set for 1 p.m. Saturday at the Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kan. and the game can be watched on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
