By Michael Haag | Sports Editor
From a tournament in the mountains to a tune-up on the pitch, Baylor Athletics continued its ongoing fall slate over the weekend. With all eyes on Baylor football’s 20-13 loss to No. 12 Utah on Saturday at McLane Stadium, here is everything else you may have missed.
Second-half surge lifts No. 12 Utah over Baylor football 20-13
A week removed from a regrettable 42-31 loss to Texas State, Baylor football found itself in a position to upset No. 12 Utah when it hoisted a 13-3 lead with 11:00 left in the third quarter. But 17-straight second-half points from the Utes lifted them over the Bears 20-13 Saturday afternoon at McLane Stadium.
“It’s just brutal, [especially after] all the work that we put in all week,” redshirt freshman Kyler Jordan said. “I feel like we came out and played a pretty good game … It’s the most brutal part of the game.”
Baylor now trudges into its third-straight home game, this one coming against Long Island University. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. on Saturday at McLane Stadium, and the game will be streamed on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
Photo courtesy of Baylor Athletics
No. 14 Baylor volleyball closes Ram Classic with sweep of Pacific
No. 14 Baylor volleyball won its third and final contest of the Ram Volleyball Classic with a 3-0 sweep of Pacific on Sunday at Moby Arena in Fort Collins, Colo. The Bears swept Colorado State on Friday and took down Bowling Green in four sets on Saturday.
“I thought we got better match by match without really being able to have practice and everything,” head coach Ryan McGuyre said. “Offensively, we came out of this making some big steps forward. We had no errors in that last set, finished the match with only seven errors, so we’re looking a lot cleaner. [The] .464 attack percentage is really good.
“Averi [Carlson] did a good job moving the ball around. Alexis [Dacosta] did a good job bringing us back in that second set with some good, aggressive serving. She led us in aces but did a good job of putting the pressure on. Great team game even with no one in double-digits. We were offensively tough to stop today.”
Baylor (4-3) will be back in Waco for a three-match homestand that begins with a non-conference battle against Washington State. First serve is set for 7 p.m. on Wednesday in the Ferrell Center.
Merrill’s historic hat trick powers Baylor soccer past ACU 7-0
From spring showers to fall flowers, senior midfielder Ashley Merrill’s hard work in the offseason paid off as her historic four-minute hat trick led to Baylor soccer’s 7-0 blowout win over Abilene Christian University Sunday night at Betty Lou Mays Field.
“It feels like the work we put in in spring and fall actually pays off,” Merrill said. “It actually did pay off. I mean, we still have a lot of work to do. We’re hoping that we can just triple this and keep going, keep scoring, keep working together. It just proves that we worked hard and that we’re a new team.”
The Bears (4-2-1) will head into conference play on Thursday with a matchup against No. 17 Texas. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Betty Lou Mays Field.