By Jackson Posey | Sports Writer, Claire-Marie Scott | LTVN Sports Reporter
In the Bears’ final matchup with rival Oklahoma before its departure to the SEC, No. 21 Baylor volleyball sent the Sooners packing, handing them their 15th consecutive series loss by a score of 3-2 Wednesday night in the Ferrell Center.
After taking a 2-0 lead, the Bears dropped the third and fourth sets, bringing up a critical final frame. Band with all the pressure on, they delivered a 15-12 victory.
“[It feels] really good, just because we’ve lost some tough five-setters,” redshirt sophomore outside hitter and opposite hitter Riley Simpson, who finished the night with 14 kills, said. “Those are tough to lose.”
LTVN’s Claire-Marie Scott brings you courtside for Baylor’s win over Oklahoma
Baylor started out slow, trailing 7-4 after a four-point run by Oklahoma, which entered Wednesday’s game 2-9 in conference play after dropping its first seven. But it didn’t take long for the Bears to take back control of the set, scoring nine of the next 11 to blast the Sooners 25-14.
Junior outside hitter Elise McGhee recorded five kills and teamed up with redshirt sophomore middle blocker Allie Andrew for the set-winning block. OU didn’t score consecutive points again for the rest of the set.
The second set opened with more of the same, as Baylor turned sophomore defensive specialist Alexis Dacosta’s first four serves into points. The Sooners got it as close as 10-7, but ultimately couldn’t overcome another deluge of Dacosta serves, as the Bears went on a 6-0 run with her on the back line. The Bears won the set 25-19 to launch what could’ve been the final set.
The third set was a dogfight. Baylor led early, 8-4, but Oklahoma scored six of the next seven, including four kills by sophomore outside hitter Taylor Preston, eventually taking a 17-12 lead that proved insurmountable. The Sooners won behind six kills from Preston and eight errors from the Bears.
The penultimate set was close to the bitter end. After the Bears went up 9-6 early, neither team led by more than two points the rest of the way. Up 20-18, Baylor looked to be on the edge of closing it out, but the Sooners scored seven of the final ten to force a fifth set.
McGhee hit a service ace capped a 5-0 Baylor run headed into the break, but an 8-4 Baylor lead quickly disappeared as two Preston kills kicked off a four-point run, punctuated by a junior setter Rylee Fay service ace. Then it was two-point run time, as the teams went back and forth and back again. Baylor led 12-10 going into yet another play stoppage as the game neared the two-and-a-half-hour mark.
Sophomore outside hitter Sophia Keene made a save, leading to sophomore opposite hitter Allie Sczech’s second kill of the set. Andrew notched her third kill to set up game point. Two plays later, McGhee ended it on her 21st kill of the night.
“Really spectacular performance by [McGhee],” head coach Ryan McGuyre, who added that McGhee almost single-handedly won the Bears the game, said.
McGhee said maturity helped with the team’s late-game execution in the final set.
“Knowing that we can’t mess around, and we have to be first one ball-side out every time,” McGhee said.
Wednesday marked the second time in the past week the Bears have let a 2-0 lead slip away. Baylor led then-No. 5 Texas 2-0 in Austin on Thursday before losing three straight sets and getting swept the following night. That game was the team’s first reverse-sweep loss since Oct. 1, 2021, against Texas Tech.
Wednesday’s win moves Baylor to 13-9 on the season and 7-5 in conference play. The Bears will head to Lubbock Saturday to take on Texas Tech.
