By Jackson Posey | Sports Writer, Claire-Marie Scott | Broadcast Sports Reporter
No. 23 Baylor volleyball dropped the final game of the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge to No. 6 Wisconsin at the Ferrell Center in five sets Saturday — 25-18, 25-14, 18-25, 22-25, 16-14 — after bringing the game within one hit of a reverse sweep.
The Badgers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, but Baylor evened the score and took a 14-11 lead in the fifth set before eventually losing their first game of the match. Now 5-1, the Bears are set to play seven straight home games before hitting the road again in October.
Both teams came into the game riding a wave of momentum after big Friday wins: Baylor, as an undefeated team on the heels of upsetting No. 18 Minnesota; Wisconsin, as a team finally entering the win column against TCU after a brutal season-opening schedule. The Badgers lost their first three games to No. 6 Louisville, No. 1 Texas and No. 5 Stanford, all on the road.
It was Wisconsin that capitalized on that momentum first, taking a hard-fought opening set 25-18. The Badgers’ vaunted size and physicality were on full display, with 6-foot-7 junior middle blocker Carter Booth notching two blocks and two kills, and a dozen other plays coming down to confrontations at the net.
“The margins are thin in this game,” head coach Ryan McGuyre said. “It’s one play, it’s one touch, it’s just slightly in or out.”
The second set brought more of the same, with Wisconsin breezing to a 25-14 win. Five kills from fifth-year senior Second Team All-American middle blocker Devyn Robinson led the way as the Badgers stacked up two six-point runs – punctuated by a service ace from Lola Schumacher – to send the game to a potential final set.
But with their backs against the walls, the Bears found a second wind. Sparked by a dominant kill by senior outside hitter Elise McGhee, they went to work and slowly began pulling away. Graduate Auburn transfer setter Jackie Barrett Frazier contributed seven assists and a service ace to the cause, as sophomore outside hitter Kendal Murphy found the soft spot in the defense to punctuate a set-winning, five-point run.
“I was just praying, and everybody was jumping, and we were all excited,” McGhee said of the energy as the momentum began to shift. “We were not defeated, which, I was super proud of my team for that. And we knew we were gonna fight, and we didn’t wanna go out the way we did the second set. And so knowing that we were all united and trusting each other was a big thing for me.”
With the lead slipping away, Wisconsin battled to a tight fourth set, which featured multiple service aces and a surprisingly even-handed streak of eight consecutive errors (four per team). Three kills apiece by the Badgers’ trio of Booth, Franklin and Robinson proved difficult to contend with. Still, the Bears’ precision on the outside paid dividends, wearing down a Wisconsin back line that’s had to face the best attacks the nation has to offer.’
And at just the right moment, those battles at the net began to go the other way. McGhee and senior middle blocker Manuela Bibinbe combined for three blocks in the fourth set, including Bibinbe’s set-clinching block to take the fourth, 25-22. After going down 2-0, the Bears had forced a final set.
The Bears struck first, with back-to-back kills by freshman opposite hitter Grace Carroll, who finished with 10 kills on the night. The San Antonio native said it felt “super great” to get on the board in such a high-intensity environment.
“We just really emphasized playing with the joy of the Lord, and in that moment, I just went out there, I said a little prayer on the court, and I just felt it,” Carroll said. “(I) felt His presence with me. So, it was just such a cool moment to feel.”
McGhee drilled her 15th kill to get match point at 14-11. But bit by bit, the Badgers began battling back. Six-foot-nine middle blocker Anna Smrek hit her second kill of the game, followed by a Franklin kill and a Barrett Frazier attack error. Then: timeout, Wisconsin, with the lead down to nil and the in-arena speakers blaring the Curry Sway.
Wisconsin junior libero Gulce Guctekin dropped a pinpoint service ace to set up a tense match point. Franklin sealed the match with her 19th kill of the game (tied with Robinson for the game lead), and all of a sudden, it was over. Wisconsin took the final set, 16-14, securing its second five-set win of the weekend and balancing the final tab on the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge at 2-2.
“I think Coach [McGuyre] said it perfectly, margins are thin, and every point and every play matters,” McGhee said. “I am so proud of Grace and everyone else for coming off the bench and doing great, as well as the fight that our whole team had to come back after the first two sets. So I feel like, knowing that we have the grit, but just learning how to finish it out at the end.”
The Bears will be back in action against SMU (4-2) at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Ferrell Center.
