By Grant Morrison | Sports Writer
In a match eerily reminiscent of Wednesday’s 3-1 victory over then-undefeated Arizona, No. 19 Baylor Volleyball took down No. 14 Arizona State in four sets, 25-21, 25-22, 17-25, 25-17, Friday night. Five different Bears had eight or more kills with the help of a fan gold-out and a healthy swarm of interfering crickets, and the rowdy Ferrell Center crowd spooked the Sun Devils (12-2, 1-1 Big 12) into committing 25 errors.
Points were sparse at the start of the first set. Both teams tallied up plenty of unsuccessful attacks before each costly score. The Bears (10-3, 2-0 Big 12) went on an early 5-0 run, punctuated by two service aces from sophomore defensive specialist Tehani Ulufatu. A miscommunication sent two Baylor players out of position and into each other, but graduate student setter Jackie Barrett Frazier used the confusion to make a quick strike to the center.
“A lot of us got off to a hot start early on, attacking wise, so I felt like those people were finding openings on the other side of the net,” junior opposite hitter Allie Sczech said.
Nine of the Bears’ first set points were from errors, and so the Sun Devils only managed an abysmal .069 hitting percentage against Baylor’s .222. The green and gold gave up the lead late in the first set on a 5-0 scoring run from the Sun Devils, prompting a timeout from head coach Ryan McGuyre, who sported an on-theme pair of bright gold sneakers.
The team returned to the court and scored four straight points, wrestling its way to match point thanks to impressive defense from senior libero Lauren Briseño. In a move that echoed the match closer against Arizona, Barrett Frazier faked a set for a dump attack to give Baylor a 25-21 first set victory.
Redshirt junior middle blocker Alicia Andrew started the second set with a quick kill, and was immediately replicated by senior middle blocker Manuela Bibinbe. A long rally sent the ball into the sidelines, and Arizona State’s redshirt freshman setter Brynn Covell took a dive after it. Her heroics earned the Sun Devils the point, albeit at the cost of a couple tackled fans.
Covell’s feat spurred Arizona State to score three straight points, but senior outside hitter Geli Cyr broke a budding streak when she made the away team’s fifth service error of the night. A quick rally set up junior opposite hitter Allie Sczech for a brutal kill to clinch the second set for the Bears, 25-22.
Early in the third set, Baylor fell behind and stayed behind. It struggled with both serving and receiving, allowing two service aces and committing six service errors. Despite impressive cross-court kills from Andrew, the green and gold dropped the set 25-17.
Each squad had an ugly start to the fourth set. With the score at 8-6, both teams had as many kills as errors, with three of each. But powered by three service aces and fifteen kills, the Bears took a lightning-fast set 25-17.
Now two games into conference play, McGuyre sees a path to a Big 12 crown that he says is “open to anybody.”
“We’ve gotta take care of home court and make sure we’re really clean,” McGuyre said.
Sophomore opposite hitter Kendal Murphy, who recorded ten kills and two blocks, knows the stakes and is sure opposing teams feel it too. Playing mistake-free volleyball is the key to sustained success.
“When they’re making errors, it’s like, ‘Oh, they’re scared,’” Murphy said. “They should be scared. … We are that team.”
Baylor has a nine-day gap between games, next facing TCU at 2 p.m. on Sunday Oct. 6 in Ed & Rae Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
