By Foster Nicholas | Sports Editor
Allie Sczech lives for the opportunity to play in the postseason. The junior opposite hitter racked up a career-high 21 kills in No. 4 seed Baylor volleyball’s five-set loss, 22-25, 25-22, 26-24, 21-25, 12-15, to No. 5 seed Dayton in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Friday night in the Ferrell Center.
For Sczech, Friday’s performance marked only her second postseason match with 10 or more kills. The only other happened the day prior when she tallied 12 in the Bears’ 3-0 win over Wofford in the first round. Over the course of the tournament, Sczech totaled 33 kills on 61 attempts with 10 blocks while only recording two errors.
“Two errors on 41 swings, I think, is immaculate,” head coach Ryan McGuyre said of Sczech’s performance. “Her ability to start seeing the court much better has been huge for us, and yeah, there’s no way we’re not in the match without her doing what she did today.”
Sczech led the charge for the Bears in the first set as she recorded a team-high six kills on 10 chances. She established herself as the go-to threat for graduate setter Jackie Barrett Frazier and senior libero Lauren Briseño.
“It’s just so good to have key players like that are so confident in me and confident in themselves,” Sczech said. “I had trust in both of them to get the ball exactly where they need to be. With that, it’s just like now I have to go do the work. It was awesome, but I’m just super proud of the way they’ve continued to trust me and continue to pour into me.”
A four-kill second set helped the Bears even the match 1-1, but it also set up Sczech for a game-changing third set. The junior opened the set with an emphatic kill that brought McGuyre and his assistants to leaping applause and encouragement.
The green and gold found themselves even with the Flyers 8-8 when Sczech blocked a shot and spurred a 3-0 run, forcing a Dayton timeout. Out of the break, Sczech picked up where she left off with a cross-court kill. From there, Barrett Frazier and Briseño set up Sczech with every possible opportunity as the Bears tried to take a one-set lead.
“I think she came in with some fire, some tenacity, she hit .600 last night in that regard,” McGuyre said. “One thing about Allie is she’s probably put more hours in the gym than anybody. Clearly, she made the decision that I’m gonna come in, I’m going to elevate and annihilate.”
The outside hitter hammered home a kill before tipping another barely over the outstretched arms of a pair of blockers to give the Bears a 23-20 third-set lead. Minutes after, Sczech forced set point as she shot a kill down the sideline, 24-23. She finished the third set with five kills and the Bears took a 2-1 match lead after grabbing the set, 26-24.
The green and gold found themselves behind 19-12 in the fourth set, but a block and a kill from Sczech to cap off a 5-1 Baylor run pulled the green and gold within striking distance. Although the Bears brought the match within two, an untimely service error allowed the Flyers to escape the fourth with a 25-21 victory.
Once again, Sczech came alive when the lights were at their brightest. In a fifth-set tie-breaker with a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line, Sczech brought the Ferrell Center crowd to their feet with a rocket between the arms of Dayton blockers to hand the Bears a 2-1 advantage. Multiple rotations went by, but after re-entering the match, Sczech kill reared back and uncorked a bullet off the toes of a back row defender.
With the set tied 8-8, the junior grinned, pumped her fist and corralled the team with a message to keep fighting. She did the same after sending her final kill of the night as she tooled the block before her and tossed her arms in the air. Sczech screamed, ‘Let’s go’ as sophomore defensive specialist Tehani Ulufatu subbed in to serve for her with the Bears trailing, 12-11.
“I was talking to myself and I was like hey, ‘I’m gonna go out there and ball for the team and my friends,’” Sczech said. “I’m just so grateful to have gotten the opportunity to play with [the seniors] and be with them.”
The fight ended short, and Sczech held back tears as the green and gold dropped the final set 15-12, ending their postseason run in the first weekend for the second consecutive season.
Baylor will head into the offseason looking to develop and retool as seven seniors leave and the returners settle into leading roles.
“Our future is super, super bright,” McGuyre said. “They’re all in there crying. They’re all in there hugging. In our new NIL and transfer portal days, I’m not expecting any surprises, but we look forward to those conversations.”
