By: Dylan Fink | Sports Writer
An emphatic Thursday night rally carried the Bears past Northwestern, giving the Bears a five-set victory to open the Baylor Classic.
The matchup began on a back-and-forth note. A large portion of the Wildcats’ points in the first set came from self-inflicted mistakes on behalf of the Bears.
“This team needs to have fun,” Baylor head coach Ryan McGuyre said. “If they’re not playing with great joy, then the best versions of themselves aren’t out there. It’s different strokes for different folks.”
The Bears were able to take the first set from the Wildcats 25-18. Sophomore Grace Carroll put up four kills and a block on 10 attempts, while freshman Kseniya Rakhmanchyk had four kills on eight attempts in the first set.
The second set began with an aggressive attack from the Bears, who built an early 10-5 lead. The back-and-forth tone of the first set soon returned, though, as Baylor could not fully escape their self-inflicted penalties.
“When you play, you need to be at 100%,” McGuyre said. “Even when you’re just off a little bit, even if it’s 99%, the ball is going to find those spots.”
The Wildcats claimed the second set 25-23. An emphatic ace by Northwestern senior Lauren Carter served as the dagger to put the set away. From the end of the first set to the end of the second, Northwestern had improved its hit percentage from .053 to .211. Baylor’s, on the other hand, dropped from .301 to .256.
The rattled Bears entered the third set noticeably aware that many of Northwestern’s points came on errors. Midway through the third set, graduate middle blocker Manuela Bibinbe called out to her teammates that they were alright. The Wildcats won the set 25-19.
“It’s important for me to tell them, ‘Let’s focus on the next one,’” Bibinbe said.
The two teams closed the third set tied in hit percentage at .299. In the fourth, Baylor finally escaped its plague of mistakes, going on an 8-1 run to win the fourth set 25-18.
“We play so much better when we’re having fun,” Bibinbe said. “We had to find the fun.”
The Bears came out aggressive in the fifth, taking the set 15-12 to win the match 3-2. Bibinbe was the difference-maker in the match, with 14 kills and three blocks. Rakhmanchyk also played well, leading the team with 15 kills. After going down 2-1, Baylor rallied through a messy performance to improve to 3-1 on the season.
“Whenever we win a game like this, we are able to realize what we can overcome,” Bibinbe said. “We know we’re going to face toughness like that in the Big 12, so we have to learn from today in order to move forward.”
Coach McGuyre repeatedly credited his players for their role in the comeback.
“I think what I love about this team is it is very player-led,” McGuyre said.
Baylor will face Saint Mary’s at 7 p.m. Friday at the Ferrell Center.
