By Dylan Fink | Sports Writer
The home team swept the Baylor Classic this weekend, winning three matches in the annual Ferrell Center tournament by a combined score of 9-2, including Sunday’s 3-0 win over Rice.
The round-robin also featured Northwestern and Saint Mary’s.
“It’s exciting because [hosting] at home brings great memories,” head coach Ryan McGuyre said. “It also serves as a reminder that we’re creating another great story here at Baylor with this squad this year.”
Baylor came out strong in the tournament, beating Northwestern 3-2 after winning the final two sets Thursday night. The Bears followed up their comeback performance with a three-set sweep of the Gaels Friday.
Standouts of the tournament for Baylor included graduate middle blocker Manuela Bibinbe, who inspired the Bears’ come-from-behind win Thursday night, and sophomore opposite hitter Grace Carroll, who posted 15 kills in her first two matches of the weekend.
The Owls won their first matchup of the weekend, sweeping the Gaels in three, but saw opposite results against the Bears. The Owls quickly dropped a three-set sweep after scoring just 17 and 15 points in the first two sets.
“It’s great having back-to-back [sweeps],” junior middle blocker Victoria Davis said. “It’s definitely great, but we know we have more to come.”
An emphatic kill by graduate middle blocker Gabrielle Essix early in the first set summarized the tone for the rest of the match. The Bears came out aggressive and searching for a kill on nearly every possession. They won the first set 25-17.
“Everybody in our energy and our chemistry as a team is just so emphatic, and it’s palpable,” Essix said. “Each time that we go on the court, I just think, ‘I want to play for the person next to me.’”
The joy that McGuyre said he encourages the team to play with was evident in the Bears’ play on Sunday. This was seen as Bibinbe lifted junior libero Tehani Ulufatu into the air as a sign of appreciation for her assist to Bibinbe’s kill in the second set.
“I think our team culture is really, really, really, really healthy this year, and so we’ve got to continue to lean into it,” McGuyre said.
Baylor played Sunday afternoon with an artful style, balancing their aggressive attack with a soft elegance — evident as Davis lightly floated the ball over the net for the final point of the first set.
The Bears took the second set 25-15 and led the Owls in hit percentage .369 to .149 at the end of the set. High hit percentage has been a recurring theme for the team this season as they posted a season-best mark of .398 in Friday’s matchup against Saint Mary’s.
The Bears won the third set 25-23 to finish the sweep. Bibinbe led the way for the team with 12 kills, while redshirt sophomore setter Harley Kreck posted 20 assists.
“I think she embodies what it means to be a Baylor Bear,” McGuyre said of Kreck. “She’s a leader who is selfless, so she puts everybody first all the time.”
Baylor’s next matchup will come against Florida at noon Sept. 14. The match will be broadcast on ESPN2.
