By Jeffrey Cohen | Sports Writer
No. 16 Baylor volleyball has proven to never be out when facing a deficit. The Bears came back in all three sets against No. 8 Arizona State to tie or take the lead Wednesday, but the Sun Devils held on each time to quash Baylor’s efforts, sweeping the Bears 26-24, 27-25, 25-23.
The loss comes a week after Baylor, down to its final point, came back from a 2-1 deficit to top No. 9 TCU and forcing a fifth set after being down to their final point.
The Sun Devils (13-2, 4-0 Big 12) opened the match firing at the Bears’ (9-5, 4-2 Big 12) left side blocker, particularly freshman outside hitter Ksenia Rakhmanchik. Noemie Glover had five kills, and Kiylah Presley recorded three to take a 17-12 lead. Baylor stormed back to tie the first set at 21 behind six Arizona State errors.
Piper Rama’s service ace — the Sun Devils’ fifth — closed out the first set 26-24.
After falling behind 6-2 in the second set, junior middle blocker Victoria Davis led a five-point run with two kills to take the lead. Sophomore MJ McCurdy pushed the Bears forward to their largest lead with eight kills in 12 total attacks to make it 22-19. Arizona State rattled off seven of the last 11 points to take a 2-0 lead.
The Sun Devils jumped out to a 10-3 lead after a tight first two sets. Baylor bounced back again, knotting the match 20-20. Rakhmanchik’s four kills lifted the Bears to their third rally of the match. Arizona State put down Baylor’s third comeback, winning four of the last five points to complete the sweep.
The match marks the third time in the last four matches Baylor mounted a rally. The Bears were down two sets to one against No. 9 TCU on Sept. 27 and found a way to pull through for their first ranked win. They also jumped back after being down to their final point against No. 18 Kansas in the fourth set, sending the match to a fifth set that the Jayhawks won.
This is the second time a ranked opponent has swept Baylor, following No. 2 Texas handling them in Austin on Sept. 19.
Baylor played a tightly contested and clean match, committing 16 attack errors after their 29 in the loss to Kansas on Friday. Rakhmanchik and graduate middle blocker Manuela Bibinbe topped the team with three attack errors.
Rakhmanchik and Bibinbe were the only Bears to reach double-digit kills in Wednesday’s match, tallying 10 and 11, respectively.
Baylor continues its Arizona trip at 8 p.m. Friday against Arizona at the McKale Center in Tuscon, Ariz.
