By Jeffrey Cohen | Sports Writer
With both teams searching for a hard-fought victory, every point in the fifth set was treated like it was the last. Intensity loomed on both sides of the court throughout the final set.
In the end, defense reigned supreme as No. 19 Baylor (12-6, 7-3 Big 12) defeated No. 17 BYU (16-4, 4-4 Big 12) 25-15, 22-25, 21-25, 25-16, 15-8.
Coming into Thursday night’s matchup, BYU led the Big 12 with a team .282 hitting percentage. Baylor held strong throughout the match and held the Cougars to a .214 hitting percentage.
“That’s what we’ve been working on for so long in every single practice,” junior middle blocker Victoria Davis said. “That showing up tonight just proves all of our hard work and practice.”
The Bears jumped out to a 10-5 lead in the first set behind a pair of service aces from redshirt sophomore setter Harley Kreck. They held onto their strong lead throughout the set, winning 25-15 behind 14 kills on a .400 hitting percentage.
“Defense, for us, starts with our serves,” head coach Ryan McGuyre said. “Our servers were able to hit their zones.”
The raucous Ferrell Center crowd, particularly the band, knocked BYU off its game at the service line. The Cougars committed five service errors in the first set.
BYU answered the early setback right away with three kills and a block from middle blocker Brielle Kemavor to lead the Cougars to a 9-4 lead; she finished the set with four kills and three blocks. Baylor rallied throughout the set, coming within two, but failed to complete the comeback as BYU tied the match 1-1.
Freshman outside hitter Bailey Warren led the charge for the Bears with 10 kills in the second set.
“Bailey was phenomenal tonight,” McGuyre said. “They challenged her early because their outside hitter [Suli Davis], who had a good match, was also Preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year.”
Baylor began the third set on top, 12-6, trying to retake the lead. The Cougars stormed back to tie the set at 19 with three kills from Davis. They took the wind out of the Bears’ sails by winning six of the last eight points to take a 2-1 lead.
“We’ve got to bring a better version of ourselves back out there,” McGuyre said. “We needed to change our faces a little bit and let that reflect, ‘Hey, I’m here to fight, and there’s a meaner, nastier side within this team.’”
Unlike the first three sets, the fourth was tightly contested. The first half of the set saw six ties and two lead changes. Neither squad wanted to give an inch. Freshman libero Morgan Madison made an acrobatic kick save while the BYU back line threw themselves at the floor to keep the ball in play.
After being knotted at nine, Baylor ran away with the set, outscoring BYU 16-7 behind Warren’s four kills and one ace.
She finished the match with 27 kills, beating her previous best by 11.
“Our team is just so supportive in the way we fight through everything,” Warren said. “It was just a fun match overall. Really exciting, very competitive.”
The Bears found themselves in a fifth set against a ranked opponent for the fifth time. They came out on top 15-7 to secure their second ranked victory along with their win over TCU.
“[It’s] knowing we have more to prove or just keep going,” Warren said. “There’s good energy after the match … It’s just keeping that with us on the road.”
Baylor returns to the court at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday to take on Iowa State at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa.
