By Jeffrey Cohen | Sports Writer
No. 18 Baylor volleyball has been fueled by the Ferrell Center crowd throughout the season, going 8-1 at home while being 3-4 on the road.
The Bears headed north to Ames, Iowa, in hopes of turning the tides and getting back to .500 away from home. Instead, the road woes continued for Baylor (12-7, 7-4 Big 12), as Iowa State (17-4, 7-3 Big 12) swept the Bears Wednesday, 25-23, 25-23, 25-21.
The defeat marks the third straight loss on the road for the Bears and drops them to 3-5 away from the Ferrell Center. They have lost the last nine sets outside of Waco as the two previous road losses were sweeps from No. 8 Arizona State and Arizona.
The first set saw six runs of three or more consecutive points, with four for Baylor and two for Iowa State. Baylor went on a 6-1 run after falling behind 5-3. The Cyclones answered with five consecutive points to jump out ahead 11-9. Iowa State pushed its lead to 19-15 after multiple back-and-forth points. The Bears closed the gap, winning five of the next seven. A three-point run from each team held the Iowa State lead to 24-23. A kill from Alea Goolsby secured the first set for the Cyclones.
The Bears jumped out to an 8-4 lead in the second set, trying to come back and tie the match. Freshman outside hitter Bailey Warren led the charge with three kills. Maya Duckworth’s four kills helped the Cyclones come back and tie the set at 18. They outscored Baylor 7-5 to win the set 25-23 and take a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.
With the Bears looking to keep the match alive, the third set remained close with both sides knotted up at 14. Back-to-back Baylor attacking errors from Warren and junior middle blocker Victoria Davis gave Iowa State a crucial three-point lead. Baylor could not overcome the deficit as Reagan Hanfelt kept the Cyclones above water with two more kills and a block to complete the sweep.
Hanfelt, along with Goolsby and Tierney Jackson, led Iowa State with nine kills each.
While Warren led the match with 13 kills on 42 attacks, she also recorded a game-high eight attack errors. The freshman is still working on playing clean volleyball as she leads the team with 82 errors.
She was one of four Baylor players with four or more attack errors, while the Cyclones only had one.
The Bears were also held to a .134 hitting percentage, tied for the lowest this season with a Sept. 19 loss to No. 2 Texas.
Baylor will continue its road trip Friday, facing off against Colorado at 8 p.m. at the CU Events Center in Boulder, Colo.
