By Jeffrey Cohen | Sports Writer
Trying to fight off a third-set comeback from Utah, No. 23 Baylor volleyball rallied together for a 6-2 run to take a 21-18 lead.
Freshman outside hitter Ksenia Rakhmanchik stepped behind the base line, getting ready to continue a dominant match. She sent a serve that looped just over the net and created problems for the Utes on the receive. The ball bounced between a few Utah players and found its way to the hardwood, giving Rakhmanchik a historic seventh ace of the match.
Utah head coach Beth Launiere called a timeout as Rakhmanchik was mobbed by her ecstatic teammates on the sideline. She set the Baylor record for most aces in a three-set match by a freshman and fourth overall in a same-length contest.
The Bears (14-8, 9-5 Big 12) secured their second sweep of the weekend Sunday against the Utes (11-13, 3-10 Big 12) behind the strong serving performance.
“I work on my serve a lot, and with my head coach, he told me about routine,” Rakhmanchik said about assistant coach Joshua Walker. “[He] was working with me a lot, and we’d have reps in the morning and we were working on myself every time.”
Utah started firing early, taking a 10-6 lead and hoisting a hitting percentage over .500 while the Bears stooped below .100. Baylor won eight of the next 11 points to jump ahead 14-13 following a timeout by head coach Ryan McGuyre.
Rakhmanchik connected for three consecutive service aces to lift the Ferrell Center crowd and give her squad a three-point lead. A pair of kills from sophomore outside hitter MJ McCurdy capped off the Bears’ 25-19 win in the first set.
“After my first ace, I started being more confident,’” Rakhmanchik said. “I was like, ‘I need to keep going. I need more aces.’”
McCurdy and Rakhmanchik continued to take over in the second set, posting three kills each. The Utes tried to keep the set tight, only trailing Baylor 12-10. The Bears went on a heater with a 5-1 run led by three different middle blockers.
Rakhmanchik served up another trio of aces to set Baylor up for set point. Senior middle blocker Anastasiia Nikolnikova, playing in her first match since Sept. 5, denied Kamryn Gibadlo’s attack and received raucous applause from her teammates.
Baylor rattled off eight straight points to improve to 2-0 in the match.
“[Nikolnikova] did everything we’re trying to execute, so really, it opens the door for more,” McGuyre said. “She’s one of those players that’s been really good in the gym and has brought the whole level up.”
Baylor looked to cruise past the Utes in the third set, leading 15-12 behind seven Rakhmanchik kills. Utah did not go away, answering with a four-point run. The Bears followed with seven points in the next nine rallies, topped by Rakhmanchik’s seventh ace of the afternoon.
Utah kept it tight, but redshirt sophomore setter Harley Kreck zipped Baylor’s 10th ace of the match to secure the Bears’ second sweep of the weekend.
“We said at the start of the year, we think we can be a remarkable serving team,” McGuyre said. “Ten aces with only one missed serve … that’ll be hard to repeat.”
The Bears finished with a .337 hitting percentage — their second-highest mark this season — behind 43 kills and only 10 attack errors. It’s also the fourth time they’ve hit above .300 this season, including wins against Texas Tech, Rice and St. Mary’s.
“It’s great when you have a lot of rhythm,” McCurdy said. “It goes back to our passing and getting digs for middles, and Harley did an unreal job of running the offense.”
Baylor hopes to build off of the back-to-back sweeps and turn the tides on the road. McCurdy said the key to securing the Bears’ first road win since Sept. 24 is to not take any set off.
“We were comfortable in the second set, but not getting comfortable and thinking we’ve won it just because we won the first set,” McCurdy said. “[That] is something that we’ve been working on, and sweeping both games this weekend gives us really good momentum going into a week on the road.”
The Bears will face off against Kansas State at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Morgan Family Arena in Manhattan, Kan.
