By Bennett Parker | Sports Writer
No. 17 Baylor volleyball found itself trailing two sets to none against No. 22 BYU. The Bears could not find an edge over the Cougars in two competitive sets to start the night.
Baylor did not go down without a fight. Freshman outside hitter Nadiya Johnson connected on a trio of kills and a solo block to spark the Bears in the third set, allowing them to outpace BYU and force a fourth set. They capitalized on the momentum to send the match to a decisive fifth set.
Baylor (8-3) could not complete the comeback, losing in five sets to BYU (9-1), 19-25, 23-25, 25-21, 25-22, 10-15.
The Bears were 95-2 when hitting .300 or better in the McGuyre Era coming into Saturday night. The Bears hit .393, breaking a Big 12 record in a five-set match that stood for 21 years. The mark also shattered the program record that stood since 2014. Outside hitter Ksenia Rakhmanchik led the way with 26 kills on a career-best .478 hitting percentage.
Both sides traded points through the first 30 rallies of the initial set with the Bears leading 15-14. BYU ran with five straight points behind a pair of service aces from Brooke Hardy to take a 19-15 advantage. The Cougars held the lead the rest of the way to take the first set 25-19.
Baylor in the McGuyre era has struggled tremendously when dropping the first set, winning only 4 of their 55 chances.
BYU went on a 7-0 run to get up 15-7 in the second, drawing a timeout from head coach Ryan McGuyre. The Cougars did not let up the rest of the set to take a commanding 2-0 lead.
Nine service errors hindered the Bears’ chances in the first two sets, despite impressive hitting from Rakhmanchik and Johnson.
From that point on, Baylor outscored BYU 78-68 but only had two set wins to show for it.
After the Bears’ run at the beginning of the third set, they did not give up the lead throughout the rest of the set. They held a lead of three points or more to take the set 25-21.
The staunch competition continued into the fourth set. Both squads did not find an edge for most of the set with BYU leading 18-17. Rakhmanchik took over, scoring three in Baylor’s 4-0 run to jump ahead 21-18. The Bears held on to force a fifth set.
Baylor led 8-7 in the final set, but three errors over the next seven points helped put the long event to rest. BYU also had impressive composure, losing back-to-back sets before ripping off a 7-0 run to help seal the deal in the deciding fifth set.
Sophomore setter Isabela Haggard had another stellar game; she had a season high with 57 assists, six kills and five blocks, along with notching nine digs in the first conference game.
The Bears arguably played their best volleyball of the season in the third and fourth sets; they hit .643 and .390, respectively. They only committed five errors across the pair of sets.
“They’re competitive,” head coach Ryan McGuyre said before the road trip. “We’re really gritty. They want to win every ball … Every ball matters for this team.”
Baylor’s next match is against Utah at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.
