By Bennett Parker | Sports Writer
Baylor volleyball has played with its hair on fire since falling out of the top-25 last week, and freshman outside hitter Nadiya Johnson and sophomore outside hitter Ksenia Rakhmanchik were leading the charge back into the top 25 against Arizona.
Johnson boasted a career-high .538 hitting percentage behind 16 kills and only two errors, while Rakhmanchik tallied 17 kills with one error.
The barrage from Johnson and Rakhmanchik helped Baylor (11-5, 3-3 Big 12) power past Arizona (6-10, 1-4 Big 12) in three sets, 25-14, 25-17, 25-20.
“[Rakmanchik and Johnson] keep us a threat across the antennae,” head coach Ryan McGuyre said. You’ve got to remember, this is [Haggard’s] first time with this group of hitters, so I think we’ve seen our numbers steadily rise from the start of the year. She is finding the right height for Nadiya.”
Johnson cashed the finishing point on every set with a kill. Her shot choice never faltered throughout the match. She credits her rhythm at Baylor for some of the newfound success.
“I felt like as an athlete, it’s good to get into a consistent routine,” Johnson said. “Just coming here and starting my season, I’ve gotten to create a routine more than I have before; as every game goes, I am starting to find what I like to do.”
The Bears punched the visiting Wildcats with a 7-1 run to open the afternoon. Sophomore setter Isabela Haggard’s ability to set up hitters helped Baylor blaze past Arizona early on. She had four highlight digs, a dozen assists, and a service ace in the opening set.
“Bella [Haggard] is doing a really good job,” McGuyre said. “She gets a lot of the brunt of everything … I thought the passers did a good job. We didn’t feel stressed on offense … We put in a lot of work. I think it’s really starting to show.”
The Bears rolled in the second set as well, hitting .593 and allowing just one point from the Arizona serve. Baylor’s capability to win points on serve receive from the win over Texas Tech was still alive and well through two sets as the Bears took the set 25-17.
The adversity from last week seems to be just a memory.
“We’re still together,” McGuyre said about the team’s response to the tough stretch. “We’re still cohesive. I think the team met also this week, and we still love each other. We still got a lot of work to do. We want to keep getting better week by week.”
The Wildcats didn’t roll over in the third set, battling back from another early deficit. Baylor kept its composure, closing the set with a .410 hitting percentage on the afternoon and winning the deciding set 25-20.
Baylor has a full week off before its next game against TCU at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth.
