By Jackson Posey | Sports Writer
The Bears are moving on.
After an up-and-down regular season, Baylor volleyball dominated seventh-seeded James Madison 3-0 Thursday afternoon in the Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky., to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
It wasn’t an easy path to this point, as Baylor finished 16-12 on the year, including 12 games against ranked opponents, and snuck into its eighth-straight NCAA Tournament with an at-large berth. But the back half of November saw the team finally turn the corner, as the Bears ended the regular season with an assertive sweep of West Virginia and a 3-1 upset of No. 22 Houston. And on Thursday, they kept the good times rolling.
An early glimmer of hope for James Madison was quickly dashed, as a 4-3 lead in the first set marked the Dukes’ final lead of the game. Baylor proceeded to go on three runs of four or more points, including a five-point run to set up match point and secure a 10-point victory.
The second set brought more of the same. Three Bears drilled service aces (junior outside hitter Elise McGhee, sophomore setter Averi Carlson, junior libero Lauren Briseño), and a kill from sophomore opposite hitter Allie Sczech set up match point with a 24-16 lead. The Dukes were feisty, as Sophie Davis and Savanah Cockrill combined to score three-straight kills, but it wasn’t enough to close the game. McGhee notched another kill, her ninth of the match, to set up the game’s final set.
McGhee scored again and again. Then she got a block assist to make it 3-0. Across two sets, McGhee scored on five of six plays, and she wound up leading all players in points with 21.5. No one else scored more than 12. The set ended the same way it began: with McGhee scoring points. Her game-high 16th kill sent the Dukes home early 25-19.
With one win under their belts, the Bears could face an even more intimidating opponent on Saturday. Second-seeded Kentucky, which Massey Ratings gives a 100% chance to beat Wofford on Thursday, is arguably the hottest team in the country. Since a brutal September stretch that featured seven ranked teams in eight games, the Wildcats are 16-0, including six wins over top 25 teams.
“Kentucky will take care of business,” Baylor head coach Ryan McGuyre said. “They’re probably the hottest team right now — very strong offensively. They’re hitting at a high clip, so they have a lot of firepower, so we have to make sure our defense travels.
“That was important for us this year. And that we can be good for the service game, that really was the difference in the Houston match.”
Baylor will face the winner of Kentucky-Wofford at 6 p.m. on Friday. The game will be streamed live on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
