By Bennett Parker | Sports Writer
No. 21 Baylor volleyball could not find an edge over No. 24 Colorado throughout the first two sets Sunday afternoon. The Buffaloes took care of business to hold a commanding two-set advantage.
The Bears took their first lead of the match with a 5-4 score in the third set. It found its first sense of momentum with an excellent dig from sophomore libero Morgan Madison to take a 15-7 lead into the media timeout. Madison played a major role in the momentum shift, extending rallies with acrobatic digs and sets from the back line.
“Definitely didn’t like how I started playing,” Madison said. “But I was like, ‘What can I do now?’ Just focusing on the next ball was something I really wanted.”
Baylor (9-5, 1-3 Big 12) looked like the much better team in the third set after dropping the first two to Colorado (11-3, 2-2 Big 12) but couldn’t mount a comeback after a lackluster performance in the first two sets.
There was no stopping the Bears for the rest of the third set, finishing on a 10-4 run to seal the set 25-11.
Baylor looked like it was going to flip the entire game on its head but got outlasted in the deciding fourth set where both squads were playing at a very high level. The Buffaloes overcame their five service errors with composure on the attack, tallying 12 kills to win the fourth set 25-23.
“We just played more like Baylor volleyball,” head coach Ryan McGuyre said. “The last two sets were closer to being who we are. Our block showed up, so we slowed down on it. We dug some hard-driven balls that were at us and kept them up. We took some big swings, some smart shots there as well. You hit .375; you’re normally going to win.”
The match was a rare defense-heavy game where both teams hit below .170. Baylor was 127-8 in the McGuyre Era when holding opponents below .200 on hitting before Sunday.
The Bears had won nine of their last 12 meetings with Colorado and drew a great crowd on its second nationally televised game of the season. They could not deliver in front of 1,443 fans, dropping their fourth ranked matchup.
The ugly start began with a 4-0 Colorado run behind strong serves from sophomore outside hitter Ines Losada. It looked like the Bears began to find themselves late in the first set, but it was too late to overcome a 20-13 hole. They were aced four times and hit .179 in the crucial first set, dropping it 25-19.
Set two was more of the same. Colorado jumped out to another early lead at 10-7, and the Bears never got it back within two points during the set. Baylor’s .140 hitting percentage and 16 errors on the attack kept it from finding any momentum in the first two sets.
“We didn’t receive too well,” McGuyre said. “We put ourselves in some tough spots. I thought we were pretty apathetic with some of our swings, not really intentional.”
The Bears’ poor play was not a result of inadequate planning but an inability to perform once it was game time.
“[We] had a scout, had a plan, knew where we wanted to go with balls but didn’t seem to be locked in and focused on executing them,” McGuyre said.
Baylor was not getting much help from sophomore outside hitter Ksenia Rakhmanchik, who was hitting -.059 on her first 17 attempts in the first two sets.
Adversity has arrived for the Bears, but they have plenty of time to get their footing as Big 12 play continues.
“I’m going to learn how we respond,” McGuyre said. “I’m going to learn how we train. And then I’m going to implement things as the season goes on.”
Baylor will face Texas Tech at 6 p.m. Thursday at the United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock.
