By Matthew Soderberg | Sports Writer
No. 3 Baylor volleyball swept (25-18, 25-20, 25-21) Texas Tech in Lubbock Saturday, adding to an eventful day in Baylor athletics.
The Bears finished with their best hitting percentage of the season against the Red Raiders at .396. Baylor also managed to avoid the Texas Tech block in the win, as the home team managed only one ball batted down.
The Bears’ 16th sweep of the season came with a trio in double-digit kills, as junior outside hitter Yossiana Pressley earned 17, senior outside hitter Gia Milana had 11 and redshirt-sophomore opposite hitter Marieke van der Mark killed 10 as well. Head coach Ryan McGuyre said it was great to have a full-squad performance.
“It was a great team effort offensively. All three pin hitters were in double digits with kills. We were able to move the ball around and hit at a high percentage,” McGuyre said. “Overall, we had a lot of good block touches and were able to keep the ball off the floor on defense.”
While Baylor avoided getting blocked Saturday, the Bears knocked down eight balls from the Red Raiders. The back-line also shined in the win, as junior setter Hannah Lockin earned 14 digs and sophomore defensive specialist Shanel Bramschreiber and senior libero Tara Wulf each got eight.
That level of front and back-line defense led the Bears to hold Texas Tech to just a .134 hitting percentage. Two Red Raiders also ended in the negative on a combined 15 attempts.
The Bear offense, meanwhile, played up to McGuyre’s standards once again, with just 10 errors on 96 attempts. Freshman middle blocker Kara McGhee also played well in the win, finishing with seven kills and no errors on 11 attempts.
It wasn’t all smiles and sunshine for Baylor, though, as Shelly Stafford struggled while hitting .000 with two kills and two errors on eight attempts. The Bears also committed eight service errors on the day, continuing to have issues with that phase of the game.
No. 3 Baylor will play Kansas at 7 p.m. Wednesday back at the Ferrell Center with five games remaining in the season. The home match with the Jayhawks can also be streamed on ESPN+.
