By Harper Mayfield | Sports Writer
After a full-length match with Texas Tech on Friday, Baylor had a much stronger showing Saturday, sweeping the Red Raiders in three sets, 27-25, 25-21, and 25-19.
To this point in the season, after every match in which Baylor has lost a set, they sweep the following match, adhering to head coach Ryan McGuyre’s belief that the stronger team wins the second half of a back-to-back.
Senior outside hitter Yossiana Pressley led Baylor in kills with 23, and tied with Callie Williams and Shanel Bramschreiber for the lead in digs with 12. Williams finished with 32 assists, the highest total on the Baylor team, and the second highest total in the game.
“I thought Yossi had a good match, both offensively and defensively, and we’re starting to find our rhythm out of the back row,” McGuyre said.
The opening set was a close one, going past the usual first-to-25 rule, necessitating a few extra volleys to get a Baylor win. It was the longest set of Baylor’s season to date, surpassing 25-22 sets against Kansas and Oklahoma.
In the second set, Baylor was able to open up a larger lead. The Bears had three runs of 3-0 or better, keeping Tech in the hole for the entire set. Buoying Baylor’s efforts in the middle set was their advantage in the error department. Baylor finished the set with four attack errors, well ahead of Tech’s seven attack errors.
The final set saw the largest difference in scores, with Baylor taking a six point win. Again, Baylor had fewer errors than the Red Raiders, while also finishing with eight blocks in comparison to Tech’s zero.
“Glad to see our blocking helped us when we weren’t necessarily as offensively explosive, blocking made the difference in the match,” McGuyre said.
The Bears will be back in action next week, continuing their road trip at Iowa State in the Cyclones’ Hilton Coliseum. Iowa State currently sits at 2-4 on the year, but is coming off a bye week. Both matches are scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m., and will be streaming on Big 12 Now and ESPN+.
