No. 18 Baylor Volleyball Makes Quick Work of SFA, 3-0

WACO, Texas – The 18th-ranked Baylor volleyball team swept Stephen F. Austin on Tuesday night, 3-0, at the Ferrell Center to close out the non-conference slate.

BU (6-4) made quick work of the Ladyjacks (11-3), 25-14, 25-15, 25-21, with the match lasting an hour and 20 minutes.

The Bears were led by Elise McGhee in kills (11) for the second match in a row, while Lauren Briseño served up two aces and Manuela Bibinbe threw up five blocks.

THE RUNDOWN

Set 1

Kyndal Stowers had two kills out of the gate and then got her third to help Baylor go up 6-3 early on SFA. McGhee recorded her first kill of the match at 7-3 before Bibinbe joined the party at 8-4. Bringing the score to 11-5, Alicia Andrew had back-to-back kills. Helping the Bears get ahead by seven points over the Jacks, Allie Sczech broke the block to get the kill, 14-7. After the media timeout, BU capitalized on Stowers and Sczech’s kills to have a lead of 17-8. Stowers and Bibinbe teamed up for the first Baylor block of the match, stuffing Ielan Bradley, now 18-10. SFA called timeout after a McGhee kill and Jacks attacking error, but Averi Carlson made it a 3-0 run with a kill, 21-12. Izabella Ortiz got two kills for SFA but Stowers stopped them in their tracks at 22-14 with a kill. After back-to-back Ladyjack attack errors, they called timeout before a final error sealed the set, 25-14.

Set 2

The second frame started slowly for BU, swapping points with the Ladyjacks all the way to 8-8. In that stretch, McGhee got the Bears first kill (1-1) and Andrew and Stowers teamed up for the block (2-1). Stowers tied it at three-all, then Sczech and Bibinbe followed the play with a block on the next, 4-3. Sczech got on the board with a kill in the set at 5-5, then Bibinbe had a bomb at 6-6. She’d score again at 7-7 before McGhee tied it at eight-all. Carlson served up an ace to bring the Bears ahead, 9-8, where they wouldn’t trail or tie again. Andrew got the next kill and SFA called timeout. Back-to-back blocks from McGhee and Andrew in tandem kept the momentum swinging forward, now 12-8. After an Andrew kill, McGhee served up an ace (14-9). Sczech made it 14-10 with a kill and then Briseño served up her first ace of the night at 17-10. Stowers ended a small SFA run which pushed them to timeout, 19-11. An attack error from a Ladyjack was followed by a Bibinbe and Carlson block, 21-11. The last stretch of the set was riddled with errors from both sides, but was finished off with kills from Andrew and McGhee, respectively, 25-15.

Set 3

McGhee asserted dominance immediately with a kill. She and Andrew each had two kills on the next stretch to help the Bears advance to 5-1. Stowers got a kill to go up by three, 6-3, and her next kill would come at 9-5. Bibinbe had a big solo block and followed it with a kill, BU now up 11-5. SFA would throw down two kills but Bibinbe stayed hot, once again getting a kill and following it with a solo block, now 13-7. After a SFA service error and a kill from McGhee, it was time for a media timeout, 15-8. Out of it, Tehani Ulufatu entered the match to serve, but it was unfortunately short lived as SFA got a kill. Andrew and SFA’s Bradley would exchange kills, but the Ladyjacks called time at 18-12. Stowers got a kill before Briseño served up her second ace of the match, 20-13. Down the stretch, errors and kills had SFA creeping in, the score now 21-17. Riley Simpson entered the match and it immediately paid off, getting a kill off of Brianna Denney who was in to set. The Jacks got within two points, 23-21, but McGhee got a kill to make it set point. Simpson sealed the deal with an ace to finish the set and match, 25-21.

QUOTABLE

Head coach Ryan McGuyre

“Love that we were able to finish it in three and focus our energy. Playing clean; 14 kills and just one error [in the first set] and we hit over .400 in all three sets. When we’re good, we can be really good. SFA, coach Humphrey, 800+ wins…she knows what they’re doing over there. They keep winning their conference and came in with 11 wins. It was good that we could play good, hard, clean volleyball. Allie [Andrew] did awesome, 10-for-10, hit 1.000, super impressive. I think one comment is just how well she cleans up the net. I think even our Ohio State match she was 6-for-6 at one point, I think they were all over passes though I’m not sure, but those are hard to do.”

HIGHLIGHTS

• BU ended its non-conference slate with the match
• Alicia Andrew went a perfect 10-for-10
• Baylor extends win streak over SFA to eight in a row
• Elise McGhee led in kills for the second-straight match while Manuela Bibinbe led in blocks in back-to-back matches as well.

UP NEXT

The Bears hit the road to open Big 12 play, facing No. 7 BYU in Provo, Utah on Saturday, September 23.