No. 15 Baylor Volleyball Blanks Colorado State 3-0

*Per Baylor Athletics Press Release

WACO, Texas – The No. 15-ranked Baylor volleyball team swept Colorado State, 3-0, on Thursday night in the Ferrell Center to start off the Baylor Invitational.

BU (4-2) took the match over CSU (4-3) in straight sets, winning 25-22, 25-19, 30-28. The Bears are now 6-2 in home openers under head coach Ryan McGuyre, and continue a six-match winning streak at home, dating back to the second match against Texas on November 6, 2021.

Baylor was led by both Kara McGhee and Riley Simpson on the night in kills, tallying nine a piece. Averi Carlson recorded 35 assists, Sophia Keene and Simpson each had two aces, while McGhee led in blocks with nine.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Set 1

The Bears started the set down after the Rams immediately went on a 3-0 run. Catching back on, Kara McGhee started the scoring for BU with a kill. CSU stayed on top for a stretch, leading all the way up until the 14-14 mark. Helping close the gap were Sophia Keene, Mallory Talbert, Riley Simpson and a big block by McGhee and Simpson. Carlson delivered the ace to tie the match at 14-all. After the media timeout, the Bears came out and Kate Yosimoto of CSU had an ace and went on a run, but a kill from Lauren Harrison tied it back up at 17-17 with a kill. Talbert tied it at 18-18 with a kill from Carlson, then Carlson had a kill of her own to take the lead back, prompting a Rams timeout. Out of the pause, Keene had a kill at 20-19, then the Bears called timeout at 20-21. Talbert scored on the way out, but CSU wasn’t going down without a fight. Another big block from McGhee and Simpson made CSU call time at 23-22. McGhee had a kill right afterward, and a solo block from the senior finished off the set at 25-22.

Set 2

One set win under their belt, the Bears got underway in the second. The Rams were ready, and blocked the first ball. Allie Sczech got the first BU point of the set at 2-1 CSU. Harrison continued it with a kill, then Sczech teamed up with Talbert for a block to tie it up at 3-3. Sczech scored again, then Talbert followed it up with a block with Harrison and then with Carlson for CSU to call timeout at 6-4. The teams traded the next few points, but Talbert delivered an ace at 9-6 and then Simpson had a kill at 10-8 to help solidify the lead. At 12-8, Sczech and McGhee had a block, then McGhee delivered a kill before going up for another block with Sczech to put the Bears at 14-9. Colorado State called time with the Bears up 16-9 after a Simpson ace. BU continued on its tear, with a second ace from Simpson out of the pause. Charging ahead, the Bears held the Rams to just 10 points through the end of the set. Kara McGhee was the one to complete the domination of the set for BU with a kill at 25-19.

Set 3

Two out of the three necessary sets tucked away for BU, set three started with two points from CSU. Sczech had the first point for the Bears and an attack error from the Rams tied it up early on. Trading points, Colorado State started to see more blocks from their side of the net. Simpson pushed the Bears ahead with a kill at 7-5, and then Carlson got in on the fun. Sczech and McGhee had a block at 10-8, then CSU got one of their own. The BU lead was extended by Sczech and Talbert just in time for a media timeout at 15-12. Not ready to have the match be over, the Rams turned up the heat. Fast forward to being tied at 22-all, the Bears called timeout. McGhee had the first kill, and Harrison helped trade points with CSU with two kills. Keene delivered an ace to lead it 26-25, then Talbert had a kill at 27-26. Tied again at 28-28 due to a CSU kill, the Bears fired off kills from Simpson and McGhee to claim the set and match, 30-28.

QUICK HITTERS

• Simpson helped lead the team in kills for the third time this season
• The Bears are 6-2 in home openers under Ryan McGuyre
• Lauren Harrison played her 300th career set in the first set against CSU
• It was the second sweep of the year, and second in a row, last coming against UC Santa Barbara on Sept. 3
• Kara McGhee was one kill and one block away for her first double-double of the season

QUOTABLE

Head Coach Ryan McGuyre

“At home, to go up 2-0 on a team is pretty good, and you feel like you can get into that third set and knock them out. And we were probably in a position where we were ready to do that.”

Senior Middle Blocker Kara McGhee

“Yeah, I think our energy is a little bit slow at the beginning, and we really brought it and figured it out, and I think just having that higher energy just made us perform better, the joy that you normally see. That helped us a lot.”

Freshman Opposite Allie Sczech

“I think blocking-wise, I’ve just worked a lot on footwork, and I feel like I’ve always been really good with my hands. So, I think being able to implement the new footwork and kind of getting further out to the pin has really helped me in the games.”

UP NEXT

Day two of the Baylor Invitational will consist of CSU vs. Evansville (10am), Evansville vs. Arizona State (2pm) and ASU vs. CSU (8pm), all on Friday. The Bears will play next on Saturday in a doubleheader, facing off with Arizona State (4-2) at 11:30 a.m. and then Evansville (2-6) at 7 p.m.