No. 14 Baylor Volleyball Keeps Winning Streak Rolling vs Tulsa

WACO, Texas — No. 14 Baylor Volleyball beat the Tulsa Golden Hurricane 3-0 to stretch their streak of straight-set wins to six.

The Bears are now 8-2 after playing three solid sets 25-20, 25-28 and 25-17. That makes 19 sets in a row won by the green and gold going back to their 3-1 win over San Diego State two weeks ago.

When asked how the team has been able to be so dominant, coach Ryan McGuyre responded, “I think the chemistry's been really good. I think each day we get a little bit clearer understanding of what our expectations are. And this team's been really, really receptive in the growth and the learning.”

Standouts on the night were the McGhee sisters Kara and Elise. They tied for the team lead with 12 kills while Kara put in good work on the block for the Bears.

“For two sisters to lead us in kills, I think is fun,” coach McGuyre said after the game, “They're a great family. Both had 12 kills, three errors and it's like twinsies today.”

Elise, the sophomore sister, added some context to how the turned things up as the match wore on. “I think I just got more comfortable and me and Averi [Carlson] were talking, communicating the whole time.”

“She's been putting the reps in and the practice in,” coach McGuyre said of Elise, “and I love the confidence that she played with… She's always been really fast for us on defense.”

Elise had seven digs on the night, while Kara grabbed one solo block plus three assisted blocks.

Coach McGuyre brought up the block later in the postgame presser, saying “I feel our block is having an influence on matches, maybe causing teams to do things they're less comfortable doing.”

It wasn’t all perfect domination from the first serve though. The Bears got off to a slow start before really taking it to Tulsa.

“We probably were a little flat to be honest,” said McGuyre, “the third set was much better, cleaner than the first set.”

Elsewhere for the Bears, middle Mallory Talbert was the team leader in hitting percentage converting 12 total attacks into eight kills for a .667 rate. She was floored by freshman outside hitter Sophia Keene with a .600 on three of five. Its a small sample for Keene but converting at a high rate with limited opportunities is a nice way to earn more chances.

The next opportunity for those chances will be a Friday double-header with the Bears playing Sam Houston State at 12 PM and McNeese State at 7 PM. There are Hawaiian themed giveaways at both games in case you want an extra reason to go watch Baylor Volleyball.