No. 17 Baylor Volleyball Blanks West Virginia in Morgantown

Morgantown, W. Va. – The 17th-ranked Baylor volleyball squad took the match against West Virginia in straight sets in Morgantown on Saturday, winning 3-0.

The Bears (14-3, 4-1) had the Mountaineers (6-11, 0-5) from the beginning, though West Virginia made a strong push in the third set. BU won 25-12, 25-9, 25-23 over WVU in the WVU Coliseum.

Senior Kara McGhee had a double-double in the match, recording 10 blocks (three solo, seven assisted) and 10 kills. Both Lauren Harrison and McGhee each had 10 kills with one error each.

THE RUNDOWN

Set 1

Rearing to go, the Bears started out with a 5-0 run over the Mountaineers, pushing them to call timeout early. The run went all the way to 7-0 until a serve from the BU line tipped back over the net and gave WVU their first point. It quickly became 13-4 Baylor off defensive and offensive Mountaineer errors, with only four kills recorded from BU in that stretch. The 13th point was an ace from Sophia Keene that prompted the timeout from WVU coach Reed Sunahara. Out of it, Lauren Harrison, Elise McGhee and Kara McGhee got kills to make it 17-9. Moving right along, Kara and Sczech got a block. Sczech got the 21st point for the Bears, followed by an Alexis Dacosta kill. Elise McGhee gave the final blow at 25-12.

Set 2

A service error from WVU gave BU their first point, and Averi Carlson followed it up with an ace. Kara McGhee made it 4-0, then she had a solo block to make it 5-0. She continued her run to make it 6-1, then Sczech had a kill at 8-3. The dominance continued and the Bears went up 17-8 with back-to-back kills from Elise McGhee. WVU called timeout, then Sczech had back-to-back kills to get the 20th point of the set. A McGhee sisters block was followed by a solo block from Kara. Back-to-back blocks from Sczech and Kara together gave the Bears set point. The set finished at 25-9 with an Alexis Dacosta ace, her second of the night.

Set 3

Starting the set with some back and forth, the Bears and Mountaineers were tied at 3-3 when Harrison went up for the kill. WVU went on a hot streak and brought the set to 15-15, but Kara McGhee put a stop to it by breaking through the Mountaineers block, taking the Bears to 17-15. The Mountaineers stayed close with the Bears throughout. At 23-20, a little close for comfort, Harrison put down an emphatic kill for BU to bring it to match point. The Mountaineers staved off match point for three points in a row, but the match was won on a Kara McGhee kill at 25-23.

HIGHLIGHTS

• It was the Bears’ ninth sweep of the season.
• BU held WVU to just nine points in the second set.
• Kara McGhee had a double-double with 10 blocks and 10 kills on the day.
• Both Kara and Lauren Harrison had 10 kills with just one error each.
• Lauren Briseño recorded 11 digs while Averi Carlson dished out 30 assists.
• The Bears had an 80% sideout percentage.

QUOTABLE

Head Coach Ryan McGuyre

“Really proud of how we started. We’ve been talking how defense has to travel for us to do well in the Big 12. And I thought we served tough, definitely blocking tough and one of our best defensive games early on, just in the quality of our digs and being in the right spots and the right place. So, good team effort, full amount of energy. And yeah, I felt like from the second we arrived, the team was really dialed-in to make sure we were playing well. It excites me. We’ve got to continue to do this as we get on the road in the Big 12 and a big non-conference match with Rice next week.”

WHAT’S NEXT

The Bears head to Houston on Wednesday for a 6 p.m. match against Rice in Tudor Fieldhouse.