No. 15 Baylor Volleyball Tops Iowa State 3-1

WACO, Texas — No. 15 Baylor Volleyball used a strong first two sets to top the visiting Iowa State Cyclones 3-1 to cement their second place position in the Big 12.

The visitors fought hard and looked poised to force a fifth set, but Kara McGhee and Mallory Talbert stepped up to help the Bears close out the match at the end of the fourth set.

The scorelines were 25-20, 25-20, 19-25, 26-24.

Lauren Harrison led the green and gold attack with 14 kills while the McGhee sisters combined for 21 and Talbert registered eight.

In the first set, the teams went back and forth until the Bears made a breakthrough with a 5-1 run before the media timeout. The green and gold took that 15-12 advantage all the way home, building the lead as big as five points twice.

Avery Carlson finished the first set off with an ace of the net to seal it 25-20 BU.

During that first set, Kara McGhee earned her 500th career block. It was one of seven total blocks for the senior on the night and a huge achievement for the standout performer.

After the game coach Ryan McGuyre said, “To break 500, especially in the traditional four years, puts you in a rare, rare category. 400 is the dream for a lot of players.”

McGhee was humble in accepting the praise, saying, “It’s special playing with this team always, so it is exciting to be able to have that [milestone] with this team.”

In set two, the Bears kept the momentum, jumping out to a 7-3 lead before an Iowa State timeout.

Baylor allowed the Cyclones back into things tough with some serve-receive errors.

At 10-8 ISU, Baylor made a 5-0 run to regain a 13-10 lead. From there they would climb to a 20-15 advantage thanks to kills from the McGhee sisters and Allie Sczech.

The green and gold would soon see out the set again at 25-20. 2-0 Bears.

Set three would see Iowa State flip the script, with the Cyclones working a quick 10-4 lead. The Bears fought back, but they could only draw as close as four points at 23-19 before the visitors finished the set off. 2-1 BU.

“We didn’t adapt fast enough in the third set,” said Talbert, “And so going into the fourth set we were really aware of what they were doing differently and what we had let up on.”

That fourth and final set was a down-to-the-wire thriller. Iowa State got up 13-10, but Baylor earned a late 24-22 lead. However, the set would be tied at 24 before the green and gold grabbed two straight points to take the set and the match 26-24, 3-1.

The Cyclones and Bears were tied 12 separate times throughout the fourth set and Kara McGhee and Mallory Talbert truly made the two-point difference.

At 16-16, McGhee made a great kill and followed it up with an emphatic block alongside her sister Elise to get the crowd rocking for an 18-17 BU lead.

“Our blocking… tonight it kind of saved us,” said coach McGuyre, and the McGhees’ block was not the biggest instance of this.

Talbert stepped up and took things over late, earning the Bears both their 24-22 advantage and their final scoreline of 26-24 through a kill and a block each time.

After the game, Talbert spoke on what it means to her to step up in big moments like this as a fifth-year player:

“It’s really bittersweet… I wouldn’t want to be with any other people, playing with any other team any other staff. And so trying to cherish every moment, and in those big moments realizing ‘this is why you play volleyball’.”

With a match at No. 1 Texas next and the NCAA Tournament soon after that, the big moments will come frequently and fast in the coming weeks.