No. 21 Baylor Volleyball Beats No. 24 UCF to Open Series

WACO, Texas – The 21st-ranked Baylor volleyball team was victorious against UCF on Saturday afternoon at the Ferrell Center, winning 3-1 to end the Knights' unbeaten Big 12 record.

BU (11-7, 5-3 Big 12) defeated UCF (16-3, 7-1 Big 12) in four sets at the Ferrell. After falling short on the first set of the match to the Knights with a score of 25-20, the Bears fought back and won a long second set with a score of 28-26. The Bears didn't trail again from there on out, continuing the momentum into set three by winning 25-19 and dominating the last set with a score of 25-16.

Baylor was led by McGhee with 19 kills, followed by Simpson surpassing her career high in kills at 17. Carlson added 52 assists to her season total to hit the 2,000 career assist milestone and Briseño secured 15 digs to surpass 800 digs in her career.

THE RUNDOWN

Set 1

UCF struck first in the match with a kill but Allie Sczech quickly matched it with a kill of her own to make it 1-1 early in the set.  There was a combination of service errors and return errors from both sides that led to a tie score of 4-4 before Manuela Bibinbe got her first kill of the match to help the Bears take the lead at 5-4. A long volley from both sides eventually led to a Riley Simpson kill with Averi Carlson picking up her first assist of the night with the Bears retaining the lead at 6-4. Multiple kills from UCF led to Sczech adding another kill to regain the lead at a score of 7-6. After multiple UCF kills and errors from both sides an acrobatic dig from Lauren Briseño led to Carlson setting up Elise McGhee with a kill to bring the score to 10-10. UCF maintained control throughout the next few points but lost 3 straight points due to errors with led to a tie score of 15-15. A pair of kills from Simpson and Allie Andrew brought the score to 19-17 with the Knights on top. Two more kills from McGhee and another from Sczech late in the set wasn’t enough for the Bears and they lost the set 25-20.

Set 2

The second set started with a Simpson kill and ace to take an early 2-1 lead over the Knights. There were multiple errors from both sides that led to McGhee having back-to-back aces to regain the lead at 7-6. This set continued to stay close with teams trading kills back and forth with Bibinbe adding two, McGhee adding two, and Carlson adding a kill as well to bring the score tied at 14 heading into the media timeout. After four straight errors for points on both sides Simpson added a kill to take the lead at 18-17. Kills and errors from UCF led to McGhee adding back-to-back kills to bring the score to 22-22. Simpson was able to get back-to-back kills herself which brought the score to set point at 24-23 Bears on top. Simpson stayed hot and added two more kills to bring the game to a tie at 26-26 before McGhee brought home a massive kill to bring the game to set point for the Bears again, this time at 27-26. An attacking error from the Knights led to Baylor winning the second set 28-26.

Set 3

The Bears caught fire starting the third set after two attacking errors from UCF let to a block from McGhee to make the score 3-0. A long string of errors from both sides led to the score being 9-6 Bears on top. The Bears continued momentum with Bibinbe adding two kills and Carlson getting her second kill of the night with some trickery on a tap that brought the score to 10-6. UCF continued to fight back but Andrew and McGhee both were able to get kills to hold the lead at 11-7 and 14-9, respectively.  A pair of kills from Sczech and McGhee pushed the lead to 18-12 for the Bears. Simpson was able to stay hot throughout this set and added a kill, and block shortly after which brought the score to 21-16 Bears still on top. Andrews added back-to-back kills before Alexis Dacosta recorded an Ace to bring it to set point 24-17. Sczech had a powerful strike the Knights were not able to return and the Bears took the set with a score 25-19.

Set 4

The Bears continued their momentum into the fourth set with Dacosta getting the points started with an ace. After errors from both sides the Bears were able to record 3 straight points thanks to kills from McGhee, Simpson, and Bibinbe to make the score 6-3 Bears. Carlson and Andrew were able to get a pair of kills to extend the lead to 9-4 before the Knights fought back after a timeout break. The knights were able to cut the Baylor lead to just one at 12-11 but McGhee and Bibinbe kills, followed by an error from UCF forced them to call their second timeout of the half with Baylor retaining the lead at 15-11. Coming out of the timeout the Bears kept the lead thanks to a Sczech kill and multiple errors from UCF that led to a score of 17-11. Sczech and Bibinbe teamed up for a block to make it 18-13 Bears on top. Simpson added three more kills to bring it to match point 24-16 before Carlson recorded an ace and the Bears took the set, and match, with a score of 25-16.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Briseño recorded 15 digs to surpass 800 in her career
• Carlson recorded 52 assists (most by either team) to hit a 2,000 assist milestone
• McGhee led the Bears in kills with 19
• Simpson surpassed her career high in kills with 17

UP NEXT

The Bears will be at the Ferrell Center again for another matchup with UCF on Sunday, October 22nd at noon. The match will be broadcast on ESPN with Paul Sunderland and Jennifer Hoffman on the call.