No. 23 Baylor Volleyball Tussles with Rice at Tudor, Sweeps

HOUSTON, Texas – The 23rd-ranked Baylor volleyball team swept Rice on Tuesday night at Tudor Fieldhouse for its fourth win and sweep of the season.

It was the only road non-conference match for the Bears this season, all in Texas, a first for the program.

The Bears (4-0) handed the Owls (2-1) their first loss of the season in three sets.  Winning the first set 25-20, BU took the second set at 25-19. Baylor stole away the third set, 25-23, holding Rice to a .111 hitting percentage overall.

Elise McGhee led the squad with 13 kills, but Kendal Murphy recorded her second-straight double-double with 10 kills and 14 digs to lead the team. Murphy also served up her second consecutive two-ace match, tying her career high. 

THE RUNDOWN

Set 1

Rice made mistakes early that put BU up 5-2 with a kill from Allie Sczech. Kendal Murphy got a kill to make it 8-3 and then 10-3 with an attack error from Rice sandwiched between. The Bears missed a few balls, and the Owls lessened the gap all the way to 13-12, BU calling for a pause. The Bears pulled away to go up 19-13 but Rice pressed again and made it 19-17. Elise McGhee won the joust and Murphy followed her with an ace that the Owls couldn’t handle, the score now 23-18. To finish it out, McGhee got the final kill at 25-20.

Set 2

Starting off on a high note, McGhee got a block to get the Bears’ first point, with Victoria Davis and Murphy teaming up on the net for the next point, 2-1. Rice started to heat up and got a run of five going, Alicia Andrew putting a stop to it at 7-4. Setter Jackie Barrett Frazier caught them slipping with a dump over the net, McGhee throwing down the next ball 8-6 to close the gap. Rice kept its foot on the pedal and pushed it to 11-6 for a Baylor timeout. Out of it, McGhee tooled the block and got another kill to pull her team within two, 11-9, and Rice making an attack error to have Baylor on a four-point run, prompting Rice to call time. The Bears made an exceptional dig on a hard ball from the Owls for Manuela Bibinbe to put right where they weren’t, now 15-12 still in Rice’s favor. McGhee and Sczech went on a roll to get the Bears within one, 17-16. Murphy tipped it, then a wayward ball from the Owls tied it for just the second time on the set. Up two, Rice called time. Up four, McGhee had a bomb of a kill to advance it 24-19. Back in control, the set ended with an overpass kill from Andrew, 25-19. 

Set 3

Set two under the Bears’ belt, Rice had a renewed energy entering set three and came out shooting, going up 6-1 out of the gate. A fire was lit under BU in a timeout, causing an Owl attack error and Murphy getting two kills, followed by one from McGhee and an ace off Andrew. A run underway, Bibinbe tooled the block to cut the lead to two, now 9-7, Rice calling time. McGhee got the Owls to scramble with her kill to continue the run before Rice finished it with a kill down the line, 10-8. A service error on Rice tied it and a McGhee ace put them up by two, 14-12 Baylor. Murphy and Andrew got the block, but Rice went on a run, coming back to tie it 17-17, then took the lead 20-17. After a timeout, McGhee came right out with a kill. Tying it up again at 21-all were Bibinbe and Sczech. The teams started trading points, but Murphy and Sczech went back-to-back to stop that business. A block from both Andrew and Sczech finished the set and match at 25-23.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Murphy tied her career-high aces with 2 and had a double-double (10k, 14d)
• Shelby Livingstone got her first win over her alma mater as Assistant Coach
• Baylor improved to 4-0 with its fourth sweep
• The all-time series with Rice improves to 26-23
• Baylor handed Rice its first loss of the season

UP NEXT

Baylor returns to Ferrell on Friday as they host the fourth iteration of the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge with Minnesota, TCU and Wisconsin. BU will face Minnesota on Friday night at 7 p.m. and Wisconsin on Saturday at 7 p.m.