Baylor
Missouri
Volleyball Upset by Missouri, 3-2
8/7/2000 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 6, 1999
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Missouri Tigers pulled out one of their biggest wins of the year as they beat No. 23-ranked Baylor, 3-2 (7-15, 15-11, 5-15, 15-12, 15-12), Saturday night in Columbia.
Baylor (21-6, 9-5 Big 12) jumped ahead 5-0 in game one with the help by kills from senior Elisha Polk and consecutive service aces by sophomore Tatiana Kenon. The Bears then increased that lead to 8-1, forcing Missouri to call time. Baylor's relentless attack continued on their way to the 15-7 win.
The key to the game was the front row's ability to put the ball away. The Bears hit .500 with 19 kills and two errors on 34 chances. Polk and Kia Young combined for nine kills with no errors on 16 attempts.
Game two started off close as the two teams traded service aces and kills for a 2-2 tie. A block by UM's Christi Myers, a hitting error by Baylor's Kirsten Berg, two more Missouri aces and a Baylor rotation error gave the Tigers a 7-4 lead.
Down 9-6, BU closed within 9-8 before Mizzou (9-16, 3-11 Big 12) pushed the lead back to 13-8 and took the game 15-11. This time Baylor committed six errors but still out-hit UM .286 to .282. Missouri used four blocks and six aces to pull away.
Baylor got its game one form back, streaking out to a 5-0 lead in game three. Missouri closed within 6-5, but that was as close as the Tigers would get. The Bears finished out the game with nine unanswered points, ending it on a ferocious block by Berg and Polk.
Game four was another battle with BU creeping out to a 4-1 lead. The Tigers would not go away as they tied the score at four, five and six before scoring five straight points to take an 11-7 lead. That's when the Bears started their comeback, tying the score at 12-12. However, BU hitting errors gave Mivvou the game 15-12.
UM got out to a quick 3-1 lead in rally scoring, but Tiger ball handling errors gave the lead back to Baylor, 4-3. The game would go back and forth as Missouri never had a lead bigger than two points until they extended it to 12-9. BU never recovered as the team's five-match win streak came to and end 15-12.
Young led the way for the Bears with 31 kills and 15 digs. Polk added 23 kills and tied teammate Dana Chuha with a match-high 17 digs.
Naaron Branson had 21 kills for Missouri and Christi Myers had 18. Rachel Rieble had 16 digs while Myers and Rachael Taylor had 15 apiece. Missouri was out-hit .301 to .232 on the night, but the Tigers had 13 service aces compared to Baylor's five.
In the match, Polk moved into tenth place all-time in NCAA history with 2,194 total attempts. She also sits in seventh place all-time in the NCAA with 456 consecutive games played. Polk is just one game short of sixth and two short of fifth.
She is 37 kills away from 15th all-time. Also, with Polk's first dig of the match, she moved into second place all-time at Baylor in that category.
