Baylor
*Texas
Volleyball Falls to Texas in Big 12 Opener
9/15/2004 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 15, 2004
WACO, Texas - Baylor sophomore middle blocker Desiree Guilliard-Young (Berkeley, Calif.) hit .632 with 13 kills and added four blocks, but serving and service receive proved to be the Bears undoing in a 3-0 (30-28, 30-19, 30-24) loss to Texas in the Big 12 Conference opener Wednesday night at the Ferrell Center.
Junior outside hitter Kelly Spriggs (Houston, Texas) added 11 kills, but hit only .034. Sophomore right-side hitter Nicole LeBlanc (Tampa, Fla.) hit .348 with nine kills, a team-high nine digs and a match-high six blocks for the Bears (6-4, 0-1 Big 12). Junior setter Emily Huston (Santa Rosa, Calif.) pitched in with 36 assists, three kills and three blocks.
"We came out and followed through on our game plan," head coach Jim Barnes said. "We believe we can go toe-to-toe with anyone and play physical. If we played a little smarter and served better, this match would have been really, really close...the service errors really cost us."
Texas (8-0, 1-0) hit .203 for the match, while Baylor hit only .106, their lowest offensive output of the season. Baylor was again dominant in the middle, outblocking Texas, 11.5-3.0. The biggest difference in the match came from the service line, where the Longhorns tallied six aces and only five errors. The Bears, which came into the match leading the Big 12 in aces, did not register a single ace and made 10 service errors.
"We're right there but we need to start being consistent," Guilliard-Young said. "We need to come out focused because, skill-wise, we're there, but mentally we need to battle point-by-point and not look ahead."
Baylor got off to a solid start in game one and led by as many as three at 10-7. The game was tied and the lead traded hands several times, the last time at 28-28. Texas then put the game away, 30-28, by scoring the next two points, despite being outhit by the Bears, .180-.139.
Game two was all Texas as the Longhorns hit .325 and held the Bears to an .022 attack percentage. After Baylor fought back to tie the game at 9-9, the Longhorns went on a 15-5 run to take control and eventually win the game, 30-19.
The Bears put up another tough fight in game three, rebounding from a four-point deficit to tie the game, 17-17. Texas responded with a 5-0 run and the Bears could only get to within three the rest of the way as the Longhorns clinched the match, 30-24.
Mira Topic hit .278 and had a match-high 17 kills and 14 digs to lead Texas. Brandy Magee and Bethany Howden added nine kills each, while Dariam Acevedo had 11 digs. Michelle Moriarty had a match-high 41 assists.
The Bears return to action when they hit the road to face Missouri Saturday at 5 p.m. at the Hearnes Center in Columbia, Mo.
