Nov. 22, 2008
Box Score
WACO, Texas - Baylor rallied from a two-set deficit to defeat Missouri 3-2 (22-25, 19-25, 25-17, 25-23, 15-12) on Saturday night at the Ferrell Center. The match was the second-straight five-set win for Baylor, as the Bears twice rallied from one-set deficits against Texas Tech on Wednesday.
After dropping the first two sets, Baylor won three-straight sets for the win. The last time Baylor rallied from a 2-0 deficit was against Missouri at home during the 2006 season.
"We were really out of sync during the first two sets," said head coach Jim Barnes. "We made some adjustments at halftime and the girls responded well. Ashley Byrd got really hot in the third and fourth set, and I'm really proud of Allison (King). She played really good defense even though we moved her over to outside hitter for the last three sets."
Katie Sanders led the way for the Bears with 18 kills. Anna Breyfogle added 14 kills in her first action since missing six matches with a dislocated shoulder. Ashley Byrd recorded 14 kills on .444 hitting, while Ashlie Christenson tallied 11 kills.
"I try to bring a lot of energy on the court," said Byrd. "We knew that we had to play at a high level. We treated this like it was our NCAA tournament match. We knew that we had to step it up."
Taylor Barnes recorded 62 assists to go along with five kills and two service aces. Libero Allison King led the floor defense with a career-high 29 digs, though she played the final three sets of the match at outside hitter. Sanders tallied 18 digs, while Caitlyn Trice added 16 digs. Christenson tallied 12 digs on the night to record her first career kill-dig double-double.
"I knew that Ashley (Byrd) was on fire," said Taylor Barnes. "Whenever a player is hot, you keep going back to them and let them put the ball away."
Baylor and Missouri both hit at a .193 clip for the match, but the Bears tallied 73 kills compared to 52 for Missouri. The Bears also scooped up 93 digs to 77 digs for the Tigers.
Missouri recorded 14 team blocks to five blocks for the Bears.
Baylor returns to action on Wednesday night as the Bears travel to Kansas for their final road match of the season. The match, scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., will feature a live audio webcast on www.BaylorBears.com.
