Baylor
Kansas State
No. 23 Volleyball Rips Wildcats
10/24/2009 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 24, 2009
MANHATTAN, Kan. - No. 23 Baylor got a career-high 14 kills from Elizabeth Graham and came back from down a set to beat Kansas State 3-1 (18-25, 25-16, 25-18, 30-28) in Manhattan, Kan. on Saturday night.Baylor dropped the first set 25-18, but shredded the Kansas State defense for the next two sets before grinding out a 30-28 fourth-set win. The fourth set featured 19 ties and 13 lead changes, and saw Baylor turn away KSU set points on three separate occasions with big kills from Torri Campbell and Katie Sanders.
Along with Graham, Sanders and Campbell each had 14 kills, while middle blocker Anna Breyfogle racked up 13 kills with a .458 hitting percentage. The quartet combined for 55 of Baylor's 67 kills in the match. The Bears hit .256 as a team with those 67 kills and just 24 errors in 168 total attempts. The Bears had at least 20 kills in each of the last two sets, including a third set in which they had 21 kills and just two errors for a .538 hitting percentage in that frame.
On defense, Baylor responded to KSU's .310 first-set hitting percentage, holding the Wildcats to .000 in the second set, .194 in the third, and .091 in the fourth with solid blocking and tenacious back-row play. Breyfogle, the Big 12's blocking leader, had seven blocks on the night, along with Graham's six and Campbell's four. Allison King and Sanders each had 18 digs to lead the Bears in the back row. Setter Taylor Barnes, who had a season-high 54 assists, racked up 14 digs as well to give her a double-double along with Sanders and King, who added 10 assists to her 18 digs.
In the first set, Baylor jumped out to a 12-9 lead with back-to-back kills by Torri Campbell, but KSU responded with a 3-0 run to tie the score. Baylor had one more lead at 17-16 with a kill from Ashlie Christenson before the Wildcats put on a 6-0 run to seize control of the set. Baylor got just one more point in the set, but KSU closed with a 4-0 on two Baylor hitting errors and a set error.
The teams traded point-for-point early in the second set, but Baylor grabbed hold of the set after a timeout down 13-11. The Bears went on a 4-0 run with kills from Graham and Sanders to lead 16-13, then put on another 4-0 run with back-to-back blocks and a Breyfogle kill. Barnes closed it out with a second-touch kill for a 25-16 win.
In the third set, the Bears controlled from the beginning with a 3-0 start on three consecutive kills by Graham. Baylor pushed the lead to 16-11 with a Jordan Rice service ace and then held off the charging Wildcats with a 4-0 run on kills from Graham, Sanders and Campbell. Fittingly, Graham, who started with three kills, finished off the set with a kill for a 25-18 set win.
The fourth set was down to the wire, with both teams hustling down digs and grinding out kills. The teams tied the score eight times to make it 10-10, but Baylor went on a 4-0 run with two kills from Sanders and one from Graham. The Wildcats tied the score at 18-18, then took a 21-19 lead before Baylor responded with three consecutive points with a kill from Breyfogle and a Caitlyn Trice service ace. The Bears then fought off a furious KSU rally, including three set-points. Twice, Torri Campbell got kills, then the Bears got their break with a set-point after a KSU error. Sophomore Qian Zhang finished off the match with her only kill of the night.
The Bears (18-4, 7-4 Big 12) will be back on the road for their next match on Wednesday, Oct. 28, at Iowa State. The first serve between the Cyclones and Baylor is set for 6:30 p.m.
