Nov. 14, 2009

Box Score

LAWRENCE, Kan. - Despite a triple-double by setter Taylor Barnes, No. 21 Baylor couldn't find its stride in a 3-1 loss (18-25, 25-19, 20-25, 20-25) to the University of Kansas at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center in Lawrence, Kan.

The Baylor attack struggled through the first set, but pieced together the offense in the second set for their only win of the day, then reverted in sets three and four as KU got theirs rolling.

Barnes had 40 assists and 10 kills to go along with 12 digs on defense to lead the Bears. Senior Katie Sanders and freshman Torri Campbell each had a team-high 12 kills on the match, but Baylor hit just .176 (51-24-153) on the match, compared to KU's .252 (60-21-155).

Baylor had 10 fewer digs and six fewer blocks than Kansas. Allison King had a team-high 16 digs for Baylor, and Campbell, Elizabeth Graham and Anna Breyfogle each had three block assists.

On the other side, the Jayhawks were led by Karina Garlington's match-high 19 kills and Allison Mayfield's 16 kills. Libero Melissa Grieb had 19 digs and setter Nicole Tate had 16 digs to go along with her 45 assists.

The Bears recorded the first two points of the first set with kills by Sanders and Campbell, but Garlington put KU on the board with two kills and a block. Tied at 4-4, KU put on a 9-1 run with two blocks and two Mayfield kills. The Bears got as close as 16-11 with two kills by Campbell and one by Graham, but KU scored five of the next six to control the set. The Jayhawks finished it off 25-18 with a kill by Garlington.

In the second set, Baylor came out determined on offense with a kill by Sanders and a Breyfogle service ace for a 2-0 lead. The Bears extended the lead to 11-6 with a kill and block by Breyfogle. As the Baylor block got back in the match, KU was forced into hitting errors after closing to within 16-14. Baylor responded with back-to-back kills by Barnes and Sanders after two Mayfield hitting errors to take a 21-16 lead. After Garlington recorded two more kills, BU got a kill from Barnes and stuffed Mayfield with Campbell and Graham to end the set 25-19.

Baylor controlled the third set early on as Breyfogle teamed up with Barnes and Christenson on back-to-back blocks for a 6-4 lead. KU answered to tie the match at 7-7 and the teams traded points until Baylor took a 16-14 lead with two kills by Barnes. From that point it was all KU, as the Jayhawks scored eight of the last 11 points to win the set 25-20.

In the fourth, Baylor put themselves in position to stay in the match. Breyfogle gave the Bears a 9-5 lead with a kill, then Qian Zhang made it 14-12 with her only kill of the match. But, just as they had done all afternoon, KU got three kills in a row by Mayfield to take a 19-16 lead. The Jayhawks didn't look back from that point, finishing off the match with two Garlington kills to make 25-20.

Baylor (21-7, 10-7 Big 12) will be back on the road on Wednesday, Nov. 18 against No. 8 Nebraska in Lincoln, Neb. The match is set for 7 p.m., and will be streamed live on audio on BaylorBears.com.