Baylor
New Mexico
VB Stops Lobos in Their Tracks
9/12/2009 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 12, 2009
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Baylor's volleyball team battled to a back-and-forth five-set victory (25-13, 24-26, 25-20, 20-25, 15-12) over Comcast Challenge tournament host New Mexico, getting 21 kills from senior Anna Breyfogle, including six in the deciding set. The win was also the 10th straight for the Bears, improving their school record to open the season.
"New Mexico really played a great match," head coach Jim Barnes said. "They played hard and gave us all we wanted. Luckily we got ourselves together in game five and it was all about heart after that."
Breyfogle's 21 kills came on 32 swings with just one hitting error for a match-leading .625 hitting percentage. Katie Sanders added 14 kills, Ashley Christenson added 11 and Torri Campbell had 10. Setter Taylor Barnes spread the ball around nicely for the Baylor attack with a season-high 53 assists.
In the first three sets, the Bears best offense was a spectacular defense, led by Breyfogle's seven blocks. Campbell added a career-high six blocks and Taylor Barnes and Katie Sanders each had four.
"Some people stepped up tonight," Barnes said. "Anna had a great match, Taylor had a great match, They helped us finish off this match."
Also on defense, the back row played a solid passing game, getting 18 digs from both Allison King and Jordan Rice. Sanders added 14 digs for her sixth double-double of the season, Caitlyn Trice added 10. The Baylor defense combined to keep a potent UNM attack to under .200 at .190 forcing them into 30 errors in the match, with 66 kills on 189 attempts.
Baylor dominated the first set, building an 8-5 lead with kills from Breyfogle, Christenson, and Barnes. From that point, Baylor's net play got rolling with back-to-back block assists by Campbell, once with Ashley Byrd and once with Sanders. Breyfogle and Christenson added a block to make it 15-9 and Baylor didn't look back from there, closing out the set on a 6-0 run. Sanders had two kills and Christenson and Campbell each had one.
The second set featured 14 ties and five lead changes. The Bears battled out of a 9-6 to tie the score at 11 with kills from Breyfogle and Sanders. Back-to-back blocks by Breyfogle, once with Barnes and once with Sanders, gave the Bears a 13-12 lead. Neither team had more than two points of separation the rest of the way. Baylor tied the score at 24-24 with a block assist from Campbell and Elizabeth Graham, but UNM found a way to tie the match at one set each with a kill and a block.
The third set started out much the same as the second, but was controlled by New Mexico until Baylor put on a three-point run to tie the score at 14-14. Baylor had lead at 6-5, but didn't regain that lead until 17-16 with a Campbell kill. After UNM tied it at 18, Baylor took over on the strength of kills by Graham, Sanders and Breyfogle.
In the fourth, the Lobos jumped out to a 6-0 lead as the Bears struggled to find an offensive rhythm, building a lead as big as nine points, 18-9. The Bears put up a fight, closing to within four at 22-18, but UNM regained their composure and closed out forcing a deciding fifth set.
The Lobos carried the momentum into the fifth building a 7-4 lead. Down three, the Bears jumped on the back of Breyfogle, who turned in a spectacular stretch run. The Bears closed to within one on a Campbell kill at 9-10, then Breyfogle reeled three consecutive kills to give the Bears a 13-11 lead. Sanders set up match-point with a kill, and Breyfogle finished it off with a her season-high 21st kill.
The Bears will be back in action Saturday afternoon at 3:45 p.m. MT/4:45 p.m CT against Cal State Fullerton. Baylor will look to win its third and final tournament of the season, after taking the title at the Flo Hyman Invitational and the Holiday Inn & Suites Baylor Classic.
