Sept. 4, 2009
Box Score
WACO, Texas - The Baylor volleyball team cruised past Central Florida on the opening day of the 2009 Holiday Inn & Suites Baylor Classic at the Ferrell Center with a 3-0 (25-9, 25-18, 25-16) sweep.
Baylor controlled the match from the beginning with efficient passing and a hitting percentage of .434 (46-10-83). Senior Katie Sanders led the Bears with her third double-double of the season, and second in a row, with 12 kills and 10 digs. Ashlie Christenson added nine kills, while Ashley Byrd and Briana Tolbert each tallied seven. Setter Taylor Barnes racked up 34 set assists in the match.
On defense, Allison King also reached double figures in digs with 11, while Anna Breyfogle and Elizabeth Graham each had four blocks. Byrd and Barnes each had three block assists.
From the opening play, the Bears took control of the match building a quick 3-0 lead with two Tolbert kills sandwiched around the first of two service aces from Barnes. Up 7-3, the Bears threw the knock-out punch for the first set scored 11 of the next 12 points with three kills from Sanders and two from Christenson. Breyfogle closed the set out with a kill, giving the Bears a 25-9 win.
In the second set, it was the same story for BU, jumping out to a 3-1 lead with a kill by Byrd and back-to-back Knight errors. UCF closed to with one at 10-9, but the Bears kept the distance scoring four of the next five points with two kills by Sanders, and one each by Christenson and Barnes, who closed out the set with another kill for a 25-18 set win.
The Bears cruised in the third set with a spark off the bench from Graham, who didn't play in the first two sets, but racked up three kills and four blocks (1 solo, 3 assist) without an error. Two of Graham's blocks came in the last four points with a solo block of UCF's Kristin Fischer and a block assist with Barnes against Brittanie Wallace.
Baylor is back in action twice on Saturday, Sept. 5, with two games in the Holiday Inn & Suites Baylor Classic. Their first match of the day against UTSA is set to begin at 11 a.m., with the nightcap against Purdue slated for 7:30 p.m.
