Nov. 27, 2010

BAYLOR (16-15, 9-11)3, TEXAS TECH (4-25, 2-18)1 Box Score 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH 16 27 28 23 25 29 26 25 Stats Comparison Kills 51 69 Errors 18 24 Total Attacks 168 179 Attack Pct. .196 .251 Assists 48 65 Digs 73 88 Blocks 9.0 2.0 Service Aces 3 7 Stat Leaders Dowdy 14 Kills 17 3 players Meyers 41 Assists 30 Ridenour Vincent 19 Digs 31 Trice Roberts 6 Blocks 1 4 players Vaughan 2 Aces 2 2 players BAYLOR VOLLEYBALL CENTRAL • Volleyball Media Almanac • Match Notes • Big 12 Standings • Baylor Athletics Experience

WACO, Texas - On senior night, senior Caitlyn Trice had 31 digs and senior Elizabeth Graham had 17 kills to lead the Baylor over Texas Tech, 3-1 (25-16, 29-27, 26-28, 25-23), on Saturday at the Ferrell Center.

"(The seniors) are part of building this program, because they were a huge part of last year, having the best season in Baylor history," head coach Jim Barnes said. "This year has been frustrating as far as we've been right on the cusp and had the potential to make a nice run right here at the end. And we're told that we're one game short of the NCAA Tournament, and that's hard to swallow, because of how hard they've worked. But it doesn't diminish what they've done for this program and what classy ladies they are."

After Baylor (16-15, 9-11) took a dominating first set, 25-16, Texas Tech (4-25, 2-18) frustrated the Bears playing them close in each of the next three sets. Baylor had to make a late comeback to win the second set 29-27 and the fourth set 25-23.

"What we were hoping for is to end on a good note, especially for our seniors," Barnes said. "Texas Tech did not lay down. They kept fighting back and making us work for it. Finally we locked in and finished it out."

The Baylor offense got a spark from two underclassmen as well as Graham. Junior Briana Tolbert had a career-high 17 kills, while sophomore Torri Campbell also had 17 kills, as the trio combined for 51 of BU's 69 total kills. Tolbert made just one error in 28 total attempts to hit .571, while Campbell hit .424 in 33 total attempts with just three errors.

On defense, Trice's 31 digs were one of four players in double figures, and gave her a double-digit dig total in all 31 matches, including six with at least 30. Brittany Ridenour added 15 digs to go along with a team-best 30 assists for a double-double, while her setting partner Kate Harris had 10 digs and 28 assists to equal the double-double feat.

In the first set, Baylor led from the start, scoring three straight points to open the night with two kills by Graham and one by Allison King. A 5-0 run with three kills by Campbell made it 10-3, then a 3-0 run pushed the lead to 23-14. Kills by Tolbert and King closed out the set 25-16 for the Bears.

In the second set, Tech got back-to-back kills from Amanda Dowdy to race out to a 4-0 lead, but BU answered with a 6-2 run to tie the score at 6-6 with two kills each by Ashlie Christenson and Elizabeth Graham. The back-and-forth set had 12 ties and five lead changes, forcing Baylor to erase a three-point deficit with a 6-1 run to make it 15-13. During the span, King had two kills and a service ace for Baylor. The lead grew to three points at 23-20 with a kill by Tolbert, but Tech tied the score at 24-24. Down 27-26, Baylor got a kill by senior Ashley Byrd, then back-to-back kills by Tolbert to win 29-27.

Texas Tech led the third set nearly the whole way, building and early 10-6 lead, but Baylor battled back to tie it at 15-15 with a 5-1 run on the strength of kills by Tolbert and Campbell. Tech maintained a lead to 24-21, but Baylor erased three set-points with back-to-back kills by Campbell and a service ace by Harris. After Baylor gained a 26-25 lead, Tech scored three in a row to win 28-26 and force a fourth set.

The Bears were able to build a 4-1 lead with a Qian Zhang service ace in the fourth, but Tech came back to take a 15-13 lead. After a Tech error gave Baylor a 21-20 lead back, the Bears never relinquished, getting two TTU errors down the stretch for a 25-23 clincher.

The win marks the end of the regular season for Baylor. The Bears will wait for tomorrow's NCAA Selection Show between 2-2:30 p.m. CT, on ESPNNews to see if their season will continue. The win also ensures the Baylor fall sports season will end with the soccer, football and volleyball teams all having a winning record in the same year for the first time since joining the Big 12 Conference.