Sept. 21, 2011
| | | 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | | 25 | 24 | 26 | 25 | | 22 | 26 | 24 | 18 |
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| STATS COMPARISON | | | | Kills | 52 | 62 | | Errors | 20 | 29 | | Total Attacks | 164 | 174 | Attack Pct.
| .195 | .190 | | Assists | 49 | 57 | | Digs | 79 | 77 | | Blocks | 14.0 | 7.0 | | Service Aces | 5 | 3 |
| Stat Leaders | | | Boulavsky | 13 | Kills | 15 | Campbell | | Barker | 43 | Assists | 49 | Ridenour | | Fernanda | 27 | Digs | 21 | Harris | | 2 Players | 5 | Blocks | 4 | Campbell | | 2 Players | 2 | Aces | 2 | Zhang |
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WACO, Texas- Despite 15 kills from junior Torri Campbell and 14 from freshman Adri Nora, Baylor dropped its Big 12 opener 3-1 (22-25, 26-24, 24-26, 18-25) to No. 25 Oklahoma on Wednesday at the Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas.
A season-high crowd of 1,189 saw a match that featured 37 ties and 14 lead changes, but inopportune errors doomed the Bears, who had 10 more kills (62) than the Sooners (62). Baylor had as many or more kills than Oklahoma in all four sets, but OU pulled out a three-point win in the first set and a two-point win in the third to stave off the Bears.
"We had just a few errors at the absolute wrong time," head coach Jim Barnes said. "We out-killed them by 10, but we just didn't have all six doing their job all the time. We have to be the most disciplined team because we have the firepower, but it doesn't matter when you aren't disciplined. We just didn't take care of that tonight."
Campbell's season-high 15 kills came on just 26 attempts with only three errors for a .462 hitting percentage, while Nora's 14 kills came with nine errors in 45 attempts for a .111 clip. Junior Alyssa Dibbern added 10 kills, while senior Briana Tolbert recorded nine. Senior Brittany Ridenour had 49 assists for the offense.
On defense, Baylor's back row averaged more than 19 digs per set with junior Kate Harris and freshman Hope Ogden each notching career-high dig numbers. Harris tallied 21 and Ogden had 15, while senior libero Allison King had a solid night as well with 19.
The Sooners countered with 13 kills from Suzy Boulavsky and 12 from Tara Dunn on offense, but it was their back-row defense with libero Maria Fernanda that made the difference. Fernanda recorded a match-high 27 digs, while three other Sooners each had at least 10. The Sooners also were a force at the net with 14.0 total blocks, including five each by Dunn and Sallie McLaurin.
In the first set, Baylor looked poised at the start, methodically building a 7-4 lead that included three kills by Dibbern. But, the nationally-ranked Sooners chipped away, taking a 10-9 lead with a service ace. Baylor scored three in a row to take the lead back at 12-10 with back-to-back block assists and a kill by Nora. The Bears held the lead at 20-18 before OU went on a big run. A block and two consecutive kills by Boulavsky gave OU a 23-22 lead, then a service ace ended it at 25-22.
Baylor stretched a lead in the second set to 15-8 with a 6-1 run on the strength of two kills by Nora and a Qian Zhang service ace. An OU error made it 17-12, but the Sooners scored eight of the next nine to go up 20-18 and threaten to take a 20. After Baylor tied it at 20-20, OU scored four straight to set up set-point. Not to be outdone, the Bears defeated four consecutive set points, led by two kills by Campbell and two block assists by Campbell and Ridenour on the way to a 26-24 set-win.
The third set was another extremely tight set with Baylor again striking first with a 5-2 lead on two kills by Nora. Two kills from Dibbern gave Baylor an 8-6 lead, but the Sooners again tied it at 12-12. The teams traded sideouts until two straight from Baylor on a kill by Campbell and ace by Zhang gave them a 19-17 lead. After an OU run put BU down 22-20, the Bears scored four of the next five with kills by Zhang and Tolbert for a 24-23 lead. OU's Dunn then scored two kills and a solo block to lead the Sooners to the 26-24 win and a 2-1 lead.
In the fourth, Campbell and Nora gave Baylor an 8-6 lead, but it would be the final lead of the set for BU. The Sooners rattled off a 6-2 run to take command. Campbell, Tolbert and Zhang each three kills in the set, but Baylor fell 25-18.
The Bears will be back on the road this weekend in Manhattan, Kan., taking on Kansas State at 7 p.m. The match will be the Big 12 opener for Kansas State, who had the midweek and boasts an 11-3 overall record this season.
