By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

​On a Senior Night to remember, Aniah Philo recorded her team-best 12th double-double and Jaelyn Jackson had six blocks to help the 25th-ranked Baylor volleyball team cap off the regular season Wednesday with a 3-1 win over West Virginia at the Ferrell Center. 

​The Bears (19-8, 11-5) dropped the first set, despite rallying from a 22-14 deficit, but dominated the next three sets to win, 25-27, 25-16, 25-19, 25-16, with Philo (14) and sophomore Yossiana Pressley (20) posting double-digit kills. 

​"You did the hard work to fight back and do it, then you've got to finish it off, for sure," said coach Ryan McGuyre, whose team clinched its second-straight runner-up finish in the Big 12 standings. "But, at least we got some rhythm and momentum going before we switched sides (after the first set). At times this year, we've struggled in the second set. We were able to push through that one and finish them all off fairly strong."

​Philo, Jackson and right-side hitter Ashley Fritcher were honored in a post-match ceremony that included a video presentation. 

​After "terminating throughout the entire night," Philo "put a good exclamation on it," McGuyre said, with a kill on match point. 

​"It was good to see her up in the kills," McGuyre said. "She does so much for us – serving, digging, blocking – but it was good to have the offense from her."

​Jackson and redshirt junior Shelly Fanning shared match-high honors with six blocks, with Jackson adding four kills on just nine swings. 

​"Jaelyn is really just playing the best volleyball of her career in this twilight stage right here," McGuyre said. "She came up with some big blocks for us. And I think her numbers will continue to rise through the postseason."

​Making a rare start in her 69th career match, Fritcher had two first-set kills and added one block assist and a dig. 

​"She's one of our hardest workers in the gym," McGuyre said of Fritcher, who graduated in May with a degree in communication sciences and disorders. "Her frontline game is great, but just her perseverance through everything in her career here. (John) Wooden's definition of success is doing the best you can to become the best you're capable of becoming. That's Ashley Fritcher."

​Hitting a match-low .186 in the first set, the Bears had an 11-2 run to rally from a 22-14 deficit to go up 25-24. Back-to-back blocks by Jackson, two aces by freshman Shanel Bramschreiber and two kills by Fanning gave Baylor a match point, but West Virginia closed on a 3-0 run that included a kill by Kristin Lux and a combo block by Lux and Kristina Jordan. 

​Taking control in the second set, the Bears hit .386 with 16 kills, only four errors and an 81.0 side-out percentage. Pressley had six of her match-high 20 kills in the second set and added seven more in the third when she closed it out with a combo block with Fanning. 

​"Yossi knows she can play better. She knows her errors are high," McGuyre said of Pressley, who hit .250 with eight errors on 50 swings. "But, she's working, she's going to be Yossi. Over the course of the match, when she chooses perseverance, she gets back to who she is and is pretty stinking awesome and helps us win."

​Splitting time with Hannah Fluegel at setter, sophomore Hannah Lockin had 36 assists, nine digs and four kills, while Tara Wulf had 18 of Baylor's 71 digs. 

​Baylor, 14th in the latest NCAA RPI rankings, will find out its postseason fate on the NCAA Volleyball Championship selection show that airs at 7:30 p.m. Sunday on ESPNU. The Bears are in line for their third consecutive NCAA tournament bid, which would be a program-first, and potentially hosting the first and second round for the second-straight season. 

​"I feel like we're in a really good position," McGuyre said. "Our strength of schedule was top 10, so we're not shying away from it. Other than Texas, we beat everybody in the second half (of conference play). So, our last 10 are good, we're healthy, we've got significant wins – Marquette, Wisconsin and some other tough opponents. So, it's not like we won all our games playing nobodies. We put a schedule together that I really thought could help us be a top-10 team. We stubbed our toe with some injuries and stuff. But, I think if the committee remains consistent, we should be in good shape."

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THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas – No. 25 Baylor volleyball (19-8, 11-5 Big 12) closed out another impressive regular season with a 3-1 victory over West Virginia (11-18, 2-13 Big 12) Wednesday night at the Ferrell Center, 25-27, 25-16, 25-19, 25-16.

Baylor posted its second-straight season finishing in second place in the conference standings, posting an 11-5 record and a 7-1 record during the second half of league play.

Aniah Philo posted her team-leading 12^th double-double of the season with 14 kills and 10 digs on Senior Night. Yossiana Pressley lead all players after she posted 20 kills on a .240 hitting clip.

Shelly Fanning and Jaelyn Jackson dominated at the net with six blocks each to help BU post 12.5 blocks against the Mountaineers.

BU came out slow in the opening frame and allowed the Mountaineers to get out to an 11-7 lead after two straight errors. Down 22-14, the Bears put together a 7-0 run with Shanel Bramschreiber behind the line and came within one at 22-21. BU fought off a pair of set points to even it at 24-24 but couldn't capitalize in a 27-25 loss.

In set two, the Bears fired back and took a 13-11 lead after back-to-back aces by Braya Hunt. Baylor never looked back and sealed the frame with a solo block from Fanning, 25-16.

Baylor and West Virginia tangled in the third frame, but the Bears fell behind 15-14 at the media timeout after a WVU kill. Baylor fought back to take a 21-18 lead after a Gia Milana kill and used a 4-1 run to take the set, 25-19.

The Bears rolled in the fourth set and used a Jackson kill and Tara Wulf ace to go up 15-8. BU closed out the match with a right-side kill from Philo, 25-16.

HIGHLIGHTS
• The Bears clinched second place in the conference standings (11-5) in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history.
• Baylor finishes at 7-1 in the second half of conference play for the second-straight season.
• Yossiana Pressley posted her 12^th 20-kill match of the season, finishing with a match-high 20 kills.
• Aniah Philo produced her 12^th double-double of the season with 14 kills and 10 digs.
• Hannah Lockin led all players with 36 assists.
• Tara Wulf had a match-high 18 digs in the back row for her 23^rd double-digit match of the season.
• Three Bears posted double-digit digs: Wulf (18), Hunt (11) and Pressley (10).
• Baylor finished the Big 12 season by going 6-0 when leading its opponent in blocks.
• Baylor finished the Big 12 season by going 10-0 when leading its opponent in hitting percentage.
• Baylor finished the Big 12 season by going 7-0 when leading its opponent in service aces.
• Baylor improves to 14-3 all-time against the Mountaineers and 8-0 under head coach Ryan McGuyre.
• Baylor is 13-7 as a ranked team in 2018 and 22-10 as a ranked team under McGuyre.
• The Bears honored Aniah Philo, Ashley Fritcher and Jaelyn Jackson as part of Senior Night in a post-match ceremony.

STAT OF THE MATCH
12 – the amount of double-doubles this season by senior Aniah Philo.

TOP QUOTE
Head coach Ryan McGuyre
On the win…
"We did the hard part by fighting back, but then we couldn't finish (the first set) off. At least we got some rhythm and momentum going before we switched sides. At times we struggled in the second set, and we were able to push through that one and then finish the rest of the match off."

WHAT'S NEXT
The Bears closes out the regular season with a 19-8 overall record and 11-5 mark in Big 12 play.

Baylor will learn its postseason fate at the NCAA Volleyball Championship Selection Show Sunday, Nov. 25 at 7:30 p.m. CT on ESPNU. BU looks for its third consecutive NCAA Tournament bid for the first time in program history and hosting duties for first and second rounds for the second-straight season.