By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
           
Somewhat out of desperation, Ryan McGuyre promised his 25^th-ranked Baylor volleyball team that if the Bears could win the fourth set against Hawaii in Thursday's opening round of the NCAA Championships, "I guarantee you we'll win the fifth."
           
Rallying from two sets down and an 18-14 deficit in the fourth set, Baylor came back to beat the Rainbow Wahine, 23-25, 23-25, 25-14, 26-24, 16-14, in an epic five-setter at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Ore.
           
"We played ugly enough to win," McGuyre said. "The girls pulled it out and made me look good."
           
Advancing to the second round for the third year in a row, the Bears (20-8) will face 15^th-seeded Oregon (21-10) at 9 p.m. CST Friday for a berth in the Sweet 16. The Ducks survived a shaky start to get past New Mexico State, 25-22, 18-25, 25-21, 25-11.
           
"Toward the end of our season, in conference, we started finding grit and that fight that we have," said sophomore outside hitter Yossiana Pressley, who had 17 kills, nine digs and six blocks. "For us to finally pull out the victory in five, it was great. And it just shows what our team can do and how we can win."
           
Hawaii, a tradition-rich program making its 26^th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, jumped out to a 2-0 lead and appeared on the brink of its seventh consecutive win over the Bears.
             
Baylor seemed to be in control of the first set, going up 19-14 on a Pressley kill that forced a Hawaii timeout. But, the Rainbow Wahine closed it out on an 11-4 run that included two service errors by the Bears and back-to-back attack errors by Pressley.
           
"They have an awesome libero, awesome defense," said junior middle blocker Shelly Fanning, who posted her first career double-double with a match-high 18 kills and career-best 10 blocks. "For me, it was really tough, because balls that would usually go down, they did not. It was definitely frustrating, but it challenged me in new ways and I'm thankful for that."
           
Hawaii stayed hot in the second set and went up 23-15 before the Bears reeled off seven unanswered points and pulled within 23-22. Another service error, this time by Tara Wulf, ended that run. And then the Rainbow Wahine closed it out with a Casey Castillo kill.
           
"We were fighting to get back into our rhythm (in the second set), and we knew we had to play like every point was our last. Because if we didn't, it would be," Fanning said. "We wanted to turn the match around. Even if we didn't win that second set, we wanted to gain momentum going into the third. I think we did a pretty good job of fighting back, point by point, through that."
           
The Bears dominated the third set, 25-14, hitting a match-high .394 with 16 kills and only three errors. And then, facing an 18-14 deficit and elimination in the fourth set, they came storming back and won it on a Fanning kill and combo block by Jaelyn Jackson and Aniah Philo.
           
In a back-and-forth fifth set that included five lead changes, Baylor staved off a match point with a Gia Milana kill at 13-14. The Maryland transfer then helped close it out by combining with Fanning to block Norene Iosia and crushing a cross-court kill from the right side.
           
"For as long back as I can remember in coaching, we've had success in the fifth set," said McGuyre, whose team has now won five five-setters in a row. "You have to stay consistent in who you are. . . . You have to trust first, then you win. You can't win and then start trusting in what's going on."
           
Baylor beat Hawaii for the first time in seven tries and will now go for a first win against Oregon, which is 4-0 all-time versus the Bears. The national runners-up in 2012, the Ducks are looking for their first Sweet 16 berth since 2014.
           
A preseason All-American, Oregon's 6-3 outside hitter Lindsay Vander Weide had 18 kills and 10 digs against New Mexico State and hit .447.
           
"I've been stuck on this weekend for a minute," Vander Weide said. "I'm excited to be able to play again (Friday). It's really exciting we got past the first round. We're going to have to bring a lot better energy."
 

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THE RUNDOWN
EUGENE, Ore. – No. 25 Baylor volleyball (20-8) found itself down 2-0 and 18-14 in the fourth set, but the Bears grinded out a five-set thriller over Hawai'i (18-9) in the NCAA First Round Thursday at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Ore., 23-25, 23-25, 25-14, 26-24, 16-14.

Baylor is headed to the NCAA Second Round for the third consecutive season and captured its third-straight 20-win season under head coach Ryan McGuyre.

Shelly Fanning led the Bears with 18 kills and posted a career-high 10 blocks for her first career double-double. Yossiana Pressley put down 17 kills, and Aniah Philo had her 13^th double-double of the season with 14 kills and 21 digs.

Philo and Gia Milana also posted their 1,000^th career kill in the match, combining for 21 on the outside.

Baylor came out fast against the Rainbow Wahine and took a slim 15-13 lead at the media timeout. Baylor led 19-14 after back-to-back Pressley kills, but the Rainbow Wahine would tie it at 23-23 with a kill. BU closed out the frame on two attack errors, falling 25-23.

Hawai'i kept the momentum to start the second frame and led 23-15 before the Bears went on a 7-0 run to pull within one at 23-22. BU saved a set point with a Pressley kill, but Hawai'i closed it out for the 2-0 advantage, 25-23.

BU fired back in the third frame and led 19-10 following a Philo kill. Baylor closed out the set on a 4-1 run to climb back into the match, 25-14.

The Bears found themselves down 18-14 in the fourth frame after a Rainbow Wahine block. Baylor jumped in front at 22-21 and used a block to force a fifth set, 26-24.

Baylor jumped in front, 4-2, but gave up a 4-0 run to fall behind by two. Baylor climbed its way back into the set and took the lead at 12-11 with a Philo kill. Hawai'i took a 14-13 lead to force a Baylor timeout, but the Bears rolled off three consecutive points on the right side to end the match, 16-14.

HIGHLIGHTS
• The Bears clinched its third-straight win in the NCAA First Round and are now 6-6 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
• Baylor stormed back from a 2-0 deficit for the second time this season but for the first time in postseason play, previously 0-5.
• Baylor has its third consecutive 20-win season for the second time in program history (1991-93).
• Baylor is now 3-2 in NCAA tournament matches under Ryan McGuyre.
• Baylor collected its first-ever win against Hawai'i, improving to 1-6 all-time against the Rainbow Wahine.
• Baylor has won a postseason match for the third consecutive season.
• Shelly Fanning posted her first career double-double with 18 kills and a career-high 10 blocks.
• Fanning is the ninth player in Baylor history to record a postseason double-double.
• Yossiana Pressley posted her 25^th double-digit match with 17 kills.
• Aniah Philo collected her 1,000^th career kill against the Rainbow Wahine, finishing with 14 kills and a team-high 21 digs.
• Gia Milana collected her 1,000^th career kill against the Rainbow Wahine on match point, finishing with seven.
• Shanel Bramschreiber tied a match-high two service aces Thursday night.
• Baylor is 14-7 as a ranked team in 2018 and 23-10 as a ranked team under McGuyre.
• The Bears are now 4-0 in five-set matches in the postseason.

STAT OF THE MATCH
10 – the career-high block count by junior Shelly Fanning.

TOP QUOTE
Head coach Ryan McGuyre
On the win…
"What a tough battle. It could have gone either way. I thought Hawai'I did a phenomenal job against us defensively. We hit pretty low most of the night minus the third set. I thought the serve and pass was the difference maker at times. We battled but put up a lot of errors. Our girls did a good job blocking, but it came down to who was getting good touches off the block. We had a lot of bright moments, but Shelly (Fanning) was a bright spot, sustaining us the whole time."

WHAT'S NEXT
The Bears (20-8) face 15^th-seeded Oregon Friday at 9 p.m. CT at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Ore.

BU looks for its second-ever win in the NCAA Second Round and a chance to return to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the first time since 2009.