No. 3 VB Blanks Kansas for 11-0 Record at Home

Wednesday, November 13

Waco, Texas

7:00 p.m. CT

Baylor

Kansas

No. 3 VB Blanks Kansas for 11-0 Record at Home

11/13/2019 10:21:00 PM | Volleyball

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Bears have three players with double-digit kills for the second consecutive match

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Wednesday's match against the Kansas Jayhawks wasn't Senior Night for the third-ranked Baylor volleyball team, it just felt that way.
            Seniors Gia Milana and Shelly Stafford recorded double-digit kills with 13 and 11, respectively, libero Tara Wulf had seven digs and a season-high four aces and defensive specialist Braya Hunt added nine digs to help Baylor (21-1, 11-1) record its 17^th sweep of the year and ninth at home, 25-19, 26-24, 25-18, Wednesday night at the Ferrell Center.
            "I thought the seniors overall were doing some good things," said Baylor coach Ryan McGuyre, whose team swept the season series against  the Jayhawks for the first time in 12 years. "Gia hit well for us at Tech, too, so it's a good time for her to hit her stride and put some good games back-to-back."
            While senior All-American outside hitter Yossiana Pressley actually led the way with a match-high 17 kills, Milana had a season-high 13 kills and has had double-digit kills in three of the last four matches.
            Kansas (7-15, 3-9) jumped out to an 8-5 lead in the first set, but Milana had six kills in an 8-0 run that helped the Bears take the first set, 25-19.
            "We've been very intentional about putting the pin hitters in really uncomfortable situations in practice," Milana said. "So, when I'm in the game . . . it feels kind of easy, which is really weird to say. But, we're really challenged hard with difficult drills that push us. Our defense is getting so good, in practice it's really hard to get kills. When I'm in games, I can see open court and find kills."
            The second set proved to be much more of a challenge. Kansas jumped out to an early lead again, went up 19-16 on a Camryn Ennis kill and got to set point at 24-21 on an attacking error by Pressley. Stafford saved one set point with a kill and then served out the set with the Bears winning the last five points.
            "I thought Shelly's serving at the end of the second set . . . it's a whole different match if we drop that second set," McGuyre said. "It was good to see us sneak that out, but we shouldn't have been in that position."
            Serving on two of the Jayhawks' three set points, Stafford said she didn't think about the pressure of dropping the set with one service error.
            "Maybe if I did, I probably would have missed my serve," she said. "But, if you ask anyone, I have such a go-for-it mentality. I have like a ton of confidence, probably more than I should. . . . This is our senior season, and it was up to me to win that game or lose that game. I don't have another chance to win that game ever again in this gym."
            Baylor completely dominated the start of the third set, going up 18-5 on back-to-back kills by Marieke van der Mark and Stafford. The frustrating part for McGuyre was that the Bears didn't finish it the same way.
            Kansas reeled off seven-straight points, capped by an attack error by Braya Hunt, and got as close as 23-18 on a bad set by Hannah Lockin.
            "Volleyball is definitely a momentum sport," Milana said. "When you're up like that, you want to finish the game so fast, it's like you get a little tense. And I think we got a little tense. We just need to take a deep breath and trust our skills, trusteach other and get through it."
            Ultimately, Baylor did finish it off, getting back-to-back kills by Pressley and Milana to win the third set, 25-18.
            "We have to play much, much better tonight to have a top-4 seed, for sure," McGuyre said. "We're supposed to play one way. . . . But, it's a not-so-sharp pass, a not-so-sharp set, we get called in the net and get a double (hit). Next thing you know, they had a run of seven to kind of come back in it a little."
            After winning five-straight matches since being swept by Texas three weeks ago in Austin, the Bears host the top-ranked Longhorns (18-2, 12-0) in the rematch at 7 p.m. next Wednesday, Nov. 20.
            Baylor could win at least a share of its first Big 12 title by beating Texas, which "would be a stepping stone toward where we want to be," Milana said. "It will just be a testament to how hard we've worked in the gym. I feel like the major key from now until then is we're going to win the game in practice. And the game will tell us if we did or not."

THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas – No. 3 Baylor volleyball (21-1, 11-1 Big 12) used double-digit kills from three players to sweep past Kansas (7-15, 3-9 Big 12) Wednesday night at the Ferrell Center, 25-19, 26-24, 25-18.

BU was led offensively by Yossiana Pressley with 17 kills, followed by Gia Milana with 13 and Shelly Stafford with 11. Led by Big 12 Co-Offensive Player of the Week Hannah Lockin who logged 37 assists, it was the second-straight match that three Bears reached double-figure kills.

Tara Wulf had a season-high four aces behind the service line, and Kara McGhee led all players with four blocks at the net.

Kansas took an early 8-5 lead after a block in the middle, but the Bears took the next eight points behind six kills from Milana for the 13-8 advantage. Behind Milana's nine kills in the first frame, the Bears hit .361 to win the opener, 25-19.

BU struggled early in the second set and called a timeout with KU up 8-4. The Bears knotted it up at 12-12 with a Marieke van der Mark kill, but Kansas would pull ahead once again before BU used a block to tie it again at 19-19.

The Jayhawks took five of the next seven points to lead 24-21, but the Bears fought off three set points and went on a 5-0 run to close out the set and take the second frame, 26-24.

BU cruised early in the third set and held an 18-5 lead after a Stafford kill, but the Jayhawks rolled off a 7-0 run to pull the score to 18-12. Milana's kill ended the KU rally, and Milana's 13^th kill of the match ended it in straight sets, 25-18.

To keep up with things all season long, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @BaylorVBall.

HIGHLIGHTS
• Baylor swept the season series against the Jayhawks for the first time since 2007.
• BU has now won 63 sets and only dropped eight during the 2019 season.
• Baylor had three players with double-figure kills for the second-straight match.
• Baylor swept its 17^th match of the season and ninth at home.
• Yossiana Pressley led all players with 17 kills while Gia Milana added 13.
• Hannah Lockin had a match-high 37 assists.
• Shelly Stafford posted her 10^th double-figure kill match of the season with 11 kills on 17 swings (.647 efficiency).
• The Bears improved to 11-0 at home this season.
• Baylor is now 10-1 in sets decided in extra points (26-24 in set two).
• Baylor is now 44-12 as a ranked team under McGuyre.
• Baylor is now 69-0 when leading 2-0 in the match under McGuyre.
• Baylor improved to 26-25 all-time against Kansas and 4-6 under McGuyre.

STAT OF THE MATCH
3 – the number of players with double figure kills for the second-straight match (Pressley, Milana, Stafford).

TOP QUOTE
Head coach Ryan McGuyre
On the win…
"I thought the seniors overall were doing some good things. Gia (Milana) played well against Kansas last time. Gia hit well for us at Texas Tech too, so it's a good time for her to hit her stride and put some good games back to back. Yossi (Pressley) is back to being Yossi. We sided out horrendously in this match, but Yossi was able to take some good, high swings and score some points and bail us out. Shelly (Stafford)'s serving at the end of the second set – it's a whole different match if we drop that second set. It's good to sneak that one out. We shouldn't have been in that position. Tara (Wulf) got us some good serves. I liked what Shelly and Gia were doing for us along with Yossi."

WHAT'S NEXT
BU has a weekend bye and then will host No. 1 Texas in a top-three showdown and the top-two teams in the Big 12 next Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Ferrell Center. The matchup will be televised on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.

The first 1,000 fans will receive a free Baylor volleyball t-shirt as part of the "White Out" theme. Fans are encouraged to show up early and wear white for the match.