THE RUNDOWN
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – No. 1 Baylor volleyball (24-1, 14-1 Big 12) fought its way back from an early deficit to take a 3-1 win over West Virginia (11-17, 2-13 Big 12) Tuesday night at WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, W.Va., 30-32, 25-23, 25-22, 25-17.
Baylor improved to a program-best 14-1 in conference action with one match to play in the regular season. The Bears move within one win of clinching at least a share of the team's first Big 12 title.
Junior
Yossiana Pressley posted her seventh double-double of the season with 24 kills and 13 digs. Senior
Gia Milana matched a season-high 13 kills, and senior
Shelly Stafford put down nine kills against WVU.
Junior
Hannah Lockin led the Bears with 46 assists while three different players recorded service aces against the Mountaineers.
Defensively, sophomore
Marieke van der Mark had a career-high seven blocks while Stafford tied the team lead with seven. Five Bears had double-digit digs, led by Pressley, Lockin and senior
Tara Wulf with 13 apiece.
The Bears opened up the match with a 5-0 lead, and then the Mountaineers came back within one at 10-9. BU led 19-15, but the home team took a 22-20 lead after a Baylor attack error. The Bears fought back for the 23-22 lead, but the Mountaineers converted on their sixth set point to take the opener in extra points, 32-30.
BU started slow in set two and called a timeout after West Virginia led 12-8. BU took seven of the next nine points to take the lead and used a .216 hitting efficiency to take the 25-23 win.
Baylor took control of the third set with a commanding 20-14 lead, but the Mountaineers pushed and cut the lead to 22-19 to force the BU timeout. BU held on for the 25-22 lead for the 2-1 advantage.
The Bears stormed out to the 5-1 lead in set four with a van der Mark kill and took an 18-11 lead late into the frame. West Virginia strung together four straight points to pull within three at 18-15, but the Bears took seven of the last nine points to seal the win, 25-17.
To keep up with things all season long, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @BaylorVBall.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Baylor recorded its 10
th consecutive win over West Virginia and fifth straight in Morgantown.
• BU has now won 72 sets and only dropped 11 during the 2019 season.
• Baylor improved to a program-best 14-1 in conference play.
•
Yossiana Pressley led the team in kills for the 24
th time this season with 24 kills. She passed Tisha Schwartz for the fourth-most Baylor career kills in the rally scoring era and has 1,356 career kills.
•
Gia Milana matched a season-high 13 kills against the Mountaineers.
• Lockin posted her team-best 12
th double-double of the season.
•
Marieke van der Mark posted a career-high seven blocks, and
Shelly Stafford posted seven.
• Five Bears had double-digit digs, including 13 each from Pressley, Lockin and Wulf.
•
Shanel Bramschreiber had a career-best 12 digs.
• Baylor is now 47-12 as a ranked team under McGuyre.
• Baylor is now 2-1 when trailing 1-0 this season.
• Baylor improved to 16-3 all-time against West Virginia and 7-1 in Morgantown.
STAT OF THE MATCH
5 – the number of Bears with double-digit digs.
WHAT'S NEXT
BU will close out the Big 12 regular season against TCU on Saturday at the Ferrell Center in Waco. The match will begin at 2 p.m. CT on Big 12 Now on ESPN+. The Bears will honor its six seniors after the match for Senior Day.
A Baylor win over the Horned Frogs would clinch at least a share of the Big 12 title for the first time in program history.
