VB Concludes Historic Season in NCAA National Semifinals

Thursday, December 19

Pittsburgh, Pa.

6:00 p.m. CT

Baylor

29-2,15-1Big 12

Wisconsin (Semifinals)

25-5,15-1Big Ten

Wisconsin

Baylor

VB Concludes Historic Season in NCAA National Semifinals

12/19/2019 10:32:00 PM | Volleyball

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Bears fall 3-1 to fourth-seeded Wisconsin on Thursday night in Pittsburgh

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            PITTSBURGH, Pa. – In the moment, losing for just the second time all year stings for a top-ranked Baylor volleyball team making its first trip to the NCAA national semifinals.
            But, junior All-American Yossiana Pressley was quick to say, "Trust me, we'll be back next year."
            In what Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield called "a whale of a volleyball match," the fourth-seeded Badgers (27-6) rallied from a set down to beat the top-seeded Bears, 25-27, 25-21, 25-17, 25-19, in the first of Thursday's semifinals at the PPG Paints Arena.
            Pressley had a match-high 25 kills, but was held to a .191 hitting percentage with 12 attack errors on 68 total swings as Baylor (29-2) hit just .183 as a team and was out-blocked, 14.5-10.0, by a Wisconsin team that avenged a 3-1 loss to the Bears earlier this year.
            "When I was shaking hands, I started crying a little bit," Pressley said. "But then, I got so happy (for the team). I was like, 'Wow, this was such an amazing season.' Even though it didn't go as we planned . . . it's so great that we finally got to put Baylor on an even bigger platform and use it to glorify the Lord."
            The Badgers, 3-0 in national semifinals, advance to Saturday's 7 p.m. CST championship game for the third time and will face third-seeded Stanford (29-4) after the Cardinal swept seventh-seeded Minnesota, 3-0.
            "The season Baylor's had, I've got so much respect for him and his staff and all those guys, what they've done," Sheffield said. "What Ryan has done with that program and that team and the talent that is there and the talent that they still have coming back, it's unbelievable."
            Wisconsin, which had won all 12 sets in its previous four NCAA tournament matches, dropped the opening set when the Bears survived a set point with a Gia Milana kill and scored four of the last five points to win it, 27-25.
            Pressley had six kills in that first set and also combined on two of Baylor's four blocks, holding the Badgers to a .243 hitting percentage.
            "My hope and how we approached this season was to try and give them as much experience of what this atmosphere is like without ever having been there for anybody on the entire team," McGuyre said. "And I felt like we were close to that because we were able to come out, win that first set. That spoke to that grit."
            In a reversal of the first meeting, though, Wisconsin was the team that was able to come back from a first-set loss to pull it out against a Baylor team that had trailed 2-1 just once this year. In that one, the Bears came from a set down to beat Oklahoma on the road in five.
            Junior setter Sydney Hilley said the Badgers "didn't panic" after dropping the opening set, "and we knew there was a lot of volleyball let. We knew the match would be decided by one set. I thought we did a god job staying positive and staying aggressive after that."
            Wisconsin relied on its 1-2 punch of middle blocker Dana Rettke and Molly Haggerty, who had 19 and 15 kills, respectively. Rettke added eight blocks and three of the Badgers' nine service aces in an all-around dominant performance.
            "Their defense was awesome," said Baylor senior middle blocker Shelly Stafford, who had 10 kills and two blocks in her final collegiate game. "They were getting digs we didn't expect them to make or getting saves we did not expect them to make, also. I think we just needed to focus on our side more and make sure that we were winning the serve and pass game, serving tough, passing well."
            Sophomore right-side hitter Marieke van der Mark added eight kills, while Milana had seven kills and four blocks. Junior All-American setter Hannah Lockin had 44 assists, seven digs and four blocks, but struggled overall with two setting errors, two service errors and one ball-handling error.
            "I could probably give you 20 things we've got to fix and do better if we were playing tomorrow," McGuyre said. "But, we'll address those in January."
            With two of his three first-team All-Americans returning, McGuyre like Pressley is confident the Bears will be back.
            "I think the hope is when you do it right, it does sting and that it burns for the ones that want to get back here and take another step forward," said McGuyre, who was named the AVCA National Coach of the Year earlier in the day. "Each year, we've been taking a step, taking a step, taking a step, and definitely this is a big step to climb and get to and we'd like to take it a step further.
            "Yossi will be hungry, Hannah Lockin will be hungry. We go from six seniors to those two, and confident that they'll do a great job."
            McGuyre said senior middle blocker Nicole Thomas, who had a kill on her only swing of the night, "spoke some words of wisdom to the team that really captures it in the moment way better than anything I could have done."
            Thomas, who also led a prayer with both teams after the match, said that "in suffering, (God) gives us an opportunity to still share His glory, to still share His love with other people, to still be caring and loving to each other."
            "I just shared that let's not hold on to this loss or hold on to this is our season," Thomas said. "Instead, let's focus on the good we've seen from God this season. . . . Let's focus on the goodness of our God, His character, and let's not let ourselves feel the weight of a loss, because it really is temporary. Like today it hurts, but tomorrow who can we trust, who can rely on but God?"

THE RUNDOWN
PITTSBURGH – No. 1 Baylor volleyball (29-2) closed out its unprecedented 2019 season with a 3-1 loss to No. 4 seed and fifth-ranked Wisconsin (27-6) on Thursday night in PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.

BU closed out its season with a school-record 29 wins, the program's first Big 12 title and the longest postseason run in school history.

Junior Yossiana Pressley led all players with 25 kills and also posted a team-high 16 digs for her eighth double-double of the season and first in postseason play. Senior Shelly Stafford closed out her career with 10 kills for her 13^th double-digit match of the season.

BU came out and took a 15-13 lead with a Stafford kill at the media timeout. Wisconsin came back to tie at 19-19 before the Bears retook the lead off a Pressley kill. BU led 22-20 after a block, but UW had set point at 24-23 following a kill. BU converted on its second set point with a Marieke van der Mark kill for the first-set win, 27-25.

BU fell behind early in set two and called timeout after trailing 11-8. BU pulled back within two at 17-15 with a Kara McGhee kill, but the Badgers ran off five consecutive points to take the second frame, 25-21.

Baylor and Wisconsin were tied at 6-6 in the third set, but the Badgers forced the BU timeout after a 4-0 run. The Bears hit .097 to Wisconsin's .400 to drop the frame, 25-17.

BU fought back and led 14-10 with a Stafford kill. The Badgers pulled within two before the Bears held a 17-14 advantage. The Badgers retook and never relinquished its lead after a 11-2 run to end the match, 25-19.

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

NOTABLES
• BU won 88 sets and only dropped 16 during the 2019 season.
• Baylor finished the season with a school-record 29 wins.
• Yossiana Pressley led all players with 25 kills and had 16 digs for her first double-double in the postseason.
• Shelly Stafford totaled 10 kills in her final collegiate match.
• Tara Wulf tallied 10 digs for her 19^th double-digit match of the season.
• Baylor is now 52-13 as a ranked team under McGuyre.
• Baylor dropped to 2-1 all-time against Wisconsin and 1-3 against Big Ten teams in the NCAA Tournament.

STAT OF THE MATCH
25 and 16 – the first career double-double by Yossiana Pressley in the postseason.

TOP QUOTE #1
Head coach Ryan McGuyre
On the match…
"Wisconsin, a fun, competitive match. As the match went on, it was harder for us to get kills, and those for them are coming a little bit easier. But they're well coached, well trained, and the all-stars for them just made some really, really big plays at some key moments. (Dana) Rettke from the service line, I thought, was probably the story of the match in disrupting us. But as a team we win together, we lose together, and thankful for this opportunity. And not only just getting here but the journey getting here has been very, very, very well cherished. Pittsburgh has been great hosts, and everybody working the event has been incredible hosts as well."

TOP QUOTE #2
Senior Shelly Stafford
On her career…
"It definitely has been a journey. When I came to Baylor, we were kind of talking about it, we dreamed for a national championship, but we knew that it was going to take couple years to really get a hold of the training and trust ourselves and trust everything. But it's definitely been a journey, and this season has been a season of firsts. And I'm upset that I don't get another season to win a national championship, but I know that as a senior season, we made history in so many ways. I'm so thankful for all the opportunities we were given. And all my teammates, they've truly trusted in everyone. They've put each other on each other's backs many times. It's been an incredible journey, and I'm thankful for everything that Baylor has offered me in the past five years."

WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor ends its season with a 29-2 record in the NCAA National Semifinals.