No. 5 VB Tops Houston in Home Opener

Thursday, September 12

Waco, Texas

7:00 p.m. CT

Baylor

6-0

Houston

5-5

Houston

Baylor

No. 5 VB Tops Houston in Home Opener

9/12/2019 11:01:00 PM | Volleyball

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Baylor improves to 6-0 for the first time since 2009

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            While the Ferrell Center scoreboard said one thing, that scowl on Baylor volleyball coach Ryan McGuyre's face said it all.
            Dominant in their opening two weekends, with wins over three ranked teams, the fifth-ranked Bears came out sluggish and struggled in blocking and serving and still came out with a four-set win over the visiting Houston Cougars, 25-16, 25-23, 23-25, 15-18, Thursday night in the opening game of the Hampton Inn & Suites Waco North Baylor Invitational.
            "I was very disappointed in our execution tonight," said McGuyre, whose team improved to 6-0, its best start since going 11-0 in 2009. "The hitting errors, the rhythm of our offense, the lack of blocking for us and the serving errors were costly for us."
            After playing so well in wins over No. 18 Creighton, No. 4 Wisconsin and No. 11 Marquette, all on the road, McGuyre said the Bears "got home emotionally and physically exhausted, and there's a melancholy feeling sometimes when you have some of those incredible highs. We've got to be able to reverse that rhythm much better than we did tonight."
            Junior outside hitter Yossiana Pressley, the reigning AVCA National Player of the Week and ranked second nationally in kills, had another big night with a match-high 24 kills, a .353 hitting percentage and 11 digs. But, after playing error-free with 20 kills and 45 swings in Sunday's sweep at Marquette, Pressley had six hitting errors and five service errors.
            "I thought Yossi still played like a pro. When we needed kills, she was still able to get kills," McGuyre said. "(With the other hitters) struggling, we probably should have set every ball to her tonight if we wanted to go a quick three (sets). . . . Yossi would even say a subpar match for her in terms of hitting errors. That's something we've really focused on. She played really clean the last few weeks."
            Pressley said she felt like the Bears relaxed too much after the early-season wins and moving up to the program's all-time-best ranking.
            "We were just on that high for too long," Pressley said. "I feel like our mental aspect of the game just wasn't there. We had some physical plays, but we just weren't engaged mentally throughout the whole match and from the get-go."
            After dropping the first two sets, Houston controlled most of the third set and closed it out, 25-23, when Isabel Theut and Abby Irvine blocked freshman KJ Johnson. Abbie Jackson led the Cougars (5-5) with 18 kills and had six to lead the way in that third set.
            "It's got to come from within, and we've got to be better in our assignments," McGuyre said. "We have a very intelligent team. When they get dialed in the game plan, they're pretty good. But, our defense was not picking the spots as well."
            Hitting a match-high .394 with 16 kills and only three errors in 33 attempts, Baylor never trailed in the fourth set and went on a late 5-1 run to take control. Shelly Stafford had a kill and two service aces in the run and finished with nine kills, two blocks and a .277 hitting percentage.
            Gia Milana closed it out with a kill off a tipped block and finished with 10 kills and a .350 hitting percentage. Junior setter Hannah Lockin had 45 assists, seven kills, six digs and three blocks and hit .350.
            "The girls know they struggled and didn't do their best," McGuyre said. "The Houston hitters were swinging away at the block. Our blocks didn't have the influence that we were able to have at Marquette, obviously. It allows your opponent to play a little bit free."
            Tennessee (2-3) plays Houston at 3 p.m. Friday, then Baylor and the Vols cap off the tournament with a match at 1 p.m. Saturday.
            "We're No. 5 for a reason," Pressley said. "We're going to take that to heart and say, 'OK, we're No. 5 for a reason, let's play like the No. 5 team. Or, try to play like No. 1,''' Pressley said. "So, I feel like we will be there and ready to go on Saturday."
            Saturday's match is "Pack the House" day, with all tickets costing $1. Lincoln Rose and former Baylor All-American Katie Staiger will call the action for Saturday's match on ESPN+.

THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas – No. 5 Baylor volleyball (6-0) opened its 2019 home schedule with a 3-1 win over Houston (5-5) in four sets Thursday night at the Ferrell Center, 25-16, 25-23, 23-25, 25-18.

BU is now 6-0 for the first time under head coach Ryan McGuyre and first time since 2009. Yossiana Pressley paced the Bears with 24 kills on a .353 hitting efficiency and added 11 digs for her second double-double of the season and 14^th of her career.

The Baylor offensive hit over .300 for the second consecutive match, posting a .307 clip and 61 kills and holding Houston to 43 kills on a .181 efficiency.

BU came out fast in the opening frame and used two kills from Gia Milana and Shelly Stafford to go up 12-4 and force the Cougar timeout. BU's 17 kills closed out the set quickly with a 25-16 win.

Houston and Baylor battled it out to open set two, but the Bears would go on a 6-1 run to take a 15-10 lead at the media timeout. A BU attack error tied up the set at 23-23, but a Cougar service error and Pressley kill gave the Bears the 2-0 advantage with the 25-23 win.

BU used a kill from Marieke van der Mark to tie up the third set at 8-8, but the Cougars held the one-point lead at the media timeout. Houston used a service ace to go up 21-18 and took the set, 25-23, despite a late 23-22 Baylor lead.

The Bears created some space with a Braya Hunt ace for the 11-8 lead in set four. Stafford served up two aces for the 22-15 lead, and a Milana kill ended the set and match, 25-18.

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

HIGHLIGHTS
• BU improved to 6-35 all-time against Houston and won its fifth in a row against the Cougars.
• BU opens the season at 6-0 for the first time under McGuyre and for the first time since 2009.
• BU hit .307 for its second .300-or-better performance this season.
• Yossiana Pressley led all hitters with 24 kills on a .353 efficiency.
• Pressley added 11 digs for her second double-double of the season and 14^th time in her career.
• Hannah Lockin posted a career-high seven kills on 12 attempts and collected 45 assists.
• Baylor is now 29-11 as a ranked team under McGuyre.
• Braya Hunt posted a career-high 24 digs against the Cougars, 10 more than her previous career best.
• Baylor improved to 3-2 in home openers and 26-3 in non-conference home matches under McGuyre.
• Kara McGhee led the Bears in blocks for the fourth time this season with six against the Cougars.

STAT OF THE MATCH
24 – the career-high dig mark set by Braya Hunt against Houston.

TOP QUOTE
Head coach Ryan McGuyre
On the win…
"I was very disappointed in our execution tonight. The hitting errors, the rhythm of our offense, the lack of blocking for us and the serving errors were costly for us. We played so good over the last two weeks, I think we got home emotionally and physically exhausted, and there's a melancholy feeling sometimes when you have some of those incredible highs. We've got to be able to reverse that rhythm much better than we did tonight. I thought Yossi still played like a pro. When we needed kills, she was still able to get kills. This was one of those matches when we felt we could move the ball around a little more because we've seen great things out of all our hitters. But with them struggling, we probably should have set her every ball again tonight if we wanted to go a quick three."

WHAT'S NEXT
BU (6-0) will close out the Hampton Inn & Suites Waco North Baylor Invitational by facing Tennessee Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. CT. Saturday's matchup is "Pack the House" Night with all tickets priced at $1.

Fans can purchase tickets online at www.BaylorBears.com.