No. 1 Texas Outlasts No. 18 VB in Four Sets on Saturday

Saturday, October 15

Waco, Texas

2 PM

Baylor

15-4,4-2Big 12

Texas

14-0,6-0Big 12

Texas

Baylor

No. 1 Texas Outlasts No. 18 VB in Four Sets on Saturday

10/15/2022 4:23:00 PM | Volleyball

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By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            In what felt like maybe an Elite Eight matchup, 18^th-ranked Baylor ended No. 1 Texas' streak of consecutive sets won at 16, but still came up short in a 3-1 loss to the Longhorns Saturday afternoon before a Ferrell Center Crowd of 5,604.
            Texas (14-0, 6-0) All-American Logan Eggleston closed out the tight 25-19, 22-25, 25-17, 25-19 win with her match-high 20^th kill and added five digs, one block and a service ace. Elise McGhee countered with a career-high 17 kills with three blocks and a .324 hitting percentage for the Bears (15-4, 4-2), who had their own 16-match home-court winning streak snapped.
            "There's a reason they're No. 1, there's a reason they're undefeated," Baylor coach Ryan McGuyre said. "They put the pressure on you because they're not going to give up too many errors and still hit at a high clip. . . . Frustrated in the loss, definitely some things we need to do, but I still know we can get so much better, too."
            A fifth-year senior who played on the Longhorns' 2020 NCAA runner-up, Eggleston's experience and volleyball IQ are the difference-makers in what otherwise seemed a toss-up matchup between the league's two best teams over the last six seasons.
            "There are a lot of players with great IQ who don't have the experience yet," McGuyre said. "She's been in those atmospheres, those situations many, many times. Add all the postseason to it, she's not going to be intimidated by a block."
            Overcoming an early 4-1 deficit, Texas hit a sizzling .586 in the first set with 18 kills and only one error on 29 total swings. Eggleston had seven kills in the opening set, with Kentucky transfer Madisen Skinner closing it out with the second of her dozen kills.
            Recording just one block in the first set, the Baylor defense "was slow to get involved," McGuyre said.
            Falling behind 5-1 right off the bat in the second set, Baylor had to call two timeouts in the first 15 points. Already a set down, the Bears found themselves trailing 12-3 on back-to-back kills by Saige Ka'aha'aina-Torres and Skinner and an attacking error.
            McGhee scored four-straight points with three kills and a solo block to help Baylor close the gap to 21-18 and then closed out the set with back-to-back kills and a combo block with her older sister, Kara.
            With the Bears trailing, Elise decided she was "just going to go as hard as I can. And whatever happens, happens."
            "Then, (freshman setter Averi Carlson) is obviously amazing. She was giving me great sets," she said. "I felt in rhythm the same way, and we just kept building off the energy from the crowd and our team. Going from that, I think it just helped everyone feel confident. Everyone was swinging, and everyone was excited."
            Unable to carry that momentum over to the third set, Baylor dug an early hole again and wasn't able to climb out of it, falling behind 13-6 on back-to-back attacking errors by the Longhorns. Asjia O'Neal closed out the set with a pair of kills sandwiched around an ace by Keonilei Akana.
            Scoring five-straight points on bookend kills by Lauren Harrison and Allie Sczech and a Carlson service ace, Baylor rallied to tie it up at 11-11 in the fourth set and force a Texas timeout. Carlson won a joust at the net, followed by kills by Mallory Talbert and Kara McGhee that got the Bears within 20-17, but they got no closer.
            The Longhorns scored five of the last seven points to close out the set and match, 25-19. Baylor also had a modest four-match winning streak snapped and lost its first home match since being swept by Texas, 3-0, on Nov. 5, 2021.
            Elise McGhee said the key for the Bears will be "building off the good things we did and knowing our strengths, then obviously knowing where our weaknesses are."
            "Texas was a great team to exploit those weaknesses for us," she said. "So, just getting better from this game and moving forward and focusing on the next one."
            Carlson recorded her first-career double-double with 41 assists and 14 digs, while Harrison came up just short with 15 kills and nine digs. O'Neal added 12 kills and eight blocks for the Longhorns, helping contain Baylor's potent middle blocker duo of Talbert and Kara McGhee.
            "Asjia was making some good dive moves in against us," McGuyre said. "I thought we were a little too tight to the net on it. That was their focal point, so they were able to commit blocking on it, on the side-out phase. I thought in transition, we had some openings. That was an area of the game where we needed to be more successful, for sure."
            Next up, the Bears will host Texas Tech (14-5, 3-3) at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the annual "Wear Pink" match for breast cancer awareness. The Lady Raiders are coming off a 3-2 loss at Kansas and have dropped three of their last four after a 2-0 start in league play.

WACO, Texas – Averi Carlson had her first career double-double and Elise McGhee totaled a career-high 17 kills but No. 1 Texas outlasted No. 18 Baylor volleyball in four sets (19-25, 25-22, 17-25, 19-25), in front of 5,604, the third-largest crowd in program history, on Saturday afternoon at the Ferrell Center.

Baylor (15-4, 4-2 Big 12 Conference) used a thrilling second set to even the match, snapping a 16-set streak of wins for Texas (14-0, 6-0 Big 12), but the Horns were able to answer with wins in the third and fourth sets to secure the win.

THE RUNDOWN
Set 1
The teams traded points to open the match, with Kara McGhee getting the Bears started. Allie Sczech sparked a 3-0 BU run, with a block from McGhee and Sczech taking the lead to 4-1. After Texas cut the lead to 5-4, Mallory Talbert pushed the lead to 6-4 with her first kill. The match went even at 7, 8 and 9 before a 3-0 UT run gave the Horns a 12-9 lead. Elise McGhee snapped the stretch with her first kill, after a nice find from Averi Carlson, to cut the lead to 12-10. The UT lead grew to 15-12 at the media timeout. After the Bears cut the lead to 17-16, UT ripped off three straight to force a timeout from Coach Ryan McGuyre. The lead grew to 20-16 before Elise McGhee's fourth kill of the match snapped a 4-0 run. UT finished it off with an 8-3 run for a 25-19 win. The Horns hit .586 in the first-set win, with Logan Eggleston owning seven kills in 13 attacks.

Set 2
Texas opened the second game with a pair of points before Sczech got the bears on the board. The lead grew to 7-2 before a timeout from the Bears. Lauren Harrison answered an Eggleston ace with her fourth kill of the match but the Horns took the lead up to 12-3 before a Baylor timeout. The Bears then took seven of the next 10 points, getting a 3-0 run courtesy of a swing and block from Kara McGhee and a kill from Harrison, before the Horns took their first timeout of the set, owning a 15-10 lead. A pair of Sczech kills sandwiched a UT point and cut the lead to 18-13. Elise McGhee then went to work, collecting four straight points to cut the lead to 21-17 and her sister Kara followed with a solo block to force a second UT timeout on a 5-0 BU run. The McGhee run continued, with a solo block then teaming with Kara for a McGhee block, cutting the lead to 21-19. Elise answered a UT point with the first of a game-ending 6-0 run, with her consecutive kills finishing of the set.

Elise McGhee accounted for seven points individually during Baylor's run to claim the set after trailing 21-15. BU finished the game on a 22-10 run after trailing 12-3 early in the set. After hitting .586 in the first set, UT was held to a .171 hitting percentage in the second stanza.

Set 3
Kara McGhee's kill snapped a quick 2-0 run to open for the Horns and Sczech cut the lead to 4-3. After a 3-0 run, Harrison right-handed swinger cut the lead to 7-4. Elise McGhee narrowed it to 9-6 with her 12^th kill but the Horns went on a 4-0 run to prompt a BU timeout, trailing 13-6. Baylor rallied on a 3-0 run with kills from Elise McGhee, her 13^th, and one from Harrison and Kara McGhee to cut the lead to 14-11 and prompt a UT timeout. UT grew the lead to 20-13 before Baylor called its last timeout of the set. The Horns were able to net five of the final nine points in the set to secure the 25-17 win and take a 2-1 lead.

Set 4
Texas opened the fourth set strong with points in three of the first four opportunities. Baylor then responded, cutting the lead to 7-6 after a block from Elise and Kara McGhee. The Longhorns lead grew to 11-6 before a BU timeout and the Bears answered with a 5-0 run that saw Harrison and Sczech net kills and Carlson finish an ace to even the set at 11-11. The Horns took a 16-12 lead with five of the next six points to prompt a BU timeout. The UT lead grew to 20-14 before the Bears ripped off a 3-0 run, with kills from Carlson, Talbert and Elise McGhee to cut it to 20-17. UT used five of the last seven points to secure a 25-19 win.

HIGHLIGHTS

Elise McGhee starred for the Bears, going for 17 kills, a new career high, while hitting .324 and adding three blocks.
Carlson added her first career double-double with 41 assists and 14 digs.
Harrison chipped in 15 kills and nine digs, while Sczech finished with 10 kills and three blocks.
Kara McGhee had six kills and six blocks. Lauren Briseño had 13 digs.

STAT OF THE GAME
BU had 48 assists, three service aces and 51 digs. Three Bears had 10+ kills on the match while two had 10+ digs.

WHAT'S NEXT
The Bears will return to action on Wednesday, hosting Texas Tech at 7 p.m. on ESPN+ in the Ferrell Center.

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