By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Ryan McGuyre couldn't have scripted a Senior Day any better than this one.
            Not only did his 17^th-ranked Baylor volleyball team sweep Kansas State, 25-20, 25-20, 25-20, in Saturday's regular-season finale at the Ferrell Center, the Bears (23-6, 12-4) gave the selection committee one more bit of evidence to support a very strong case for them being picked as one of 16 hosts for the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
            "I feel we scheduled and did everything we were supposed to do," McGuyre said. "Maybe there were a couple conference games where we stubbed our toe in, but it's a long season. To go through that and manage it and still finish second (in the Big 12) in the No. 1-ranked conference. . . yes, absolutely (we deserve it)."
            After taking care of business with its 13^th sweep of the season, Baylor honored seniors Kara McGhee, Lauren Harrison, Mallory Talbert and Cassie Davis with an on-court ceremony and video tribute.
            "To me, our success is a testament to these four girls' investment in the other athletes," McGuyre said. "A lot of seniors say, 'it's all about me, it's my time.' But easily, this group can say it's about everybody else."
            A lot of Saturday's match, though, was about the seniors. Harrison had 12 kills and hit .312, McGhee had seven kills and a match-high four blocks, and Talbert chipped in with four kills, three blocks and three-straight aces.
            "The team decorated our lockers and the locker room, and they've just been so sweet to us all day," said Talbert, who transferred from Texas A&M. "That made it feel a little more real, but we still have a lot to accomplish in this postseason. No time to get sad yet. We've got things to do, and then we'll deal with it when it comes."
            Sophomore Elise McGhee, Kara's younger sister, had a match-high 14 kills, while freshman setter Averi Carlson had a double-double with 29 assists and 12 digs. Baylor finished with more kills (44-33), digs (54-50) and blocks (7.0-5.0) and held the visiting Wildcats (15-14, 6-10) to a .139 hitting percentage.
            "I think it was really important to win our last regular-season home match and then just momentum going into the tournament," Harrison said. "Coach Mac was telling us to treat like it's a first- or second-round game in the tournament, and I think that's what we did."
            Baylor forced K-State to call two early timeouts when the Bears reeled off seven unanswered points and took a 12-3 lead on back-to-back kills by Kara and Elise McGhee. That stretch also included back-to-back-to-back aces by Talbert.
            "Mallory has been a huge, huge blessing," McGuyre said. "She just plays with great joy. She gets excited, because she does things that 8-year-old children will do out there sometimes, which is incredibly joyful. But she speaks with the knowledge, with the sage . . . I'm pleading to her teammates, 'Hey, listen to her, listen to her, listen to her.'''
            After the Wildcats closed to within 22-19 on a 5-0 run, Baylor finished off the sets with three kills by Elise McGhee, who had nine of the team's 17 kills in the first set.
            In more of a back-and-forth second set, the Bears finished it off with four-straight points on a Talbert kill, two by Elise McGhee and a combo block by the McGhee sistear.
            "Kara's just been a dominant force, but it's never been about stats for her," McGuyre said. "For both Kara and Lauren, it's just fun to see their leadership blossom and flourish this year. We talk a lot about emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and Kara is a brilliant, brilliant young woman when it comes to that."
            Never trailing in the third set, the Bears closed out the match with a pair of late kills by Harrison and an attack error by the Wildcats' Aliyah Carter on the first match point. Elena Baka led K-State with 12 kills, 11 digs and three aces.
            Harrison, a transfer from North Carolina who played her last three seasons at Baylor, has a "cannon of an arm," McGuyre said.
            "So much firepower, and her smile still melts every time," he said. "Whenever the dimples are out and the guns are out, game over. That is all we need in the game plan, those two things coming up."
            McGuyre said Davis, who got in to serve twice in the third set, is "a coach's dream."
            "What Cassie gives to the program is 100 times more than we've got to give to her," McGuyre said. "She comes motivated. . . . What you see is what you get every time."
            Ranked 17^th in the AVCA coaches' poll and 15^th in the latest RPI rankings, Baylor will be tuned in for the NCAA Selection Show at 6:30 p.m. CT Sunday on ESPNU.


WACO, Texas – The No. 17-ranked Baylor volleyball team swept Kansas State on Saturday afternoon in the Ferrell Center, 3-0.
 
The Bears (23-6, 12-4 Big 12 Conference) closed out the regular-season at home with the Wildcats (15-14, 6-10 Big 12), taking the win 25-20, 25-20, 25-20.
 
The last time a Baylor squad had a sweep with the same score in all three sets was in 2019 when BU went 25-20 in all three against Creighton.
 
Baylor was led by Elise McGhee in kills with 14 while Averi Carlson led in assists (29) and digs (12) for another double-double. Kara McGhee led the team in blocks with four, including one solo. 
 
BU out-killed, out-assisted, out-aced, out-dug and out-blocked the Wildcats in the match for the season series sweep.
 
THE RUNDOWN
Set 1
The Bears started off the first set with a point thanks to an attack error from KSU, but followed it up with a Lauren Harrison kill. An Allie Sczech kill was sandwiched by two from the Wildcats, but followed by one from Lauren Harrison and then Elise McGhee. The score was 7-3 thanks to another McGhee kill before Mallory Talbert served up three aces in a row. After the second ace, KSU called time, but it didn't ice the grad transfer. The score 10-3, Kara McGhee and then Elise McGhee each had kills to push the Wildcats to call time again. KSU got a kill coming out of the pause, then three more points off BU attack errors, but a kill by Carlson finished their four-point run, the score now 13-7. Elise McGhee, then Sczech, then McGhee made it a four-point run for BU. Elise made it 17-11 with another kill, then Kara McGhee had a solo block after a service error. K-State challenged an attack error at 19-13 but it went unsuccessful, Talbert following it with a kill. The Wildcats went on a five-point run to bring the Bears to call timeout, the score 22-19. Elise McGhee got back-to-back kills and despite set point being put off a point by a KSU kill, it was McGhee who finished the set with a kill, 25-20. 

Set 2
The Wildcats started the set up 2-1, but Kara McGhee got the Bears' first kill to make it 2-2. KSU continued their lead, though there was a Harrison kill and a Briseño ace, with Baylor calling time down 7-4. Harrison got the kill out of it, but Elena Baka got the next kill followed by an ace, K-State now up 9-5. The Bears tied it up at 10-10 thanks to a kill from Talbert and attack errors, but then tied it up again with an Elise McGhee kill at 11-11. BU got their first lead of the set off another Elise kill, and three-straight KSU errors had them call timeout, now 15-11. Two more errors and a BU error preceded a Wildcat kill, but Harrison finished it at 17-14. KSU tied it up again at 17-17. The teams went back and forth the rest of the set with Harrison kills littering throughout, but a Talbert kill up 22-20, an Elise McGhee kill, then a block by the McGhee sisters had the Bears at set point, KSU calling time. Elise McGhee finished the set with a kill, 25-20. 
 
Set 3
Two sets under their belt, McGhee started the set with a kill. Elena Baka got a kill for KSU and Kara McGhee had a kill to follow. The Bears went up 4-2 thanks to K-State attack errors, then Sczech made it 5-3. Harrison had the kill at 6-4 with Talbert piggy backing off the energy for akill of her own. Talbert had a solo block at 8-5 against Sydney Bolding. Kara McGhee got a kill and Alexis Dacosta served up her first ace of the day. Kara McGhee got another kill, then a Sczech kill, and KSU called time. Service errors from both sides gave it back to BU where Harrison got a kill, 17-10. A few more points went K-State's way, now 20-16. Kara McGhee had a kill, then she and Sczech got the block. Harrison had a kill, then had another to bring set point. The match ended with an attack error on the Wildcats, 25-20. 
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• Baylor celebrated its four seniors – Cassie Davis, Lauren Harrison, Kara McGhee and Mallory Talbert – post-match. All four seniors saw playing time in the victory.
• With the win, the Bears took the season series over the Wildcats.
• The Bears ended the regular-season at home with a sweep.

 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Bears will wait for their name to be called in the 2022 NCAA Volleyball Selection Show, airing on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. CT on ESPNU.

To keep up to date with Baylor volleyball all year long, follow the Bears on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook: @BaylorVBall.