Box Score By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
 
WACO, Texas – In a Big 12 Conference that is "open to anybody," 19^th-ranked Baylor volleyball used another strong start to send a message to the rest of the league with a 3-1 win over No. 14 Arizona State, 25-21, 25-22, 17-25, 25-17, Friday night at the Ferrell Center.
 
Leading a balanced attack that featured five players with eight or more kills, junior opposite Allie Sczech recorded 12 kills and hit .423 to help the Bears (10-3, 2-0) win their third-straight and open conference play 2-0 for the first time in three years.
 
"We'd love to go undefeated," said Baylor coach Ryan McGuyre. "But I think the conference winner cold finish with three or four losses this year. Big 12 basketball, I feel like there's been five losses for the No. 1 team in the conference the past couple years. That means every match really matters. We've got to take care of home court and make sure we're really clean."
 
In what looked like a carbon copy of Wednesday's 3-1 win over Arizona (11-2, 0-2), Baylor started fast, survived a back-and-forth second set and dropped the third before coming back to finish it off in four.
 
"I think a lot of that is on me, being maybe overly strategic on what we were trying to do in that third set to finish it off, McGuyre said. "I think you want to have wrinkles, and we're still going to make adjustments. But we can't do that and lose the flow of it. The last set, we've got to get back to being more like ourselves."
 
Hitting .222 in the opening set, Baylor had a pivotal 6-0 run that included a pair of Tehani Ulufatu aces and two errors by the Sun Devils (12-2, 1-1) to take control and then closed it out with a dump kill by setter Jackie Barrett Frazier.
 
"I felt like the hitters that were getting off to hot starts were finding openings on the other side of the net," Sczech said. "I don't know if it was necessarily intentional, like 'Give Sczech the ball' But I felt like it was 'Okay, that's working, that's how we're going to win, so that's how we're going to continue moving forward.' . . . We could do anything and throw anyone out there at any given time, and we'll be successful."
 
Overcoming four service errors, the Bears won a back-and-forth second set, 25-22, with an efficient .333 attacking percentage that included making just three errors. Sczech closed it out with a big swing from the right side to put Baylor up 2-0.
 
Much like she did in Wednesday's win over Arizona, when she tallied 42 assists, Barrett Frazier was able to find hitters all over the court. In addition to double-digit kills by Sczech and Kendal Murphy (10), Baylor got nine from middle blocker Alicia Andrew and eight apiece from middle Manuela Bibinbe and outside hitter Elise McGhee.
 
"I think our middles are really good in transition," Sczech said, "so I think that opened up a lot of things for me and Murphy on the pins."
 
The Sun Devils had an early 4-0 run that included three-straight kills to take control in the third set, and then they closed it out by scoring four of the last five points on a kill by Roberta Rabelo, an attack error, a bad set and Baylor's sixth service error of the set.
 
Baylor bounced back to take an early 8-4 lead in the fourth, reeled off another 4-0 run and then finished off the match with a powerful kill by Sczech.
 
Asked if the balanced stats were a good sign, McGuyre said, "100%, for sure."
 
"For this team, our unity and cohesiveness are really key and imperative," he said. "You know the old saying, 'greater than the sum of its parts.' I think we're in trouble if we're relying on one person to try to go get 30 or 40 kills on the night. Different nights, different people will shine. Our middles did really well and Sczech was hitting at a high percentage, and the outsides kept tempo in that fourth set. And we were getting big swings."
 
After playing 12 of its first 13 matches at home, Baylor goes on the road to face 22^nd-ranked TCU (9-3, 1-1) next Sunday in Fort Worth and then No. 17 BYU (8-3, 1-0) and Utah (11-1, 1-0) on Oct. 10 and Oct. 12, respectively.
 
 
 WACO, Texas – The No. 19 Baylor volleyball team secured the upset victory over No. 14 Arizona State on Friday night at the Ferrell Center for its tenth win of the season.
 
The Bears ended the Sun Devil's recent five-match winning streak in four sets, adding a top-15 victory to their win column. The last match where the Bears upset a top-15 team was August 2022 when then-No. 16 BU toppled No. 3 Wisconsin.
 
The Bears (10-3, 2-0) handed the Sun Devils (12-2, 1-1) the loss in four sets. Winning the first set 25-21 and the second set 25-22, Arizona State took the third set, 25-17, but the Bears finished the match with a 25-17 set four win.
 
THE RUNDOWN
Set 1
The Bears started strong with powerful plays, including a kill by Elise McGhee, giving BU a 3-1 lead. ASU fought back, but a kill by Allie Sczech tied the score at 4-4. After a tight exchange, the Bears took the lead again, 7-5, with a block by Manuela Bibinbe. A service ace from Tehani Ulufatu extended their momentum, prompting ASU to call a timeout. This marked the third time Ulufatu recorded two aces in a match so far this season, but this time it was all in a single service run. Another kill by McGhee kept BU ahead, 11-7. The Bears continued their dominance with a block by McGhee, widening the gap to 14-8. ASU rallied, closing in at 16-15, which led to a Bears timeout. BU responded with kills from McGhee and Kendal Murphy, regaining the lead, 17-16. A block by Alicia Andrew and Murphy added to their advantage, pushing the score to 21-17 and forcing another ASU timeout. A kill by Murphy extended the Bears' lead to 23-19, and the set concluded with a setter dump from Jackie Barrett Frazier, securing a 25-21 win for BU.
 
Set 2
Entering the second set, the Bears and Sun Devils brough the heat, trading points and making the score 5-5. The battle continued, with Murphy delivering a kill to keep the score even at 8-8. After ASU took the lead, Murphy responded with another kill, leveling the score at 9-9. A kill and block by Bibinbe pushed BU ahead, 12-9, prompting a timeout from Arizona State. The Bears maintained their momentum with another kill from Bibinbe, extending the score to 15-12. Another dump by Barrett Frazier added to BU's lead, and Sczech's kills boosted Baylor to a 20-15 advantage. Bibinbe's relentless attack kept the Bears ahead, 21-17, though ASU closed the gap. However, BU held firm, with Alicia Andrew's kill maintaining their lead. The set ended with a decisive kill by Sczech, securing another set victory for the Bears at 25-22.
 
Set 3
In the third set, the Bears took an early lead with a kill by Sczech, bringing the score to 4-2. ASU gained momentum, but a block by Bibinbe and Murphy tied the game at 6-6. The teams stayed neck-and-neck, with Baylor keeping it even after a kill by Murphy. ASU then pulled ahead 11-7, but the Bears closed the gap with kills from Alicia Andrew and Elise McGhee. Despite a strong fight and another kill by Sczech, ASU ultimately claimed the set, 25-17.
 
Set 4
After a challenging set, the Bears tied the match at 3-3 with a kill by Murphy. A service ace and an opponent's error gave BU the lead at 5-3. A block by Andrew extended the advantage to 8-4, prompting a timeout from ASU. McGhee's kill kept Baylor ahead, 9-6. Two consecutive kills by Sczech pushed BU further, 13-8. The Bears continued their momentum with a kill by Bibinbe, making it 16-10. McGhee added another kill, and a dominant strike from Andrew extended the lead to 21-13. Baylor sealed the set with a final kill by Sczech, winning 25-17.
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• Ranked upset over a top-15 opponent for the first time since Aug. 27, 2022 over No. 3 Wisconsin
• Third time this season that Ulufatu had two aces in a match - did it all in one service run
• Bears are starting conference 2-0 for the first time since 2021

 
UP NEXT
Baylor takes a week off and will travel to Fort Worth for a Sunday bout on Oct. 6 at Schollmaier Arena.
 
To stay up to date all year long on all things Baylor volleyball, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @BaylorVBall.