WACO, Texas – Baylor volleyball left no doubt in a three-set sweep of Saint Mary's on Friday night at the Ferrell Center.
 
Baylor set the tone early, taking the first set 25-10 on the strength of a 14-0 run, spurring BU to a third-straight opening-set victory. The Gaels' 10 points were BU's fewest allowed in a set since surrendering just nine to Campbell last season.
 
After failing to claim the second set in each of the previous two matches, the Bears left no doubt on Friday with a 25-11 victory in the second. Head coach Ryan McGuyre was pleased to see his team flex that muscle after a couple of second-set losses in a row.
 
"It was huge," he said. "When we've not been sweeping, there's normally been a little lull in set two, and so we played through it there. I thought our girls served extremely well throughout the night. Whether we got aces or not, it was very disruptive, taking out their hitters, and then the blockers did their job. Both setters, Harley [Kreck] and Bri [Denney] did well, allowing us to hit .398, so offensively we did some really nice things."
 
After outscoring the Gaels 50-21 in the first two sets, the Bears put it on cruise control in the third, claiming the 25-17 win to improve to 4-1 on the season.
 
Baylor's season-high .398 hitting percentage was its best since hitting .422 against James Madison on Nov. 30, 2023. Additionally, the Bears 11 blocks were its most since sending back 12 in the season opener against South Alabama.
 
Brielle Warren, Grace Carroll, MJ McCurdy and Manuela Bibinbe all had six kills apiece to pace the Bears, while Harley Kreck led the team with 14 assists. The redshirt sophomore was also dynamite from the service line connecting on all 17 of her attempts including a 10-0 run in the opening set.
 
In the end, McGuyre was happy to see a dominant performance on the heels of a five-set thriller on Thursday night.
 
"That was really, really good to see," he said. "We had a battle last night, so I was curious to see how this young group would respond. Saint Mary's has a lot of live arms, and they are really good on the net, so I was really, really proud of our team's maturity and be able to take care of their bodies last night and come back and leave no doubt in this match."
 
Next up, the Bears will face Rice in a Sunday matinee. First serve is set for 2 p.m. from the Ferrell Center with Kyle Youmans and Faith Lynch on the call for ESPN+.
 
Single-game and season tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at Baylorbears.com. Follow @BaylorVball on X, Instagram and Facebook for additional updates.