No. 25 Baylor VB Upsets No. 23 Houston

Wed Nov 22 21:37:13 CST 2023

Media Materials Folder<https://baylor.box.com/s/69uadxyf8kd8n6jjvx8okg8lvl7f7e1a>
BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – Nov. 22, 2023

No. 25 Baylor VB Upsets No. 23 Houston
Bears end regular season with four-set upset

For more information contact: Madelon Allen; 254-252-7168, madelon_allen at baylor.edu<mailto:madelon_allen at baylor.edu>

WACO, Texas – The 25th-ranked Baylor volleyball team upset the 22nd ranked Houston Cougars on Wednesday night in the Ferrell Center to close out the regular season, 3-1.

BU (16-12, 10-8 Big 12) beat UH (17-9, 10-7 Big 12 ) in four sets at the Ferrell. The Bears were able to pull away in a close first set, 25-23. Houston managed to take the second set, 25-19, but that was the only set it would be able to win as Baylor won the third, 27-25, and the fourth, 25-19.

The Bears were led by Elise McGhee with 21 kills, followed by Kendal Murphy’s season-high 12 kill effort. Carlson added 43 assists to her season total and Briseño secured 10 digs. McGhee’s 21 kills and 15 digs is her first career double-double. Carlson also served up three aces while McGhee and Alexis Dacosta had two apiece.

It was Baylor’s 12th ranked matchup of the season and the second upset it has pulled off.

THE RUNDOWN

Set 1

The match opened with a powerful Allie Sczech kill that the Cougars could not return that led to Baylor taking a 1-0 lead. Houston quickly answered back with two kills of their own to take the lead at 2-1 before Manuela Bibinbe got her first kill of the night to tie the set at 2-2. The game continued to stay close with both teams trading kills back and forth. Kendal Murphy and McGhee got on the board for the Bears with kills after a run from Houston tied the game at 6. Houston would go on to score 4 straight points before attacking errors brought their run to an end to bring the score to 9-8, Bears trailing. Alicia Andrew got her first kill of the night followed by Sczech getting back-to-back kills to bring the score to 11-10, Bears leading. Houston would continue to trade points with 8 straight points resulting in kills. Sczech, McGhee, Bibinbe, and Murphy all were part of the scoring efforts for Baylor as BU held a 15-14 lead going into the media timeout. Coming out of the media Houston was able to answer with a kill but Murphy was able to stay hot for the Bears and McGhee followed soon after with a kill of her own to bring the score to 18-16, Baylor. Sczech connected on a pass from Lauren Briseño to extend the lead to 19-17 and McGhee followed after with a kill of her own to bring the score to 21-18, Baylor. After two errors from the Bears, Bibinbe was able to secure a kill to bring the score to 22-20. Houston would get a kill to bring the score to within one point but a kill from McGhee would extend the lead to 23-21 for Baylor. An error from Houston would bring it to set point for Baylor at 24-21. Two straight kills from Houston forced Baylor to use a timeout with the score at 24-23, Baylor leading. An errant serve from Houston gave Baylor the win in the first set 25-23.

Set 2

The second set opened up with a kill from the Cougars but Andrew was able to quickly answer with one of her own to tie the set 1-1 early. An error from Baylor led to a Houston point but Sczech answered with a kill to keep the game tied, this time 2-2. Houston would go on to get two points before a McGhee kill halted the run at 5-4, Houston. Errors would result in points for the next multiple plays before a kill from Murphy brought the score to 9-9. More errors from both sides led to Houston getting three straight kills that forced Baylor to call a timeout, trailing 13-10. Coming out of the timeout Sczech and Bibinbe would team up for a block to bring the score to 13-11, Houston leading. Houston would keep the lead over the next few points bringing the score to 16-12, Houston. Attacking and service errors from Houston resulted in two points for the Bears, but Houston would quickly respond back with three points to bring the score to 19-14 Houston, which caused Baylor to use a timeout. Coming out of the timeout points were traded via errors until Andrew got a kill for the Bears to bring the score to 20-16, Houston still on top. Houston steadily controlled the rest of the match with McGhee getting two kills to make it 22-18 and 24-19, respectively, but ultimately would fall in the second set 25-19.

Set 3

The third set started with a Houston kill and an attacking error from Baylor led to the Cougars taking an early 2-0 lead. Two more kills from Houston and a receiving error from Baylor brought the score to 5-0 and forced Baylor to use a timeout. Coming out of the timeout Sczech was able to get Baylor on the board with a kill to bring the score to 5-1, Houston. McGhee would get a kill followed shortly after by Murphy to bring the score to 8-4, Houston still leading. Another Murphy kill would bring the Bears to within three, at 8-5, before Houston would get 2 straight kills to make it 10-5. Baylor would go on to win four straight points thanks to a kill by Andrew, a solo block by Bibinbe and an ace from Alexis Dacosta. This would bring the score to 11-10, Houston still leading but forced to call a timeout. Coming out of the timeout the momentum continued in the Bears favor scoring four more straight points, this time by way of an Andrew kill, and two McGhee kills to bring the score to 14-12, Baylor leading. A massive Sczech kill erupted the crowd in the Ferrell to extend the lead to 15-12 for Baylor. Houston would fight back winning three straight points and bringing the game to a 16-16 tie. The score would continue to stay deadlocked over the next few points until back-to-back kills from Bibinbe and McGhee allowed Baylor to regain the lead at 19-18. Errors from both sides resulted in the score being 21-20, Cougars before a McGhee kill would tie the set at 21. More errors led to Bibinbe getting a kill and an ace from McGhee brought it to set point with a score of 24-23, Bears. After more fight from the Cougars, a service error from Houston would result in a Carlson ace to allow Baylor to win the third set 27-25. This was the 19th set this season won or lost by two points.

Set 4

The fourth set opened with a quick kill from McGhee followed by an attacking error from Houston to bring the score to 2-0 Bears early. Dacosta was able to secure her second ace of the night and the Bears were up 3-0. The Cougars responded with four straight points before a McGhee kill tied the set at 4-4. Both teams would trade kills before another McGhee kill brought the score to within two for the Bears at 8-6. An attacking error from Houston led to McGhee getting an ace and brought the score to a tie at 8-8. A Houston kill was followed by a Murphy kill and kept the game tied at 9-9. Murphy stayed hot and connected with another kill this time to bring the score to 10-10. Sczech tallied another kill to bring the score to 11-11. A kill from Houston led to an attacking error for the Cougars and brough the score to another tie, this time at 12-12. A successful Baylor challenge resulted in a kill for Sczech and McGhee followed immediately after to extend the lead to 14-12, Baylor. An attacking error from Houston allowed Baylor to keep their lead at 15-13 heading into the media timeout. Coming out of the timeout Houston was able to connect with a kill before a service error brought the score to 16-14, Baylor. Bibinbe collected another kill and Murphy followed right after which brought the score to 18-15, forcing Houston to call a timeout. Coming out of the timeout Houston responded with a kill but Murphy stayed hot and got her 10th kill of the night, a new season high, bringing the score to 19-16. Carlson recorded her second ace of the night and another Murphy kill brought the score to 21-16 forcing Houston to call a timeout. Coming out of the timeout Carlson recorded another ace to bring the score to 22-16, Bears. Two points from Houston would bring it to within four for the Cougars at 22-18, but a Murphy kill and block from McGhee brought the set to match point at 24-19 before a McGhee kill secured the win for the Bears 25-19.

HIGHLIGHTS

  *   Kendal Murphy surpasses her previous season high of kills with 12
  *   McGhee’s 21 kills marks her 5th 20 kill performance this season
  *   McGhee recorded her first career double-double, digging 15 balls
  *   Carlson had three aces while Dacosta and McGhee each had two
  *   20 sets have been won/lost by two points this season, two happening against Houston
  *   It was the Bears’ second upset of the season and 12th match against a ranked opponent overall

UP NEXT

The Bears await their fate in the NCAA Selection Show, airing on ESPN at 5 p.m. CT on Sunday, November 26.

To stay up to date all year long on all things Baylor volleyball, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @BaylorVBall.

- BaylorBears<http://www.BaylorBears>.com -

__________________________________

Madelon Allen | Associate Director of Athletics Communications
VB, A&T, BaylorBears.com
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
C: 254-252-7168

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