No. 20 Baylor VB Drops Tight Match with No. 10 SMU

[Roberts, Matt]

                                                                                                                    BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – Aug. 30, 2025

No. 20 Baylor VB Drops Tight Match with No. 10 SMU
Mustangs rally from 2-1 deficit to knock off the Bears in five-setter
For more information, contact: Matt Roberts, 254-227-2280, WM_Roberts at Baylor.edu<mailto:WM_Roberts at Baylor.edu>

WACO, Texas – No. 20 Baylor volleyball dropped its first match of the season in a 3-2 loss to No. 10 SMU on Saturday at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

For a second-straight day, Baylor played from behind, dropping the opening set 26-24. Down 6-2 early, the Bears battled back within one on four different occasions, before tying the match at 22. SMU closed the match on a 4-2 run to seal the set and take the 1-0 lead.

In familiar territory from Friday, BU battled back to win the second set 28-26. Trading leads for a majority of the set, Bailey Warren kept BU’s hopes alive with a kill to even things at 24. Tied at 26, BU got back-to-back points from Victoria Davis and MJ McCurdy to even the match at one. McCurdy led the team in kills for a second-straight day, finishing with 16.

In control for most of the third set, BU led by as many as six and never trailed, en route to a 25-22 win to regain the momentum on the strength of four kills each from Bailey Warren, Grace Carroll and Manuela Bibinbe.

SMU returned the favor, using a 5-0 run to take a 12-8 lead in the fourth and never looked back, forcing a fifth set with a 25-21 win.

In the fifth, both teams traded blows with nine ties, the last at 10-10. SMU finished strong on a 5-3 run to clinch a third-straight win over the Bears.

Harley Kreck finished with a career-high 28 assists, while Bri Denney led the team for a second-straight match with 29. Additionally, freshman Morgan Madison upped her dig total from 12 on Friday to 26 on Saturday.

Next up for the Bears, they will face the host LSU team in a 2 p.m. match on Sunday afternoon from Pete Maravich Assembly Center. The match will be streamed on SEC+,<https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=e16898b0-8f83-413f-a17b-7f42d2d11eba> while stats will be available via StatBroadcast.<https://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statmonitr.php?gid=bay>

Single-game and season tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at Baylorbears.com.<https://baylorbears.evenue.net/list/VB> Follow @BaylorVball on X, Instagram and Facebook for additional updates.

—Baylorbears.com—


Matt Roberts | Director of Athletic Communications (FB/EQ/MGOLF/ WGOLF)
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
C: 254-227-2280
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