No. 3 Baylor VB Comes Up Short in Battle With No. 1 Texas

[Calderone, Max]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – November 6, 2020

No. 3 VB Comes Up Short in Battle With No. 1 Texas
Pressley tallies 32 kills as Bears overcome 2-0 deficit, but fall in five-set thriller
For more information contact: Max Calderone, 254-265-1639, Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu<mailto:Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu>

THE RUNDOWN
AUSTIN, Texas – No. 3 Baylor volleyball (11-3) battled with No. 1 Texas (12-0) in another five-set thriller Friday night in Austin, but ultimately came up short 22-25, 24-26, 29-27, 25-14, 6-15. The Bears erased a 2-0 deficit to send the match to five before UT prevailed.

Senior Yossiana Pressley posted Baylor’s 21st 30-kill outing with 32, her most in a single match since her career-high 39 at Iowa State on Sept. 22, 2018. In doing so, she passed Katie Staiger for second on Baylor’s all-time career kills leaderboard, first in the rally-scoring era. BU also received contributions from redshirt sophomore Lauren Harrison, who added 10 kills, and senior Hannah Sedwick who tallied a double-double with 39 assists and 11 digs.

The Bears got out to a lead in the first as Pressley put one down at 6-4. BU led 15-12 at the media timeout and remained in front thanks to a Sedwick kill at 19-18. After leading 22-20, the Bears fell victim to a five-point UT run that sealed the first set and gave the Longhorns a 1-0 advantage.

In the second, Texas started ahead 4-2, but BU would battle back in a tight set that saw 16 tie scores. Baylor would erase UT’s lead with a three-point run following the media timeout to make it 16-15. It became a battle of who would blink first, with both sides going back-and-forth evenly until UT made use of two late kills to claim the set in extra points and go up 2-0 in the match.

Set three saw another 10 tied scores and more extra points, but Baylor seemed to find its rhythm and explode offensively. Pressley accounted for a season-high 15 kills in set three alone, as the team hit .381. The reigning national player of the year was responsible for the Bears’ final two points in the set, keeping BU alive in the match and sending it to a fourth.

Baylor carried its momentum from the third into a lopsided fourth set, leading 6-3 early after a pair of kills from Harrison. Back-to-back double blocks by Kara McGhee and KJ Johnson increased the lead to 13-8, and Pressley sparked a five-point run with kills on both ends to extend it to 18-9. Johnson would pair up with Laché Harper for another double block to cap off the set and force a decisive fifth.

However, the Bears just couldn’t seem to find their footing, as Texas sided out at a perfect 100 percent rate in the final set. BU never led outside of a 1-0 advantage and didn’t come within three points past 5-2. For the second night in a row, it was the No. 1-ranked Longhorns who took home the hard-fought win.

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

HIGHLIGHTS
• Baylor is 2-2 against ranked opponents this season.
• The Bears are 1-14 all-time against No. 1 ranked teams.
• BU posted a season-best 15 blocks, led by Kara McGhee’s nine.
• Senior Yossiana Pressley put down a season-high 32 kills, her most in a match since Sept. 22, 2018 (39, at Iowa State).
• Pressley’s performance was Baylor’s 21st 30-kill outing in program history.
• Pressley passed Katie Staiger (1,700) for second place on Baylor’s career kills leaderboard, and first in the rally-scoring era.
• Senior Hannah Sedwick recorded her first double-double of the season with 39 assists and 11 digs.
• Junior Shanel Bramschreiber reached double-digit digs for the 11th time this season with 14.
• Redshirt sophomore Lauren Harrison tallied 10 kills for the eighth time in 2020.

STAT OF THE MATCH
32 – Yossiana Pressley put down a season-high 32 kills, her most in a match since Sept. 22, 2018 (39, at Iowa State). It was Baylor’s 21st 30-kill outing in program history.

TOP QUOTES
Head coach Ryan McGuyre
On Pressley’s performance…
“What a spectacular performance by Yossiana Pressley. Honestly, one of the greatest individual performances I’ve seen from an athlete at a lot of different levels, a lot of different countries. I was just really impressed with her ability to hit outside, back row, right side, middle and manage swings against big blocks from Texas. She just really did a tremendous job.”

WHAT'S NEXT
No. 3 Baylor (11-3) will be back at the Ferrell Center in two weeks to face No. 11 Kansas State (7-4) in a two-match series to close out the season. The Bears and Wildcats will square off on Friday, Nov. 20 at 5 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 21 at 2 p.m. with both matches available on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.


-BaylorBears.com-



__________________________________

Max Calderone | Associate Director of Athletics Communications (VB, MTEN, EQ)
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
O: 254-710-3073 | C: 254-265-1639

[signature_1764124630]<http://baylorbears.com/>

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