No. 14 Baylor VB Sweeps North Texas

[Allen, Madelon]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – Sept. 13, 2022

No. 14 Baylor VB Sweeps North Texas
Bears record fifth 3-0 match in a row on Tuesday night
For more information contact: Madelon Allen, 254-252-7168, Madelon_Allen at Baylor.edu

WACO, Texas – The No. 14-ranked Baylor volleyball team swept North Texas on Tuesday night in the Ferrell Center, 25-6, 25-22, 25-20.

It was the Bears’ (7-2) fifth sweep in a row and the 86th time under Ryan McGuyre that BU has kept a match to a three-set win. Baylor now leads the series with the Mean Green (5-7) at 23-8 all-time.

Senior Lauren Harrison once again led the match for the Bears in kills, this time with 10. Faith Lynch stepped up and served three aces on the night while also dishing out 16 assists, both career highs for the sophomore. Averi Carlson once again led the team in assists with 21, while Mallory Talbert was dominant on defense with seven blocks.

It was the second match in a row where BU held an opponent to less than .100 hitting percentage, stopping UNT at .056 while Evansville was held to .097.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1
The Bears came out roaring and throttled UNT with a set score of 25-6. The last time BU held an opponent to less than 10 points in a set was in March of 2021, when Houston was able to only score nine points in set four. Hot out of the gate was Kara McGhee, getting the first kill for Baylor. Rolling right along, she got her next at 3-1. BU had back-to-back challenges, both which were changed in the Bears’ favor. Lauren Harrison got a kill and after a UNT service error, Faith Lynch and Elise McGhee were subbed in, where Lynch immediately served up an ace. Her “sic ‘em serve” as the team calls it, was followed up by three-straight Harrison kills, prompting a North Texas timeout at 11-3. The Bears were on a roll and Mallory Talbert’s kill and another ace from Lynch served the Bears well to advance to 14-3. Talbert and Elise McGhee had a block, then another Lynch ace, then a Talbert kill to push the Bears to 18-4. Talbert and Elise again teamed up to block, and Riley Simpson got a hot kill to have UNT call time at 20-4. Elise McGhee ended the set at 25-6 with a kill.

Set 2
Such a dominant performance by BU in the first set lit a fire under the Mean Green, and they came out ready to play, though Carlson served up an ace to start the second frame. Harrison and Kara McGhee got kills early, but UNT was matching their points. Baylor made it 5-5 with a stuff from Talbert and Harrison, then Talbert recorded a kill. Talbert then served up an ace to tie it again at 9-9, but the Mean Green wasn’t done pushing the Bears buttons. They pushed ahead to 13-11 before BU got back-to-back blocks to tie it again. Media timeout came with a Kara McGhee kill to have the Bears overtake the lead at 15-14. BU only allowed UNT to score eight more points and took the set at 25-22 thanks to Allie Sczech, Simpson, Talbert, the McGhees and Harrison helping on both defense and offense.

Set 3
North Texas continued to push after BU took both the first and second set. Kara McGhee once again started the match off with a kill, but UNT was buckled in and went up 2-1 quickly with two kills of their own. McGhee put a stop to it, then Riley Simpson served up an ace to retake the lead, though early, at 3-2. North Texas had a successful challenge that resulted in a replay of what would have been 5-5, Harrison’s. They came away with a kill to make it 6-4 instead out of the replay. Baylor got behind at 10-8, but regained the lead at 14-13 and didn’t trail again. Set three was led by Kara McGhee who had five kills overall, on eight attempts. Both Talbert and Harrison tallied two kills in the set. BU came away with set and match point at 25-20.

NOTABLE

  *   Faith Lynch and Averi Carlson both had double-digit assists on the night.
  *   Lynch also had a career-high three aces, which all came in the first set and before the 20th point.
  *   Lauren Harrison led the team in kills for the sixth time this season, tallying 10.
  *   Talbert had seven blocks, her second-highest of the season. She had nine against San Diego State (9/2).

QUOTABLE
Head Coach Ryan McGuyre
“I loved the blocking. Definitely that first set was really fun and really clean. The girls have been really intelligent with the game plans, and for our youthfulness, it’s been really fun. Coming off last match with a good hit percentage, we hit .542 in the first set and we just had one hitting error there. The passers stayed steady in different lineups.”

Senior Middle Blocker Kara McGhee
“The match was really fun, I think we came out strong and with energy. That helped us throughout the rest of the match which I’m really excited about. I’m looking forward to prove how we’re growing and developing with them. [Coming into the weekend] it’s really important to be mentally dialed in going into two matches in one day.”

NEXT UP
Baylor is set to face North Texas on Tuesday night with a 6 p.m. start time against the Mean Green.

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


-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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