No. 14 Baylor VB falls to SMU in Five Sets

Thu Sep 7 00:18:01 CDT 2023

Media Materials Folder<https://baylor.box.com/s/69uadxyf8kd8n6jjvx8okg8lvl7f7e1a>
BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – Sept. 6, 2023

No. 14 Baylor VB falls to SMU in Five Sets
Bears can’t overcome errors in Dallas

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

WACO, Texas – The 14th-ranked Baylor volleyball squad fell to SMU in five sets on Wednesday night at the Moody Coliseum in Dallas, 3-2.

BU (1-3) fell to the Mustangs (3-3) after keeping pace throughout the match, errors being the Bears downfall. Baylor fought to a 25-21, 23-25, 21-24, 25-23, 10-15 finish.

The Bears were led by freshman Kyndal Stowers with 29 kills and 16 digs for her second-career double-double. Leading in blocks was Big 12 Co-Defensive Player of the Week Manuela Bibinbe with six overall and Averi Carlson had 60 assists.

THE RUNDOWN

Set 1

Allie Sczech got the first kill for the Bears to tie it at 1-1, followed by two from Stowers, sandwiching a service error. SMU had an ace to pull ahead by one, 5-4, but Stowers replied quickly with two, tooling the block. The BU family showed up and got loud, especially when Alicia Andrew had a slicing kill through the Mustangs to make the score 11-9 in Baylor’s favor. SMU started their way back but Elise McGhee tied it up at 15-all with a bullseye kill through the gap. BU finished the set with both McGhee and Stowers raking in eight kills and winning 25-21.

Set 2

The second set started with an Andrew kill but the Mustangs went on a run, going up 5-3. The Bears returned it with a run of their own thanks to some SMU errors and a Bibinbe ace, retaking the lead 8-6. McGhee got a kill to make it 10-7, then Andrew added on to the lead. After a Stowers kill, the Bears ramped it up to 16-12. Stowers had yet more big kills to keep propelling them forward, with Sczech assisting, when Bibinbe had a bomb of her own to make it 20-16. McGuyre had a call overturned to make the score 22-19, but the Mustangs watched the Bears make four-straight attack errors to finish the set, 25-23.

Set 3

SMU started the set with a kill but Stowers followed it with one of her own. The two teams matched each other’s points back and forth, Stowers getting her 15th kill of the night at 5-5, keeping pace all the way to 8-8 when a Mustang attack error tied it up. Baylor pulled away thanks to Sczech, Bibinbe, and Stowers getting kills. SMU errors kept them back, BU going up 16-12. SMU earned two points before McGhee got a kill. Baylor was putting on the pressure and came within reach at 19-17, but attack errors and kills from Mustangs clinched the set at 25-21.

Set 4

Andrew started off the set with a kill for the second time on the night, Bibinbe and Stowers following the lead and BU went up 5-2. Andrew had another at 10-7 and SMU got a call reversed on the next play to make it 10-8. Another challenge came from the Mustangs to make it 11-10. Stowers tied it at 13-all, then put the Bears up by one at 15-14. Out of the media timeout, SMU tied it once again. Stowers redeemed an attack error and it tied again at 17-all, then 19-all. BU got ahead once and for all because of back-to-back SMU errors and pushed to the finish line of the set with Stowers and McGhee finished it at 25-23. In the fourth set alone, Stowers had 10 kills and Alexis Dacosta had five digs.

Set 5

After an SMU kill, Stowers had two kills in a row and the Bears and Mustangs tied it at three. McGhee made it 5-3, then an attack error from the red and blue made it 6-4. An ace from Jamison Wheeler tied it, but two attack errors from BU put SMU up 8-6 going into the timeout. Andrew helped lessen the lead at 10-8, but Baylor called time again when SMU went up 13-9. SMU challenged a play and the teams had to replay a rally, where Sczech got a kill, now 13-10. Natalie Perdue got a kill for the Mustangs but the set ended, 15-10, with a Baylor attack error.

HIGHLIGHTS

  *   Stowers had her second double-double of the season and finished with 29 kills
  *   McGhee also recorded 21 kills for a career-high
  *   The last time a Baylor player had 20+ kills was when Lauren Harrison had 22 in 2022
  *   Dacosta had 12 digs for a career

UP NEXT

The Bears head to Fort Collins, Colo., for the Ram Volleyball Classic, facing hosts Colorado State, then Bowling Green and Pacific on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

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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