Nov. 5, 2005

Box Score

AUSTIN, Texas - Baylor senior outside hitter Kelly Spriggs (Houston, Texas) had a team-high 16 kills to rally the Bears, but a two-game deficit was too much to overcome in a 3-1 (23-30, 26-30, 30-20, 26-30) loss on the road to No. 14 Texas in Big 12 volleyball action Saturday night at Gregory Gym.

Senior middle blocker Stella Odion (Houston, Texas) and junior outside hitter Nicole LeBlanc (Tampa, Fla.) each had 12 kills and Odion added eight digs. Junior libero Deja Sweeney (Sacramento, Calif.) paced the Bears (14-12, 5-9 Big 12) defensively with 10 digs. Senior setter Emily Huston (Santa Rosa, Calif.) had six kills on seven attempts, 48 assists and a season-high five service aces.

Dariam Acevedo led Texas (18-3, 12-2) with a match-high 27 kills, while Lauren Paolini and Leticia Armstrong added 12 kills each. Alyson Jennings tied Sweeney with a match-high 10 digs.

A four-point run gave Texas a 13-8 lead in game one and another four-point spurt put the Longhorns up 10 at 24-14. The cushion was plenty enough for Texas as it took the game, 30-23. The Longhorns hit .364 and got nine kills from Dariam Acevedo, while holding the Bears to .107.

Baylor took a 12-9 lead in game two with a five-point run, which included back-to-back aces by Huston, but Texas answered right back to take a 14-13 lead. The Bears still only trailed by one when a five-point run gave the Longhorns a 23-17 lead to take control of the game. Baylor fought off game point with five in a row, but Texas held on for a 30-26 decision. Texas hit .278 and held Baylor to .083.

Baylor completely dominated game three as they scored the first three points and never looked back. Three straight blocks, the last a solo by junior middle blocker Desiree Guilliard-Young (Berkeley, Calif.), pushed the lead to 10-3 and the Bears led by as many as 13 at 22-9. The Longhorns battled back to within eight on a couple of occasions, but Baylor put the game away on back-to-back kills by Guillliard-Young for a 30-20 win. The Bears hit .533 for the game, while holding the Longhorns to .211.

The Bears went on a six-point run early in game four to take a 9-5 lead, but the Longhorns came back with five of its own to go up 10-9. Baylor tied the game on several occasions, but a pair of three-point runs put Texas up 25-19 and the Longhorns clinched the match with a 30-26 victory. Both offenses played well in the game as Texas hit .344 and Baylor hit .300.

Texas hit .298 for the match, while Baylor hit .250, marking the first time this season the Bears have lost when hitting .250 or better and only the second time in 12 matches they have lost when having more aces (9-7). The Bears outdug the Longhorns, 37-32, but were outblocked 10.0-9.5.

The Bears return to action when they hit the road to face No. 13 Missouri Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Hearnes Center in Columbia, Mo.