Sept. 2, 2008
Box Score
SAN MARCOS, Texas - The Baylor volleyball team placed four players in double-figure kills as the Bears pushed past Texas State (25-17, 23-25, 25-7, 28-26) on Tuesday night at Strahan Coliseum. Baylor improves to 3-0 on the season, while Texas State falls to 3-2 on the year.
Katie Sanders paced the Baylor offense with 13 kills on the night. Anna Breyfogle tallied 12 kills, while Ashlie Christenson and Ashley Byrd recorded 10 kills apiece.
Baylor got out to a quick lead in the fourth set, but Texas State rallied back to tie the score at 20 apiece. The Bears had match points at 24 and 25, but could not capitalize as Texas State managed a comeback to earn a set point at 26-25. A kill by Christenson and a service ace by Allison King gave Baylor another match point, and another tough serve from King forced a bad set by Texas State to give Baylor the win.
"We did a good job tonight on offense," said head coach Jim Barnes. "We were able to put away a lot of balls. But we took some breaks on defense. Texas State did a good job of battling back when we let up."
Baylor, who struggled on its blocking defense in the first weekend of the season, recorded a season-best 13 total blocks. Breyfogle and Briana Tolbert led the way with six blocks each, including solo blocks for each. Texas State failed to record a block through the first three sets, but managed five total blocks in the deciding set.
"We are a good blocking team and we get our hands on a lot of balls," said Barnes. "But we stopped blocking and digging in the fourth set. We let the pressure off of Texas State after we had such a good third set. But in the end we were able to put the ball away and limit our mental errors."
Taylor Barnes led the Bears with 39 set assists to go along with three service aces, though she suffered a slight ankle injury at the end of the third set.
Allison King recorded a career-high 18 digs to lead the Bears. Katie Sanders tallied her second kill/dig double-double of the season with 13 digs to go along with her 13 kills. Barnes added 13 digs for the Bears.
After easing through the first set with a 25-17 win, the Bears dropped their first set of the season 25-23. After leading 20-17, Baylor dropped six straight points to make the Texas State lead 23-20.
Following the halftime between the second and third sets, Baylor came out on fire, cruising past the Bobcats 25-7.
Baylor returns to action on Friday and Saturday as the Bears host the Baylor Classic at the Ferrell Center. The final schedule for the tournament has not been set due to the possible addition of a fifth team to the tournament. Last weekend Baylor only played two matches at the Baylor Invitational after Lamar had to withdraw early due to the approach of Hurricane Gustav and the mandatory evacuation of the Lamar campus. A complete tournament schedule will be released as soon as it is available.
