Dec. 2, 2016

Box Score

By Larry Little
Baylor Bear Foundation

LOS ANGELES - Overcoming adversity is nothing new for Baylor's 2016 Baylor volleyball team.

Despite two starters missing all season due to an injury (Shelly Fanning and Tola Itiola) and a third starter suffering a season-ending injury in the Big 12 opener (Jaelyn Jackson), the Bears still reached the 20-win plateau, finished fourth in one of the nation's toughest conferences and reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011.

So, down two sets to one against 14th-ranked San Diego in Friday night's NCAA Tournament first-round match at UCLA's historic Pauley Pavilion, Baylor felt right at home.

Aniah Philo posted her 11th double-double with 14 kills and 13 digs, and the Bears rallied past the Toreros, 16-25, 25-18, 17-25, 25-20, 15-13. Baylor posted its first postseason win in seven years and improved to 4-4 all-time in NCAA Tournament play.

Philo had three blocks, including a joint effort with Camryn Freiberg that gave Baylor set point in the fourth. The Bears trailed 18-17 in the fourth before consecutive kills from Katie Staiger and a Freiberg-Staiger combo block sparked an 8-2 run to close it out and force a decisive fifth set.

"Aniah had a great night; she definitely shined for us," Baylor coach Ryan McGuyre said. "She's always been that way - unfazed. She was our best player in practice (Thursday). I was playing, we were trying to bring some of the heat that San Diego ahs, and Aniah was the only one who would kind of talk back to me. Which is what we were trying to get out of all of them. We needed them to realize we were going to have to make some great plays against some great hitters. Aniah was able to do that."

Philo was not alone in that effort. San Diego (24-6) hit .500 in the first set with 16 kills against only one error in 30 swings. But, the Bears adjusted and forced the Toreros into 14 attack errors in the second set. Meanwhile, Baylor's offense was not highly efficient throughout the match, other than the fourth set when the Bears hit .409 (11-2-22).

"We battled and found a way," McGuyre said. "We didn't slow them down at all in the first set. They out-hit us, they out-dug us, but our block finally came around and it started having an influence on the match. We didn't earn as many points as I thought we should have and could have, but we put pressure on them where they gave us some points down the stretch."

San Diego committed 16 errors on its final 54 attacks, including a minus-.190 attack percentage (3-7-21) in the fifth set.

"We don't want to have a lot of stuff blocks," McGuyre said. "Those are nice, they're fun. But, we need to be able to block in a way that has an influence on the opponent where they roll a few more shots than they're comfortable doing, hit higher than they're used to, hit harder and hope to have something good happen."

The Toreros' Lisa Kramer, who entered with a .301 attack percentage and a team-high 4.2 kills per set, had six kills and no errors in nine swings in the first set. She finished with a match-best 21 kills, but hit .231 overall, committing nine errors in 41 attempts after the first set.

As Kramer's effectiveness dwindled, Staiger's improved throughout the match. Ranked among the national leaders in kills, Staiger was held to only two terminations with four attack errors in the opening set. But, she finished with 20 kills.

"I had to be more dynamic," Staiger said. "I had to pick my shots more, and I scored on tips more than I normally do. Ultimately, my teammates picked up any of the slack; they were putting balls away. Anytime there are more blockers on me, that means my teammates have more one-on-one opportunities."

McGuyre labeled senior setter Morgan Reed the match's MVP. She finished with six kills in eight attempts with no errors, 34 assists, 12 digs and two blocks.

"Morgan's senior leadership willed us to the win," McGuyre said. "She made plays, shooting balls to corners, dumping. If anyone found a way, it was Morgan. Katie did struggle, and Morgan had to find a way to get us points and play good defense."

Perhaps no play embodied Baylor's gutsy play more than the 21st serve of the fifth set.

With Baylor leading 11-9 and San Diego serving, a long rally ensued during which Ashley Fritcher found herself on an island at the net against the strong-armed Kramer. Fritcher put up a wall against Kramer, who covered her own attack. Two touches later, Fritcher made a diving dig on a shallow tip over Baylor's block on the other side of the court. Staiger ended it two touches later with a kill.

Fritcher and Freiberg then roofed Kramer on the next point to put the Bears up, 13-9. San Diego did not go quietly, though, putting together a four-point run coming out of a timeout. But Freiberg and Fritcher again closed the block on Thana Fayad's attack, setting up match point, and Fayad's attack on the next point missed the court, giving Baylor the win.

San Diego bettered Baylor in nearly every statistical category, including sizeable differences in kills (64-50), digs (67-51) and aces (6-3).

"On paper, it didn't look like we should have won, but that's what we've done all season," Staiger said. "We've had this goal to play for each other and for an audience of one, to glorify God. That was evident in how that game turned out, going for it until the very end, a fight to the finish."

Freiberg had seven kills and led all players with 10 blocks. Fritcher only managed three kills, but she turned in seven blocks and two digs, including that critical point-saver in the fifth.

Baylor now faces eighth-ranked and 10th-seeded UCLA (25-6) at 9 p.m. CST Saturday, with a berth in the Sweet 16 on the line. The Bruins came back from a first-set loss to dominate Murray State in a 3-1 victory, 21-25, 25-18, 25-15, 25-9.

This is the second Baylor-UCLA match in NCAA Tournament play. The Bears defeated the Bruins in four sets during the 2009 tournament, also a second-round match. It was UCLA's first-ever loss at home in tournament play, with the Bruins losing only one other NCAA Tournament home match since, falling to Michigan State in 2012.

BU picked up the program's first postseason win since the 2009 season, with BU clinching a berth into the Regional round of 16 with a win over then-No. 9 and hosting UCLA.

The Bears were paced on offense by Katie Staiger (20 kills) and Aniah Philo (14 kills, 13 digs), with Morgan Reed matching her season-high kills mark with six, adding 34 assists and 12 digs.

Defensively, the Bears outblocked the Tereros, 15-14, including a 12-7 margin in the three decisive sets won by BU.

The Bears fell down early in the first set, hitting just .500 to USD's .121.

BU answered in a big way in set two, completely smothering the USD offense to just a -.022 hitting mark.

USD had another big frame in the third, hitting .400 to BU's .114.

Facing elimination in the fourth set, the Bears came up clutch once again, hitting .400 to force a fifth set.

In the final set, took the early momentum, but had its lead cut back to a tie at 8-8 and again at 13-13. A huge block from Camryn Freiberg and Ashley Fritcher, followed by an attack error by USD clinched the five-set win for the Bears.

HIGHLIGHTS
- Katie Staiger finished with a team-high 20 kills, six digs, and three blocks.
- Aniah Philo notched a double-double, adding 14 kills and 13 digs, with three assists and three blocks.
- Morgan Reed led both sides with 34 assists, digging 12 balls for the double-double and matching her season-high in kills with six.
- Camryn Freiberg (10 blocks) became the first BU player to log double-digit blocks since Adrien Richburg at Texas Tech on Nov. 4, 2015.

STAT OF THE DAY #1
14 - the ranking for San Diego, the first top-15 win for the Bears since defeating No. 9 UCLA in the 2009 NCAA Tournament, and the first time the Bears have won two matches over top-25 opponents since 2012.

STAT OF THE DAY #2
7 - the number of years since BU and UCLA have faced off in volleyball, with Baylor defeating the Bruins in the 2009 NCAA Tournament to advance to the Sweet 16 Regional round.

TOP QUOTE #1
"Great, fun win for us tonight. The girls battled and San Diego's an awesome team, awesome program. This is who we've been as a team all year, fighting until the end. Morgan Reed had her best match tonight. Just so proud of her willing us to the victory. Looking at all the players we have, she's the senior that's always on the court. She made play after play after play and wasn't rattled. So proud of her to play like a senior. Aniah was doing some great things offensively and we're excited to go on to the next round." -head coach Ryan McGuyre

TOP QUOTE #2
"It was definitely very back and forth. San Diego's a good team and they run a really fast offense. It was back and forth just because we'd put a ball away and then they'd put a ball away. But when you're at the tournament, everyone's good. That's what you kind of expect. But it was definitely hard to get into a flow because they were doing some good things." - redshirt junior Katie Staiger

WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor advances to the second round of the NCAA Volleyball Championship, facing the host school and 10-seed UCLA Bruins, who took a four-set win over Murray State following Baylor's match.

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