No. 12 Seed VB’s Season Ends in Regional Semifinals After 3-0 Loss to No. 5 Seed Nebraska

Sunday, April 18

Omaha, Neb.

1:30 p.m.

Baylor

20-7,13-3Big 12

Nebraska

16-2,14-2Big Ten

Baylor

Nebraska

No. 12 Seed VB’s Season Ends in Regional Semifinals After 3-0 Loss to No. 5 Seed Nebraska

4/18/2021 5:04:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Bears finish the year at 20-7 following back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            OMAHA, Neb. – With fifth-seeded and fourth-ranked Nebraska playing without All-American middle blocker Lauren Stivrins, it seemed like the door was open for 12^th-seeded Baylor volleyball to pull off an upset and make it back to the NCAA region finals.
            And then, the Cornhuskers (16-2) closed it shut.
            Led by Texas native and former University of Texas outside hitter Lexi Sun, who had 12 kills and a career-high five service aces, Nebraska reached its ninth-straight and 30^th overall region final with a 3-0 sweep of the Bears, 25-21, 25-17, 25-19, in Sunday afternoon's region semifinal at the CHI Health Center.
            "I liked how we prepared for the match," said Baylor coach Ryan McGuyre, whose team got out to an 11-6 lead in the first set. "We, obviously, came out strong, but we weren't able to sustain the execution we needed. Mentally, we were ready to do what we needed to do. It was probably just a sustaining effort in making plays."
            A Final Four team in 2019, Baylor ends its season at 20-7 with just the third Sweet 16 appearance in program history. After a first-round bye in the 48-team tournament, the Bears defeated 20^th-ranked Pepperdine in a five-setter on Thursday.
            "I am proud of their perseverance," McGuyre said. "A lot of girls – Yossi (Pressley) and Callie (Williams) top that list – that hunger and drive for them maintained the whole time through, even when things were grim or different or just non-traditional. . . . To find joy in difficult times is hard. in my time here at Baylor, this was by far the most difficult season."
            Pressley, the 2019 National Player of the Year, had a match-high 15 kills to go with five digs, two aces and one block. But, no other player had more than six kills, and starting middles Kara McGhee and Andressa Parise combined for just six kills and two blocks.
            "We just weren't as effective there offensively as I think we can be," McGuyre said. "You've got to have a minimum of three strong offensive arms, if not more. We were kind of surviving with two with Marieke (van der Mark) hurt, and hopeful that our middles could be three and four of that mix, but just didn't get there completely today."
            With Stivrins out with an undisclosed injury, Nebraska struggled early, committing four attacking errors and falling behind 11-6 in the first set. But from there, the Cornhuskers outscored the Bears, 19-10, and closed out the first frame, 25-21, on a Madi Kubik kill.
            In an 11-6 closing run, Nebraska scored six points off either Baylor service errors (4) or the Cornhuskers' service errors (2).
            "I think the serve-pass game definitely played a huge part in our level of play throughout the match," said Pressley, who had two aces and three service errors. "I feel like that's pretty much it."
            While Nebraska out-blocked Baylor, 8-4, the biggest disparity was on serve-receive. The Cornhuskers had eight aces and only four service errors, while the Bears had three aces and eight errors for a total point differential of nine.
            "Nebraska did a good job in their serve and pass scheme," McGuyre said. "It's hard in three sets, if you're going to give up the reception errors, to hold on to leads. I felt like each time we went back to serve, we had a good shot at slowing them down and scoring some points. But, our side-out game struggled because of the first touch. Sometimes, it looked great, but there were too many quick points at times."
            Hitting an efficient .414 in the second set, Nebraska jumped out to a 12-5 lead and never let up in finishing it off 25-17 and taking a 2-0 lead.
            Baylor didn't go quietly, though, taking a 13-9 lead in the third set on back-to-back kills by sophomore transfer Lauren Harrison from North Carolina. The Cornhuskers reeled off five-straight points and went on an 8-1 run after a timeout to go back on top for good.
            In more of a balanced attack, Nebraska got eight kills from Kubik, seven apiece from Kayla Caffey and Jazz Sweet and seven kills and five blocks from Callie Schwarzenbach, who filled in for Stivrins at middle blocker.
            Going with more of a one-setter system, Hannah Sedwick had 21 assists, four digs, two kills and a block, while Big 12 Libero of the Year Shanel Bramschreiber had nine of the Bears' 40 digs.
            Returning a pair of All-Americans in Pressley and Sedwick, Baylor has the potential to make another Final Four run in the fall.
            "We're going to do whatever necessary just to get that momentum going, get that confidence, get that one way to play back on track and just Sic 'em in the fall," Sedwick said.
            "The chance to have most everybody back is going to be exciting," McGuyre said, "plus the additions we're picking up, I feel very confident we'll have the firepower in the gym. Now, we've got to get back to the execution and the consistency."
            Nebraska advances to face fourth-seeded Texas (25-1) in Monday's region final. The Longhorns defeated 13^th-seeded Penn State, 3-1, in the other region semifinal.


THE RUNDOWN
OMAHA, Neb. – No. 11-ranked and 12th-seeded Baylor volleyball saw its season come to an end Sunday following a 3-0 loss to No. 4-ranked and fifth-seeded Nebraska, 21-25, 17-25, 19-25, at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Neb.

The Bears' (20-7) postseason run finished in its second-consecutive Regional Semifinals appearance. It was just the third time in program history that BU had reached the Sweet 16.

BU couldn't overcome eight serving errors, as well as eight service aces by the Cornhuskers, who improved to 16-2 on the year and advanced to the Regional Finals.

To open the match, Baylor capitalized on some early Nebraska mistakes to take a 10-5 lead. BU led 13-9 following a kill from Andressa Parise, but the Huskers tied it at 13-13 with a four-point run and the Bears didn't lead by more than one for the remainder of the set. Nebraska got in front at 17-16 with a kill and carried momentum through to take a 1-0 match advantage, despite Baylor hitting a solid .364 in the opening frame.

Entering set two, the Bears started slow and found themselves in a 5-1 hole needing to take a timeout. BU called another after trailing 12-5 to try and stall the Huskers, but the Bears did not get back within seven points following the break. BU hit just .038 in the set and Nebraska gathered a 2-0 lead.

The Bears stumbled yet again in the third set, hitting just .098 in the frame. The two sides went back and forth up to 7-7 when a Yossiana Pressley kill put BU in front. Pressley again put one away and followed it up with an ace to swell the lead to 11-8, but Nebraska hung around and minimized the damage. Following a timeout at 13-9, the Huskers went on a run to take back a 14-13 lead which swung the momentum fully in their favor. Pressley collected her fifth kill of the set with the Bears down 20-18, but Nebraska went on another small run and the Bears couldn't recover.

Pressley led all players with 15 kills, hitting .205, while Hannah Sedwick dished out 21 assists.

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

HIGHLIGHTS
• Baylor is now 11-9 all-time in the NCAA Championship, including an 8-5 record under sixth-year head coach Ryan McGuyre.
• BU fell to 1-2 all-time in the Regional Semifinals of the NCAA Tournament.
• Baylor made back-to-back appearances in the Regional Semifinals for the first time in program history.
• Yossiana Pressley led all players with 15 kills, her 99^th double-digit kill performance of her career.
• Hannah Sedwick collected 21 assists, her 100^th-career match with double figures.

STAT OF THE MATCH
16 – Baylor made back-to-back appearances in the Regional Semifinals (Sweet 16) for the first time in program history, as the team has only advance that far three times (2009, 2019, 2020).

TOP QUOTES
Head coach Ryan McGuyre
On today's match…
"I liked how we prepared for the match. We came out strong, but were unable to sustain the execution that we needed to. Mentally, we were ready. Nebraska did a good job with their serve and pass game. It's hard to hold on to leads if you're going to give up the reception errors. Our sideout game struggled because of our first touch."

On excitement for the fall…
"100 percent, I'm really excited about next year's team. I think with the additions we're getting and some of the fire from the ones that are here, a chance to have everybody back is going to be exciting. I feel very confident we'll have the firepower in the gym, we'll just have to get back to the execution and consistency."

Senior Yossiana Pressley
On what reaching the Sweet 16 means to the team moving into next season…
"I feel like both of us as leaders feel that we can and we will do better to prepare our team, to get to a Final Four and win a national championship. We're going to do what's necessary to get that momentum going, get that confidence, get that one way to play back on track and just 'Sic 'Em' in the fall."

Senior Hannah Sedwick
On what reaching the Sweet 16 means to the team moving into next season…
"Kind of like what we just talked about with our team, disappointment is a driver of success. I guess, I'm just thankful that that's true and hopefully we'll all be hungry in the coming months."

-BaylorBears.com-