No. 18 VB Can’t Overcome Hot Kansas State Start

Thursday, October 5

Waco, Texas

7PM

Baylor

7-7,1-3Big 12

Kansas State

9-5,3-2Big 12

Kansas St.

Baylor

No. 18 VB Can’t Overcome Hot Kansas State Start

10/5/2023 11:11:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Bears fall at the Ferrell to the Wildcats

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

Much like football can be a game of inches, volleyball oftentimes comes down to a touch here or a touch there.

Battling back from a two-set deficit, the 18^th-ranked Baylor volleyball team took a 10-8 fifth-set lead on Kansas State on an Alicia Andrew kill and Shaylee Myers' attack error. But on what would have been Allie Sczech's 12^th kill of the night, the officials ruled that K-State's block didn't touch it at the net and upheld it on a challenge by the Bears.

That was part of a three-point swing and a closing 7-3 run that helped the Wildcats (9-5, 3-2) pull out a 3-2 upset of the Bears, 25-18, 25-14, 22-25, 21-25, 15-13, Thursday night at the Ferrell Center.

"The refs have different cameras from what we saw from the screen," McGuyre said, "and the one up on the screen looked pretty obvious. As coaches, we always go over there and we're asking, 'Hey, did you touch it or not?' And (the K-State blocker) clearly said, 'Yeah, I touched it.' But those margins are thin, and we can still pound some balls into the floor. We're trying to hit high, off hands, and that's sports."

The loss also put a damper on a post-match celebration that recognized McGuyre as Baylor volleyball's all-time wins leader (186). The Bears fell to 7-7 overall, 1-3 in conference and 3-2 at home.

"It's one of those things that I get to cherish probably later," McGuyre said. "The sting of the loss doesn't feel good, but I'm so blessed and thankful I get to coach at Baylor. What a special university, special to me and my family. . . . Baylor is special because the values and the passions that are the most important in my life are in full alignment with this university."

Struggling out of the gate, the Bears never led through the first two sets, hitting .015 with zero blocks and three service errors. Led by Carter's match-high 19 kills, the Wildcats hit .397 in the first two sets with 29 kills and three blocks.

"The defense wasn't really there putting pressure on them," McGuyre said. "And then, the last three (sets), they're under .200 (.118). We've got to block better, still. I think that's a part of our game that is not putting enough pressure on our opponents. They're just swinging hard, and too many good things are happening for them."

Sophomore Riley Simpson gave the desperate Bears a lift in the next two sets, hitting .318 with eight kills and only one error in 22 total swings.

"I think Riley came in and did some very good things for us," McGuyre said. "I thought Allie Sczech really did a good job in those third and fourth sets of reassuring us, 'Hey, we've got this.' But with the slow start, like I said, the margins are really thin in our sport. And they're a great team, a hungry team, looking to get wins.

"I thought once we were hungry, we were playing pretty good. We're one, two touches away from that fifth set going any direction there. But we don't put it in the ref's hands or the camera challenge system's hands there."

Simpson had two late kills in a closing run in the third set, with the Bears winning it, 25-22, on a Myers attacking error. And then, the fourth set ended with another Wildcat attacking error and one of five unsuccessful changes, knotting the match at two sets apiece.

"I think (the message after the second set) was just, 'Hey, we've got to work. K-State's a great team and they're not just going to give us this win,''' Simpson said. "We have to work for it, always. That was what was being told to us, and we also kind of lit a fire underneath all of us. Let's go, now or never, really. That was the message."

Baylor's had a history of pulling out five-setters under McGuyre, but the Bears fell to 1-3 in fifth sets this season and dropped their second-straight five-setter in conference play.

"The fifth set, you want to default to what you do in the gym every day," McGuyre said. "It's 15-13, I think there's a moment or two where somebody is doing something that is not a part of our training or trying a shot that we haven't worked on or attacking something we're not doing. . . . We've got to shore up some of those things a little bit better."

After falling behind 14-12, the Bears staved off one match point with a Manuela Bibinbe kill. But the Wildcats closed it out when Simpson blocked a Carter attack out of bounds.

Baylor gets a chance to bounce back, hosting K-State at 7 p.m. Friday in its second back-to-back in conference play. Last weekend, the Bears lost a five-setter on the road at Iowa State and then came back to sweep the Cyclones, 3-0, last Sunday.

"It hurts, that's kind of the main thing," said freshman Kyndal Stowers, who had a double-double with 13 digs and a team-high 14 kills. "We don't want to feel like that. It was definitely encouraging to see that we were able to fight back after being down in those first two sets. I think we just have to carry on that fight to tomorrow."

Friday's match will be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with Lincoln Rose and former Baylor volleyball standout Braya Hunt calling the action.

WACO, Texas – The 18^th-ranked Baylor volleyball squad lost to Kansas State on Thursday night at the Ferrell Center despite the comeback effort, 3-2.

BU (7-7, 1-3) fell to KSU (9-5, 3-2) in five sets on "Go Gold" night. A strong start for the Wildcats was too much for the Bears as KSU won the first set 25-18 and the second set 25-14. Baylor fought back and took the third set, 25-22, and the fourth set with a 25-21 score, but ultimately the Bears were not able to outlast the Wildcats in the last set and fell just short at 15-13.

The Bears were led by Stowers and Sczech with 14 and 11 kills, respectively. Carlson added 33 assists to her season total and Simpson had her highest kill total of the season with 10.

THE RUNDOWN
Set 1
Kansas State started the match out hot by taking an early 3-0 lead over the Bears but Alicia Andrew and Allie Sczech teamed up for a block to get the first point of the night. A Kyndal Stowers kill and multiple KSU errors led to a score of 5-5. Multiple KSU points led to Manuela Bibinbe getting a powerful kill and an ace right after to make the score 6-9 and 7-9, respectively. KSU continued to stay hot and took the lead to 8-12 forcing Baylor to use a timeout. Coming out of the timeout Baylor was able to grab some momentum with a kill from Elise McGhee followed by an Ace from Averi Carlson to make the score 13-11 with the Wildcats still on top. Kansas State continued to maintain the lead and scored 5 straight points to make the score 16-11. An impressive touch pass from Carlson lead to Andrew to get a kill for the bears but Kanas State had a 18-12 lead when the Bears called the second timeout of the set. The Bears were able to crawl back to 15-20 thanks to multiple service errors from the Wildcats and a kill from Bibinbe. Another service error from KSU and a kill for McGhee brought the score to 22-17 but the Wildcats were too much for the Bears in set one and took the set with a score of 25-18.

Set 2
The second set of the night started in Kansas State's favor again and they took a fast 5-0 lead over the Bears which forced coach McGuire to call a timeout. A combination of a Sczech tip, an error from KSU, and a Bibinbe kill led to the score being 7-3 with KSU on top. KSU continued to hold the lead but a last ditch effort from Sczech on a dig led to a stowers kill to make the score 9-5. McGhee was able to add a kill to make the score 11-6 with the Wildcats on top. The wildcats went on to score 3 straight points which led to the Bears being forced to call a timeout with the score of 14-6 KSU. After the timeout the Bears were able to get back-to-back points from a Stowers kill followed by a kill from Riley Simpson. The Wildcats again went on to score three more straight points before Stowers was able to record her second kill of the set to make it a score of 17-9 KSU. KSU continued to hold the lead and brought it to 21-11 before Stowers was able to get a kill to make it 21-12 KSU. Baylor was able to gain two more points from a service error and a kill from Simpson but ultimately would lose the second set 25-14.

Set 3
The third set of the night started with the Bears taking a 1-0 lead thanks to a service error from Kansas state. An assist from Carlson to set up Stowers for a kill started a run for the Bears. Alexis DaCosta was able to get an unorthodox kill and Simpson had a huge block to extend the lead to 6-2. The Wildcats battled back but another kill from Simpson helped the Bears keep the lead at 8-5. Sczech had a pair of kills along with a block from Stowers to keep the momentum going for the Bears with score of 13-9. Sczech added another block before the media timeout with the Bears leading 15-12. Simpson continued to stay hot with another kill to make it 16-13 and then shortly after added another kill to make it 18-16. Sczech had a powerful kill to force Kansas State to call their first timeout of the night at a score of 19-16. Stowers and Sczech went back and forth trading kills with each other to make it 22-19 Bears on top. Simpson's hot hand added two more kills before Kanas State had an attacking error that led to the Bears winning the set 25-22.

Set 4
The fourth set started back and forth with Stowers getting a tip to get the scoring started for the Bears making it 1-1 early in the set. Sczech added a kill to make it 3-1 Bears. A long string of errors from both sides of the court led to a tied score of 5-5. Back-to-back errors from the Wildcats allowed Baylor to take a 7-5 lead. After more errors from both sides Simpson, now over career high in kills, added two more to bring the game to another tie at 9-9. Sczech went after an errant ball outside of the court that led to a Stowers kill that caused the crowd to erupt in the Ferrell to bring the score to 11-11. Carlson was able to set up Bibinbe and Stowers with kills to take the lead to 13-12. A pair of kills from Stowers and Simpson led the Bears to take a 15-14 leading into the media timeout. Coming out of the break the Bears were able to catch fire thanks to a kill and solo block by Sczech and an ace from Tehani Ulufatu to make the score 19-16, Bears. The Bears had three straight assisted blocks which brought the score to 22-17 Bears still leading. KSU continued to fight back making the score 22-20 but a massive kill, followed by a block both from Bibinbe led to a 24-20 lead for the Bears. An attacking error by the Wildcats led to Baylor winning the fourth set 25-21.

Set 5
The fifth and final set started with KSU taking the first point but Andrews was able to get a kill to level it at 1-1. Sczech and Stowers both added a kill making the score 3-3. More errors from both sides led to the longest volley of the night but KSU came out on top which led to a tie score of 5-5. A Sczech kill and an error from KSU led to the Bears leading 7-5 before Kansas state came back to tie it at 7-7 going into the final media timeout of the night. Coming out of the media Allie Andrew had a powerful strike to record her 3^rd kill of the night followed by an error from KSU to make the score 10-8 Bears. The Wildcats fought back and managed to take the lead 11-10 which caused Baylor to use a timeout. A double hit violation by KSU tied the game at 11-11. Stowers was able to get a huge kill for the Bears to make it 12-12 after an unsuccessful challenge from KSU. Kansas State managed to get two kills to bring it to match point at 14-12 when Baylor used their last timeout of the night. A kill from Bibinbe forced Kansas State to call a timeout at 14-13 but a blocking error from the Bears gave Kansas State the final advantage and took the fifth set, 15-13.

HIGHLIGHTS

Riley Simpson sets season high in kills at 10.
Kyndal Stowers led the Bears in kills at 14, followed by Sczech with 11.
Carlson recorded 33 assists (most by either team).
Briseño led the Bears with 17 digs followed by Carlson with 16 and Stowers with 13.
Both Stowers and Carlson had double-doubles on the night.
Tehani Ulufatu recorded her first career ace.

UP NEXT
The Bears will be at the Ferrell Center again for another match up with Kansas State, Friday at 7 p.m. It is Hispanic Heritage night, with free "Vamos Osos" t-shirts available to fans while supplies last. The match will be streamed on ESPN+ with Lincoln Rose and former Bear Braya Hunt on the call.

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

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