Wednesday, November 22
Waco, Texas
6PM
Baylor
16-12,10-8Big 12
3
vs
1
Houston
17-9,10-7Big 12
1
2
3
4
F
Houston
23
25
25
19
1
Baylor
25
19
27
25
3
No. 25 VB Upsets No. 22 Houston
11/22/2023 9:32:00 PM | Volleyball
Bears end regular season with four-set upset of Cougars
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
WACO, Texas – When 25th-ranked Baylor volleyball dropped the first five points of the third set Wednesday night against No. 22 Houston, Ryan McGuyre had to think to himself, "I've seen this before."
But this time was different.
Using an 8-0 run that included an Alexis Dacosta ace and two kills apiece by Alicia Andrew and Elise McGhee, the Bears (16-12, 10-8) rallied to beat the Cougars, 25-23, 19-25, 27-25, 25-19, in the regular-season finale at the Ferrell Center.
"The start of the third set looked kind of like how all of our third sets have been, but it was still early," said McGuyre, whose team posted double-digit conference wins for the seventh-consecutive year. "Sophia (Keene's) voice brought us back into that. That part was huge. Volleyball is game of momentum and runs. And really, we just needed to string together strong serves."
McGhee recorded her career-first double-double with 21 kills and 15 digs, including a perfect 11-for-11 on serve receives, while freshman Kendal Murphy had six of her career-high 12 kills in the fourth set.
"Going into the third set, we were talking about what we needed to change," said McGhee, who hit .255, adding two aces and a block. "And, obviously, we didn't really execute it. We started off really slow, just kind of dumb errors. When Coach Mac called a time out, we all came up to each other, and we were like, 'We are not going to quit. We're going to fight and we're not going to give up. And we know we can do better than this.'''
In a back-and-forth first set that included 13 ties and six lead changes, the Bears took the lead for good on a Rachel Tullos service error and ended it on another service error on their third set point.
Baylor returned the favor with six of its 10 service errors coming in a second set when Houston (17-9, 10-7) never trailed.
Trailing 11-6 in the third, the Bears' momentum-changing 8-0 run began with an Andrew kill and then seven-straight service points by Dacosta. Andrew scored two of the next four points with a solo block and another kill to tie it up, then McGhee had back-to-back kills that pushed Baylor's lead to 14-11.
Allie Sczech also finished with double-digit kills with 11, while middle blockers Manuela Bibinbe and Andrew had seven and four, respectively.
"I feel like our hitters really stepped up tonight," said sophomore setter Averi Carlson, who had 43 assists, six digs and a team-high three aces. "I felt like I could really set anyone, and they were going to put the ball away. I'm really proud of our hitters, the way they executed the game plan."
Another momentum swing came in the fourth set, when a replay review overturned a call that was initially ruled an attacking error by Sczech. The review showed a touch by Houston at the net, giving Baylor a lead (13-12) it would never relinquish.
Carlson had two aces in a pivotal 4-0 run that pushed the lead out to 22-16, then McGhee closed out the match with her 21st kill.
Houston, which closes out its first conference season in the Big 12 with a home matchup against Kansas State on Saturday, was led by Kenna Sauer and Abbie Jackson with 21 and 15 kills, respectively. After the Cougars won 30 of the first 31 meetings in this series, with most of them coming in the Southwest Conference, the Bears have now strung together seven-straight wins.
Baylor entered the week with an NCAA RPI ranking of 36th, but dropped just one set combined in wins over West Virginia and Houston and will finish no worse than sixth in the 13-team league. With the NCAA Selection Show airing at 5 p.m. CT Sunday on ESPN, the Bears are expected to receive a program-record eighth-straight postseason bid.
"To me, this is what the first round of the playoffs are going to look like for us," McGuyre said of the top-25 matchup. "We're probably not going to get a fill-in-the-blank someone that's an easy team. Probably some other Power 5 conference opponent that's finishing second or third. We've just got to keep making the right adjustments throughout the match.
"That's something we've been harping on them here, because you don't get back-to-back in postseason. You've got to play a team once, beat them and then prepare for the next one."
WACO, Texas – The 25th-ranked Baylor volleyball team upset the 22nd ranked Houston Cougars on Wednesday night in the Ferrell Center to close out the regular season, 3-1.
BU (16-12, 10-8 Big 12) beat UH (17-9, 10-7 Big 12) in four sets at the Ferrell. The Bears were able to pull away in a close first set, 25-23. Houston managed to take the second set, 25-19, but that was the only set it would be able to win as Baylor won the third, 27-25, and the fourth, 25-19.
The Bears were led by Elise McGhee with 21 kills, followed by Kendal Murphy's season-high 12 kill effort. Carlson added 43 assists to her season total and Briseño secured 10 digs. McGhee's 21 kills and 15 digs is her first career double-double. Carlson also served up three aces while McGhee and Alexis Dacosta had two apiece.
It was Baylor's 12th ranked matchup of the season and the second upset it has pulled off.
THE RUNDOWN
Set 1
The match opened with a powerful Allie Sczech kill that the Cougars could not return that led to Baylor taking a 1-0 lead. Houston quickly answered back with two kills of their own to take the lead at 2-1 before Manuela Bibinbe got her first kill of the night to tie the set at 2-2. The game continued to stay close with both teams trading kills back and forth. Kendal Murphy and McGhee got on the board for the Bears with kills after a run from Houston tied the game at 6. Houston would go on to score 4 straight points before attacking errors brought their run to an end to bring the score to 9-8, Bears trailing. Alicia Andrew got her first kill of the night followed by Sczech getting back-to-back kills to bring the score to 11-10, Bears leading. Houston would continue to trade points with 8 straight points resulting in kills. Sczech, McGhee, Bibinbe, and Murphy all were part of the scoring efforts for Baylor as BU held a 15-14 lead going into the media timeout. Coming out of the media Houston was able to answer with a kill but Murphy was able to stay hot for the Bears and McGhee followed soon after with a kill of her own to bring the score to 18-16, Baylor. Sczech connected on a pass from Lauren Briseño to extend the lead to 19-17 and McGhee followed after with a kill of her own to bring the score to 21-18, Baylor. After two errors from the Bears, Bibinbe was able to secure a kill to bring the score to 22-20. Houston would get a kill to bring the score to within one point but a kill from McGhee would extend the lead to 23-21 for Baylor. An error from Houston would bring it to set point for Baylor at 24-21. Two straight kills from Houston forced Baylor to use a timeout with the score at 24-23, Baylor leading. An errant serve from Houston gave Baylor the win in the first set 25-23.
Set 2
The second set opened up with a kill from the Cougars but Andrew was able to quickly answer with one of her own to tie the set 1-1 early. An error from Baylor led to a Houston point but Sczech answered with a kill to keep the game tied, this time 2-2. Houston would go on to get two points before a McGhee kill halted the run at 5-4, Houston. Errors would result in points for the next multiple plays before a kill from Murphy brought the score to 9-9. More errors from both sides led to Houston getting three straight kills that forced Baylor to call a timeout, trailing 13-10. Coming out of the timeout Sczech and Bibinbe would team up for a block to bring the score to 13-11, Houston leading. Houston would keep the lead over the next few points bringing the score to 16-12, Houston. Attacking and service errors from Houston resulted in two points for the Bears, but Houston would quickly respond back with three points to bring the score to 19-14 Houston, which caused Baylor to use a timeout. Coming out of the timeout points were traded via errors until Andrew got a kill for the Bears to bring the score to 20-16, Houston still on top. Houston steadily controlled the rest of the match with McGhee getting two kills to make it 22-18 and 24-19, respectively, but ultimately would fall in the second set 25-19.
Set 3
The third set started with a Houston kill and an attacking error from Baylor led to the Cougars taking an early 2-0 lead. Two more kills from Houston and a receiving error from Baylor brought the score to 5-0 and forced Baylor to use a timeout. Coming out of the timeout Sczech was able to get Baylor on the board with a kill to bring the score to 5-1, Houston. McGhee would get a kill followed shortly after by Murphy to bring the score to 8-4, Houston still leading. Another Murphy kill would bring the Bears to within three, at 8-5, before Houston would get 2 straight kills to make it 10-5. Baylor would go on to win four straight points thanks to a kill by Andrew, a solo block by Bibinbe and an ace from Alexis Dacosta. This would bring the score to 11-10, Houston still leading but forced to call a timeout. Coming out of the timeout the momentum continued in the Bears favor scoring four more straight points, this time by way of an Andrew kill, and two McGhee kills to bring the score to 14-12, Baylor leading. A massive Sczech kill erupted the crowd in the Ferrell to extend the lead to 15-12 for Baylor. Houston would fight back winning three straight points and bringing the game to a 16-16 tie. The score would continue to stay deadlocked over the next few points until back-to-back kills from Bibinbe and McGhee allowed Baylor to regain the lead at 19-18. Errors from both sides resulted in the score being 21-20, Cougars before a McGhee kill would tie the set at 21. More errors led to Bibinbe getting a kill and an ace from McGhee brought it to set point with a score of 24-23, Bears. After more fight from the Cougars, a service error from Houston would result in a Carlson ace to allow Baylor to win the third set 27-25. This was the 19th set this season won or lost by two points.
Set 4
The fourth set opened with a quick kill from McGhee followed by an attacking error from Houston to bring the score to 2-0 Bears early. Dacosta was able to secure her second ace of the night and the Bears were up 3-0. The Cougars responded with four straight points before a McGhee kill tied the set at 4-4. Both teams would trade kills before another McGhee kill brought the score to within two for the Bears at 8-6. An attacking error from Houston led to McGhee getting an ace and brought the score to a tie at 8-8. A Houston kill was followed by a Murphy kill and kept the game tied at 9-9. Murphy stayed hot and connected with another kill this time to bring the score to 10-10. Sczech tallied another kill to bring the score to 11-11. A kill from Houston led to an attacking error for the Cougars and brough the score to another tie, this time at 12-12. A successful Baylor challenge resulted in a kill for Sczech and McGhee followed immediately after to extend the lead to 14-12, Baylor. An attacking error from Houston allowed Baylor to keep their lead at 15-13 heading into the media timeout. Coming out of the timeout Houston was able to connect with a kill before a service error brought the score to 16-14, Baylor. Bibinbe collected another kill and Murphy followed right after which brought the score to 18-15, forcing Houston to call a timeout. Coming out of the timeout Houston responded with a kill but Murphy stayed hot and got her 10th kill of the night, a new season high, bringing the score to 19-16. Carlson recorded her second ace of the night and another Murphy kill brought the score to 21-16 forcing Houston to call a timeout. Coming out of the timeout Carlson recorded another ace to bring the score to 22-16, Bears. Two points from Houston would bring it to within four for the Cougars at 22-18, but a Murphy kill and block from McGhee brought the set to match point at 24-19 before a McGhee kill secured the win for the Bears 25-19.
HIGHLIGHTS
UP NEXT
The Bears await their fate in the NCAA Selection Show, airing on ESPN at 5 p.m. CT on Sunday, November 26.
To stay up to date all year long on all things Baylor volleyball, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @BaylorVBall.
Baylor Bear Insider
WACO, Texas – When 25th-ranked Baylor volleyball dropped the first five points of the third set Wednesday night against No. 22 Houston, Ryan McGuyre had to think to himself, "I've seen this before."
But this time was different.
Using an 8-0 run that included an Alexis Dacosta ace and two kills apiece by Alicia Andrew and Elise McGhee, the Bears (16-12, 10-8) rallied to beat the Cougars, 25-23, 19-25, 27-25, 25-19, in the regular-season finale at the Ferrell Center.
"The start of the third set looked kind of like how all of our third sets have been, but it was still early," said McGuyre, whose team posted double-digit conference wins for the seventh-consecutive year. "Sophia (Keene's) voice brought us back into that. That part was huge. Volleyball is game of momentum and runs. And really, we just needed to string together strong serves."
McGhee recorded her career-first double-double with 21 kills and 15 digs, including a perfect 11-for-11 on serve receives, while freshman Kendal Murphy had six of her career-high 12 kills in the fourth set.
"Going into the third set, we were talking about what we needed to change," said McGhee, who hit .255, adding two aces and a block. "And, obviously, we didn't really execute it. We started off really slow, just kind of dumb errors. When Coach Mac called a time out, we all came up to each other, and we were like, 'We are not going to quit. We're going to fight and we're not going to give up. And we know we can do better than this.'''
In a back-and-forth first set that included 13 ties and six lead changes, the Bears took the lead for good on a Rachel Tullos service error and ended it on another service error on their third set point.
Baylor returned the favor with six of its 10 service errors coming in a second set when Houston (17-9, 10-7) never trailed.
Trailing 11-6 in the third, the Bears' momentum-changing 8-0 run began with an Andrew kill and then seven-straight service points by Dacosta. Andrew scored two of the next four points with a solo block and another kill to tie it up, then McGhee had back-to-back kills that pushed Baylor's lead to 14-11.
Allie Sczech also finished with double-digit kills with 11, while middle blockers Manuela Bibinbe and Andrew had seven and four, respectively.
"I feel like our hitters really stepped up tonight," said sophomore setter Averi Carlson, who had 43 assists, six digs and a team-high three aces. "I felt like I could really set anyone, and they were going to put the ball away. I'm really proud of our hitters, the way they executed the game plan."
Another momentum swing came in the fourth set, when a replay review overturned a call that was initially ruled an attacking error by Sczech. The review showed a touch by Houston at the net, giving Baylor a lead (13-12) it would never relinquish.
Carlson had two aces in a pivotal 4-0 run that pushed the lead out to 22-16, then McGhee closed out the match with her 21st kill.
Houston, which closes out its first conference season in the Big 12 with a home matchup against Kansas State on Saturday, was led by Kenna Sauer and Abbie Jackson with 21 and 15 kills, respectively. After the Cougars won 30 of the first 31 meetings in this series, with most of them coming in the Southwest Conference, the Bears have now strung together seven-straight wins.
Baylor entered the week with an NCAA RPI ranking of 36th, but dropped just one set combined in wins over West Virginia and Houston and will finish no worse than sixth in the 13-team league. With the NCAA Selection Show airing at 5 p.m. CT Sunday on ESPN, the Bears are expected to receive a program-record eighth-straight postseason bid.
"To me, this is what the first round of the playoffs are going to look like for us," McGuyre said of the top-25 matchup. "We're probably not going to get a fill-in-the-blank someone that's an easy team. Probably some other Power 5 conference opponent that's finishing second or third. We've just got to keep making the right adjustments throughout the match.
"That's something we've been harping on them here, because you don't get back-to-back in postseason. You've got to play a team once, beat them and then prepare for the next one."
WACO, Texas – The 25th-ranked Baylor volleyball team upset the 22nd ranked Houston Cougars on Wednesday night in the Ferrell Center to close out the regular season, 3-1.
BU (16-12, 10-8 Big 12) beat UH (17-9, 10-7 Big 12) in four sets at the Ferrell. The Bears were able to pull away in a close first set, 25-23. Houston managed to take the second set, 25-19, but that was the only set it would be able to win as Baylor won the third, 27-25, and the fourth, 25-19.
The Bears were led by Elise McGhee with 21 kills, followed by Kendal Murphy's season-high 12 kill effort. Carlson added 43 assists to her season total and Briseño secured 10 digs. McGhee's 21 kills and 15 digs is her first career double-double. Carlson also served up three aces while McGhee and Alexis Dacosta had two apiece.
It was Baylor's 12th ranked matchup of the season and the second upset it has pulled off.
THE RUNDOWN
Set 1
The match opened with a powerful Allie Sczech kill that the Cougars could not return that led to Baylor taking a 1-0 lead. Houston quickly answered back with two kills of their own to take the lead at 2-1 before Manuela Bibinbe got her first kill of the night to tie the set at 2-2. The game continued to stay close with both teams trading kills back and forth. Kendal Murphy and McGhee got on the board for the Bears with kills after a run from Houston tied the game at 6. Houston would go on to score 4 straight points before attacking errors brought their run to an end to bring the score to 9-8, Bears trailing. Alicia Andrew got her first kill of the night followed by Sczech getting back-to-back kills to bring the score to 11-10, Bears leading. Houston would continue to trade points with 8 straight points resulting in kills. Sczech, McGhee, Bibinbe, and Murphy all were part of the scoring efforts for Baylor as BU held a 15-14 lead going into the media timeout. Coming out of the media Houston was able to answer with a kill but Murphy was able to stay hot for the Bears and McGhee followed soon after with a kill of her own to bring the score to 18-16, Baylor. Sczech connected on a pass from Lauren Briseño to extend the lead to 19-17 and McGhee followed after with a kill of her own to bring the score to 21-18, Baylor. After two errors from the Bears, Bibinbe was able to secure a kill to bring the score to 22-20. Houston would get a kill to bring the score to within one point but a kill from McGhee would extend the lead to 23-21 for Baylor. An error from Houston would bring it to set point for Baylor at 24-21. Two straight kills from Houston forced Baylor to use a timeout with the score at 24-23, Baylor leading. An errant serve from Houston gave Baylor the win in the first set 25-23.
Set 2
The second set opened up with a kill from the Cougars but Andrew was able to quickly answer with one of her own to tie the set 1-1 early. An error from Baylor led to a Houston point but Sczech answered with a kill to keep the game tied, this time 2-2. Houston would go on to get two points before a McGhee kill halted the run at 5-4, Houston. Errors would result in points for the next multiple plays before a kill from Murphy brought the score to 9-9. More errors from both sides led to Houston getting three straight kills that forced Baylor to call a timeout, trailing 13-10. Coming out of the timeout Sczech and Bibinbe would team up for a block to bring the score to 13-11, Houston leading. Houston would keep the lead over the next few points bringing the score to 16-12, Houston. Attacking and service errors from Houston resulted in two points for the Bears, but Houston would quickly respond back with three points to bring the score to 19-14 Houston, which caused Baylor to use a timeout. Coming out of the timeout points were traded via errors until Andrew got a kill for the Bears to bring the score to 20-16, Houston still on top. Houston steadily controlled the rest of the match with McGhee getting two kills to make it 22-18 and 24-19, respectively, but ultimately would fall in the second set 25-19.
Set 3
The third set started with a Houston kill and an attacking error from Baylor led to the Cougars taking an early 2-0 lead. Two more kills from Houston and a receiving error from Baylor brought the score to 5-0 and forced Baylor to use a timeout. Coming out of the timeout Sczech was able to get Baylor on the board with a kill to bring the score to 5-1, Houston. McGhee would get a kill followed shortly after by Murphy to bring the score to 8-4, Houston still leading. Another Murphy kill would bring the Bears to within three, at 8-5, before Houston would get 2 straight kills to make it 10-5. Baylor would go on to win four straight points thanks to a kill by Andrew, a solo block by Bibinbe and an ace from Alexis Dacosta. This would bring the score to 11-10, Houston still leading but forced to call a timeout. Coming out of the timeout the momentum continued in the Bears favor scoring four more straight points, this time by way of an Andrew kill, and two McGhee kills to bring the score to 14-12, Baylor leading. A massive Sczech kill erupted the crowd in the Ferrell to extend the lead to 15-12 for Baylor. Houston would fight back winning three straight points and bringing the game to a 16-16 tie. The score would continue to stay deadlocked over the next few points until back-to-back kills from Bibinbe and McGhee allowed Baylor to regain the lead at 19-18. Errors from both sides resulted in the score being 21-20, Cougars before a McGhee kill would tie the set at 21. More errors led to Bibinbe getting a kill and an ace from McGhee brought it to set point with a score of 24-23, Bears. After more fight from the Cougars, a service error from Houston would result in a Carlson ace to allow Baylor to win the third set 27-25. This was the 19th set this season won or lost by two points.
Set 4
The fourth set opened with a quick kill from McGhee followed by an attacking error from Houston to bring the score to 2-0 Bears early. Dacosta was able to secure her second ace of the night and the Bears were up 3-0. The Cougars responded with four straight points before a McGhee kill tied the set at 4-4. Both teams would trade kills before another McGhee kill brought the score to within two for the Bears at 8-6. An attacking error from Houston led to McGhee getting an ace and brought the score to a tie at 8-8. A Houston kill was followed by a Murphy kill and kept the game tied at 9-9. Murphy stayed hot and connected with another kill this time to bring the score to 10-10. Sczech tallied another kill to bring the score to 11-11. A kill from Houston led to an attacking error for the Cougars and brough the score to another tie, this time at 12-12. A successful Baylor challenge resulted in a kill for Sczech and McGhee followed immediately after to extend the lead to 14-12, Baylor. An attacking error from Houston allowed Baylor to keep their lead at 15-13 heading into the media timeout. Coming out of the timeout Houston was able to connect with a kill before a service error brought the score to 16-14, Baylor. Bibinbe collected another kill and Murphy followed right after which brought the score to 18-15, forcing Houston to call a timeout. Coming out of the timeout Houston responded with a kill but Murphy stayed hot and got her 10th kill of the night, a new season high, bringing the score to 19-16. Carlson recorded her second ace of the night and another Murphy kill brought the score to 21-16 forcing Houston to call a timeout. Coming out of the timeout Carlson recorded another ace to bring the score to 22-16, Bears. Two points from Houston would bring it to within four for the Cougars at 22-18, but a Murphy kill and block from McGhee brought the set to match point at 24-19 before a McGhee kill secured the win for the Bears 25-19.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Kendal Murphy surpasses her previous season high of kills with 12
- McGhee's 21 kills marks her 5th 20 kill performance this season
- McGhee recorded her first career double-double, digging 15 balls
- Carlson had three aces while Dacosta and McGhee each had two
- 20 sets have been won/lost by two points this season, two happening against Houston
- It was the Bears' second upset of the season and 12th match against a ranked opponent overall
UP NEXT
The Bears await their fate in the NCAA Selection Show, airing on ESPN at 5 p.m. CT on Sunday, November 26.
To stay up to date all year long on all things Baylor volleyball, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @BaylorVBall.
- BaylorBears.com -
Team Stats
UH
Baylor
Kills
65
56
Errors
18
15
Attempts
145
143
Hitting %
.324
.287
Points
74.0
67.0
Assists
60
51
Aces
1
7
Blocks
8
4
Game Leaders
Kills
21
Aces
2
Blocks
1
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
MB
/ VolleyballMB
/ Volleyball
L/DS
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
DS
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballOPP
/ VolleyballFlyin' High to 4️⃣-0️⃣ in Big 12 Conference play!
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