No. 18 VB Can’t Overcome No. 11 Washington State

Wednesday, September 13

Waco, Texas

7PM

Baylor

4-4,0-0Big 12

Washington State

9-1,0-0Pac-12

Washington St.

Baylor

No. 18 VB Can’t Overcome No. 11 Washington State

9/13/2023 11:30:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Bears fall at Ferrell to Cougars

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Facing a senior-leaden, 11^th-ranked Washington State team that played only one underclassman, the Baylor volleyball team's youth was exposed Wednesday night at the Ferrell Center.
            Getting double-digit kills from Iman Isanovic, Pai Timmer and Katy Ryan and combining for 11.0 team blocks, the visiting Cougars (9-1) ran their winning streak to eight-straight by handing the No. 18 Bears (4-4) a 3-1 loss, 19-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-21.
            "A little of it is youth, just understanding, 'Okay, what's option B and where do we go when they slow that down?''' said Baylor coach Ryan McGuyre, whose team is 1-3 versus ranked opponents. "I think the hard part is that we don't have the senior to show us how to do it. 'Hey, go hit like so-and-so.' So, we've got to figure it out along the way. That probably takes a few more errors than we all like, but that's part of the process."
            The Bears, who had a three-match winning streak snapped, hit .120 over the last three sets and had 32 attack errors, two bad sets and nine service errors.
            "I think the main thing we can take into our gym tomorrow is to start off strong and then finish strong," said freshman outside hitter Kyndal Stowers, who had a double-double with a match-high 20 kills and 11 digs. "We came out good out of the gate and then gave up a three-point run in the next set. If we get rid of those and we just stay strong the whole time, we're going to be fine."
            Hitting .310 in the first set with only five errors, Baylor had a 7-1 run that included two kills and a pair of blocks by middle blocker Manuela Bibinbe to go up 17-10. The junior college All-American had 11 kills and was in on half of the Bears' eight total blocks.
            "She brings joy, for sure," Stowers said of Bibinbe. "She also brings fire. Gets a big block, gets a big kill and just goes crazy, and it's really fun to see. And it makes all of us want to be better for her. Because she really kind of sets the standard, and we all just want to live up to that and be better every single day because of her."
            Staying comfortably ahead, the Bears closed out the first set on a pair of kills by sophomore opposite hitter Allie Sczech. She had eight kills and added three digs and three blocks.
            Wazzu pulled out a tight second set, 25-23, and then hit .345 with only one attack error in dominating the third set, 25-18, to go up 2-1.
            "They didn't line us up very well in the first set, and they made adjustments," McGuyre said. "The idea is, get in the way of where we want to hit the ball. . . . I would rather they have 20 blocks and us have 20 hitting errors than the ones we hit out or mis-connected on."
            Needing to win the fourth set to extend the match, Baylor rallied from a 17-11 deficit to close within 22-20 on a kill by Riley Simpson. But the redshirt sophomore had a pair of attack errors down the stretch as the Cougars closed it out.
            McGuyre said Simpson gave the Bears a spark when she came off the bench in the fourth set.
            "Allie Sczech brings a lot of energy, but they lined her up pretty good tonight at times," McGuyre said. "I think just for Washington State to also see differently – the ball coing off hands at a different angle in different places. . . . We should be able to hit the ball hard every tie, but Riley is very reliable for us in being able to do that."
            Elise McGhee and Alicia Andrew had eight and seven kills, respectively, while sophomore setter Averi Carlson had 51 assists, seven digs and a block assists. Isanovic led the Cougars with 16 kills.
            Baylor will host 19^th-ranked Ohio State (3-4) at 7 p.m. Friday. The Buckeyes have dropped four-straight to top-10 teams after a 3-0 start with wins over Northern Kentucky, Bowling Green and East Tennessee State.
            Friday's match will be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with "Voice of the Bears" John Morris and former Baylor All-American Katie Staiger Smith calling the action.

WACO, Texas – The 18^th-ranked Baylor volleyball team lost to No. 11 Washington State on Wednesday night at the Ferrell Center, 3-1.

BU (4-4) fell to WSU (9-1) in four sets at the Ferrell. A strong start in the first set, 25-19, couldn't propel the Bears past the Cougars in a tight 25-23 set two, and the momentum stayed with the visitors as they pushed past Baylor 25-18 and 25-21 in sets three and four, respectively.

The Bears were led by Kyndal Stowers, collecting 20 kills for the third match on the season. Alexis Dacosta served up two aces while Lauren Briseño had 18 digs. Both Alicia Andrew and Manuela Bibinbe had four blocks to lead the team.

THE RUNDOWN
Set 1
Stowers made her presence known early in the set, securing Baylor's first two kills and putting BU up 3-2. Back and forth kills saw the two teams tie, break the tie, and match each other again five times before the score reached 7-7 when the Bears were able to begin to pull away. An Averi Carlson dump and a WSU attack error pushed them up to 9-7, and after a kill by the Cougars' Katy Ryan, Baylor went on an 8-2 run featuring two kills each from Allie Sczech and Bibinbe and supporting kills from Andrew and Stowers. Back-to-back-to-back attack errors from BU brought the Cougars back to a four-point deficit. Another Bibinbe kill stopped the slide, matched by a return kill from WSU's Arizona State transfer Iman Isanovic for a score of 18-14. Bibinbe responded with her sixth kill of the night. Isanovic recorded back-to-back errors and back-to-back kills to push both teams up by two. Kills from Stowers and Andrew moved Baylor to 23-16, and after a kill from WVU's Ryan a Sczech kill saw the Bears move to 24 points. The Cougars survived two set points thanks to a pair of kills from Ryan, but one more from Sczech put the Bears over the top, 25-19.

Set 2
The Bears brought their momentum into the second set starting 3-0, an ace from Dacosta kicking things off. WSU fought back in a 4-1 stretch to tie the set at 4-all on the back of two Pia Timmer kills. A ball handling error from the Cougars' Argentina Ung and a Stowers kill moved the Bears to 6-4, but WSU pulled off another 4-1 sequence to take the lead 8-7. A Bibinbe kill tied the set and a kill from Andrew reclaimed the lead, when yet another 4-1 sequence including a failed touch challenge from the Cougars put WSU up 12-10. A Timmer error and Dacosta's second ace of the night tied the set once more at 12-12. The teams then traded blows, tying at 13 and 14. Kills from Ung and Lana Radakovic moved the Cougars to 16-14, and Stowers ninth kill of the night made it 16-15. Another Radakovic kill prefaced a pair from Baylor's Elise McGhee, tying the set once again at 17-17. A 4-0 stretch put WSU up 21-17 before Baylor responded with a 3-0 run of their own. A pair of kills pushed the Cougars to 23-20, but two errors kept the Bears close behind at 22-23. BU survived one set point thanks to a kill by Sczech, but Timmer's eighth kill of the night claimed the set for the Cougars, 25-23.

Set 3
WSU began the third set with a signature 4-1 run, interrupted by Stowers' 10th kill of the night. The point made this game the seventh of Stowers' eight-game collegiate career in which she has recorded double-digit kills. A kill from Sczech made it 4-2, but Timmer's 10th kill of the night brought the Cougars' lead back to three. A 5-2 run from the Bears featuring a pair of McGhee kills led the Bears to nearly tie it at 7-6, but WSU rattled off a 4-0 run to build a more distant lead. Here the teams traded triples; a service error and twin kills from Stowers brought the score back to 11-9, a Cougars response pushed the score to 14-9, and a trio of Stowers' kills shrank the lead to a manageable 14-12. WSU's Ryan notched a kill before Stowers responded with her fifth in four points to find the Bears down 15-13. The Cougars extended their lead to 23-15 on the back of an 8-2 run, a lead Baylor would ultimately not overcome. Despite battling back to a 24-18 deficit, a service error from the Bears gave the Cougars the set, 25-18.

Set 4
The Cougars again started the set 3-0, stopped by a kill from Andrew. The Bears controlled the next several volleys, attack errors gifting two points to the Cougars but two kills balancing the scales. A 4-0 run gave the Bears their first lead since Set 2, 6-5. Isanovic and Szcech swapped kills to turn it to 7-6, but Isanovic's eleventh of the night tied the set at 7-7. Three service errors and an attack error found the set at 9-9, before a block error gave the Cougars a 10-9 lead. Another error retied the game at 10 apiece until a 7-1 run found WSU in charge at 17-11. A kill from Riley Simpson pushed the Bears to 17-12 when the two teams traded kills, including three from Bibinbe, pushing her nightly total to 11 and double-digit streak to seven, up to a score of 20-17. Baylor continued to fight, forcing errors and notching kills to a 22-20 disadvantage. After an attack error, a Simpson kill, and another attack error, the Cougars had won the set 25-21.

HIGHLIGHTS

Kyndal Stowers has now recorded double-digit kills seven times this season, 20+ three times
Manuela Bibinbe recorded a career-high in kills (11)
Alexis Dacosta tied her career-high aces with two

UP NEXT
The Bears will have another top-20 matchup on Friday, hosting 19^th-ranked Ohio State for a 7 p.m. match at the Ferrell Center.

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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