Volleyball's Rally Falls Short vs. Texas Tech, 3-2
Nov. 1, 2003
WACO, Texas - Baylor came back from a 2-0 deficit to send the match to a decisive fifth game, but Texas Tech held on down the stretch for a 3-2 (30-26, 30-25, 16-30, 28-30, 15-13) victory in Big 12 volleyball action Saturday night at the Ferrell Center. Freshman middle blocker Nicole LeBlanc had a career-high 17 kills and a match-high eight blocks to lead the Bears.
Sophomore outside hitter Kelly Spriggs added 15 kills, while senior outside hitter Tisha Schwartz recorded her league-leading 13th double-double of the season with 12 kills and a career-high 26 digs. Schwartz also posted seven blocks to give her 322 for her career to pass D'Ann Arthur (1992-95) for eighth on Baylor's all-time blocks list. Freshman outside hitter Andrea Vakulya notched her sixth-career double-double with 10 kills and 16 digs, and sophomore setter Emily Huston had the second-highest assist total of her career with 62.
The Bears (11-15, 3-10 Big 12) posted their highest dig total of the season with 86 as senior libero Stevie Nicholas had 14 and sophomore defensive specialist Marisa Kersten added 13. Breanna Pursley had a match-high 21 kills and a team-leading 25 digs for the Red Raiders (10-12, 2-11), while Kelly Johnson had 22 kills and 11 digs. Setter Laura Grote notched a triple-double with 10 kills, 60 assists and 18 digs. Texas Tech had 93 digs with Kiley Lyons coming up with 17 and Jessy Herrera, who came up with a pair of clutch saves late in the fifth game, finishing with 10. Texas Tech got off to a hot start scoring the first nine points of the match behind the serve of Angela Mooney, whose sister Amanda played basketball at Baylor from 1994-98. Baylor closed the gap to 16-13, but the Red Raiders, which hit .250 for the game held on for a 30-26 win. The Red Raiders also took control early in game two by taking a 7-3 lead. Baylor stayed within four until 18-14 when Texas Tech scored four-straight points to go up 22-14 and took a 2-0 advantage into the locker room with a 30-25 victory. After losing freshman middle blocker Desiree Guilliard-Young to an apparent ankle injury late in game two, Baylor came back fired up after the intermission. The Bears jumped out to a 12-5 lead and never looked back as they pushed the lead to 19-9. After going up 28-16, LeBlanc had a kill and a block to close out the game, 30-16. The Bears hit .400 in the game, while holding the Red Raiders to .045. The Bears then took the momentum into game four by scoring eight-straight points early behind the serve of LeBlanc to take a 12-3 lead. The Red Raiders slowly crept back into the game, cutting the lead to 24-18. Behind the serve of Pursley, Texas Tech reeled off six-straight points to tie the game, 24-24, but Pursley's serve found the net to put the Bears back up for good as they held on for a 30-28 win to even the match. Texas Tech led the fifth game from wire-to-wire, getting three-straight points to take control at 6-3. Baylor cut the lead to 13-12 and threatened to tie the game, but Herrera made two tremendous digs on balls that nearly hit the floor and kept the play alive and Pursley put the ball away to send the Red Raiders to match point. The Bears got a kill from Schwartz to get back within one, but Grote dumped a ball out of the reach of the Baylor defenders to end the match, 15-13. The Bears return to action when they travel to face Colorado on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Coors Events/Conference Center in Boulder, Colo. |
