15th-ranked Baylor volleyball (6-3) posted a four-set win against Rice and five-set defeat to UTRGV at the Baylor Classic Saturday at the Ferrell Center.
With all teams going 1-1 this weekend, the Rice Owls (6-3) won the team tournament title with fewest sets lost (3) while Baylor finished in second (4).
Sophomores Hannah Lockin (Best Setter) and Yossiana Pressley (Highest Scorer) won individual all-tournament honors. It’s the second all-tournament award for Pressley this season.
Match One: UTRGV 3, Baylor 2
Yossiana Pressley posted 29 kills while Shelly Fanning and Aniah Philo posted double-digit putaways for the second-consecutive match. Defensively, four Bears had double-digit digs, led by Tara Wulf with 14.
BU got off to the slow start and hit -.077 in the opening frame. The Bears bounced back to hit .317 in set two, but UTRGV’s offense hit .462 to go up 2-0.
BU worked its way back in the match and hit .343 and .231 to tie up the match and force a fifth set. Ultimately, UTRGV limited Baylor to a .000 hitting efficiency in the final frame to take the match.
Match Two: Baylor 3, Rice 1
Pressley led the way with 15 kills while Fanning and Gia Milana combined for 22 kills, respectively. Redshirt freshman Marieke van der Mark posted a career-high seven kills on a .227 efficiency on the right side.
BU’s defense limited Rice to a .095 hitting effort in the opening frame, allowing the Bears to post a 25-19 victory after the Milana kill.
BU hit .250 in the second set to go up 2-0, but a .054 performance in set three pulled Rice back into the match.
The fourth set saw nine tie scores and seven lead changes, but BU took advantage of late Rice errors to seal the match in four.
