Baylor Bear Insider
Two points. In two of three sets, that was the "thin margin" separating top-ranked Texas volleyball and No. 10 Baylor in Friday's showdown at the Ferrell Center.
Despite being pushed to the brink in the last two sets, the Longhorns (18-0, 9-0) remained unbeaten and swept the Bears, 25-20, 25-23, 26-24, before a season-high crowd of 3,520.
"At the highest level, the margins are just really thin," said Baylor coach Ryan McGuyre, whose team fell to 13-5 overall and 7-2 in the Big 12. "(Two points), that's really one rally. We win the rally, and we have the point and they don't. That's the separation. (Saturday), we've got to be better at creating a little more separation, and I think we can do that. I think our blocking can come alive a lot better."
Hitting .405 as a team, Texas was led by the All-American trio of Logan Eggleston (13 kills, 13 digs), Asja O'Neal (nine kills, three blocks) and Brionne Butler (seven kills, six blocks). Kentucky grad transfer Avery Skinner had a team-high 14 kills for the Bears, with Yossiana Pressley and Lauren Harrison adding nine and eight, respectfully.
"I think especially in the games when you know the block is going to be big, you can't be scared," Skinner said, "or otherwise, things aren't going to go your way. So, I was going to swing as hard as I can, and Hannah (Sedwick) was setting me the ball in the right places. It helps when we're getting good digs and we're passing well, and she's able to feed the ball."
Skinner had seven kills in the first set alone, helping the Bears go toe-to-toe and tying it up at 18-18 on a Pressley kill. Texas had a 5-0 run that included a pair of Melanie Parra aces and closed out the first set with an Eggleston kill.
The Longhorns out-blocked Baylor, 9.0-2.0, and had only five attack errors on 84 total swings. They hit .414 in the first set, .407 in the second and .393 in the third.
"Obviously, if you hit .400, you're going to win matches," McGuyre said. "Normally, the high .300s is going to give you a good shot. We're not disruptive with our defense. Our opponent hitting percentage is something we've got to work on and bring down. That really is one of Texas' strengths. What they hit out of system is pretty much what they hit in system."
In a back-and-forth second set, Texas went up 21-18 on one of libero Nalani Iosia's four service aces, but Baylor battled to knot it up at 22-22 and 23-23 on kills by Harrison and Kara McGhee.
The Longhorns got the lead back on an O'Neal kill and then closed it out when Butler and setter Jhenna Gabriel combined to block a Pressley swing from the left side.
"It's definitely different than most teams, because they have girls like Brionne Butler, who's 6-5 touching (11 feet, 3 inches)," Pressley said. "But, I think going into (Saturday), we just need to be a little more dynamic with our swings."
Tied 11 times in the third set, Baylor staved off a match point on Sydney Petersen's third service error. But, the Longhorns finished off the sweep with back-to-back kills by Eggleston and O'Neal.
Pressley said the Bears need to be more physical to bounce back in Saturday's 6 p.m. match at the Ferrell Center.
"Avery shared in the locker room that we were definitely there mentally," Pressley said, "but physically, we need to apply more pressure. I think Texas did a great job with applying pressure in tough situations when the score was tied. We just need to be better at that."
The key to handing Texas its first loss of the season is picking "our spots a little bit better," McGuyre said.
"Winning one or two more points would win the set and change the pace of the match," he said. "If we're getting 30 swings, we should have two to three errors per set. You look at (Skinner, Pressley and Harrison), and at some point, they're all hitting .400 in the match. We just need to sustain it a little longer."
WACO, Texas – No. 10 Baylor volleyball kept No. 1 Texas within reach in all three sets of the top-10 matchup on Friday in the Ferrell Center, falling 3-0 to the Longhorns.
The Bears (13-5, 7-2) were outlasted by UT (18-0, 9-0), though they stayed neck-in-neck with each other. Texas overtook BU by slim margins, winning the three sets 25-20, 25-23, and 26-24.
The Bears traded points with Texas throughout the match, with the crowd's energy pumping up both sides of the net.
Baylor had its highest attendance of the season thus far in one of the most anticipated matchups of the season; the BU crowd draped the Ferrell Center in white against the Longhorns.
"The fans really helped us," said Lauren Harrison. "It was a fun environment to play in, and we definitely fed off their energy."
Avery Skinner had 14 kills on the night, also recording seven digs. She hit .423 against the Longhorns.
Yossiana Pressley is one step closer to becoming Baylor's all-time leader in kills, in both the side-out scoring era or in rally scoring. The senior recorded nine kills on the night, needing just 35 to surpass Elisha Polk.
The conference foes meet again on Saturday night with a 6 p.m. first serve. The match will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ with Lincoln Rose and Baylor volleyball alumna Katie Staiger Smith on the call.
A full recap as well as final stats will be available on BaylorBears.com after the conclusion of play.
To stay up to date throughout the season on all things Baylor volleyball, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @BaylorVball.
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