Baylor volleyball (2-1) went 2-0 to cap its run in the 2016 Hampton Inn Waco North Baylor Invitational Saturday at the Ferrell Center.
The Bears defeated Prairie View A&M (0-3) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (2-1) to earn second place in the tournament, via double-tiebreaker.
Baylor 3, Prairie View A&M 0
The Bears opened day two of the Baylor Invitational with a sweep over Prairie View A&M, 25-12, 25-16, 25-20.
BU dominated at the net, outblocking PVAMU by a 10.0-1.0 advantage. Baylor also held the Panthers to a .063 hitting average while cruising with a .295 attack performance.
Behind redshirt freshman Jaelyn Jackson’s nine kills and nine block performance, the Bears never looked back after opening up the match with a 14-6 lead in set one. Sophomore Ashley Fritcher drilled a kill through the PVAMU block to end the set, 25-12.
Senior Morgan Reed led the charge in set two, compiling four service aces against the Panthers. PVAMU went on an 8-3 run late in the frame, but a block by Jackson and junior Camryn Freiberg gave BU the 25-16 victory.
Jackson and Freiberg combined for another block to push Baylor’s lead to 13-8 in the third set. A PVAMU attack error ended the final set, giving BU the 25-20 victory and 3-0 sweep.
Baylor 3, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Baylor took care of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to win its second-straight match, 25-15, 7-25, 25-20, 25-15. The Bears were led by tournament MVP Katie Staiger, hitting .326 and adding 20 kills in the win.
BU took control early in set one behind back-to-back aces from Reed and never looked back. Baylor went on a 10-5 run to close the frame, capitalized by a block from junior Camryn Freiberg and sophomore Ashley Fritcher.
Baylor fell behind early in set two and never led after three early Islander kills. BU hit -.069 to drop the second set, 25-7.
BU turned it around in sets three and four, hitting over .250 in each frame. Staiger added nine kills, and the BU block sealed the final point for the win, 25-15.
HIGHLIGHTS
Baylor closes out the 2016 Hampton Inn Waco North Baylor Invitational with a 2-1 record, finishing in second place behind UT Rio Grande Valley. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi finished in third, followed by Prairie View A&M in fourth place.
Katie Staiger (MVP) and Camryn Freiberg (Best Blocker) earned all-tournament honors for BU. TAMUCC’s Kristyn Nicholson (Best Setter) and Kate Klepetka (Best Libero), and UTRGV’s Bojana Mitrovic (Best Attacker) capped off the all-tournament team.
A&M Corpus Christi, UTRGV, and Baylor tied with 2-1 records. The first tiebreaker process eliminated TAMUCC on total set losses. With Baylor and UTRGV tied at four set losses apiece, the tiebreaker moved to head-to-head, with Baylor’s loss to the Vaqueros giving UTRGV the tournament championship.
STAT OF THE DAY
Staiger finished the tournament with 53 kills, averaging 5.89 kills per set.
