Baylor volleyball (22-11) clawed out a five-set win over No. 14 San Diego (24-6), 16-25, 25-18, 17-25, 25-20, 15-13, on Friday evening in Pauley Pavilion on the UCLA campus, opening the team’s run in the NCAA Volleyball tournament.
BU picked up the program’s first postseason win since the 2009 season, when Baylor clinched a berth into the Regional round of 16 with a win over then-No. 9 and hosting UCLA.
The Bears were paced on offense by Katie Staiger (20 kills) and Aniah Philo (14 kills, 13 digs), with Morgan Reed matching her season-high kills mark with six, adding 34 assists and 12 digs.
Defensively, the Bears outblocked the Tereros, 15-14, including a 12-7 margin in the three decisive sets won by BU.
The Bears fell down early in the first set, hitting just .121 to USD’s .500.
BU answered in a big way in set two, completely smothering the USD offense to just a -.022 hitting mark.
USD had another big frame in the third, hitting .400 to BU’s .114, taking a 2-1 lead in the match.
Facing elimination in the fourth set, the Bears came up clutch once again, hitting .400 to force a fifth set.
In the final set, BU took the early momentum, but had its lead cut back to a tie at 8-8 and again at 13-13. A huge block from Camryn Freiberg and Ashley Fritcher, followed by an attack error by USD clinched the five-set win for the Bears.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Katie Staiger finished with a team-high 20 kills, six digs, and three blocks.
• Aniah Philo notched a double-double, adding 14 kills and 13 digs, with three assists and three blocks.
• Morgan Reed led both sides with 34 assists, digging 12 balls for the double-double and matching her season-high in kills with six.
• Camryn Freiberg (10 blocks) became the first BU player to log double-digit blocks since Adrien Richburg at Texas Tech on Nov. 4, 2015.
STAT OF THE DAY #1
14 – the ranking for San Diego, the first top-15 win for the Bears since defeating No. 9 UCLA in the 2009 NCAA Tournament, and the first time the Bears have won two matches over top-25 opponents in a single-season since 2012.
STAT OF THE DAY #2
7 – the number of years since BU and UCLA have faced off in volleyball, with Baylor defeating the Bruins in the 2009 NCAA Tournament to advance to the Sweet 16 Regional round.
TOP QUOTE #1
“Great, fun win for us tonight. The girls battled and San Diego’s an awesome team, awesome program. This is who we’ve been as a team all year, fighting until the end. Morgan Reed had her best match tonight. Just so proud of her willing us to the victory. Looking at all the players we have, she’s the senior that’s always on the court. She made play after play after play and wasn’t rattled. So proud of her to play like a senior. Aniah was doing some great things offensively and we’re excited to go on to the next round.” – head coach Ryan McGuyre
TOP QUOTE #2
“It was definitely very back and forth. San Diego’s a good team and they run a really fast offense. It was back and forth just because we’d put a ball away and then they’d put a ball away. But when you’re at the tournament, everyone’s good. That’s what you kind of expect. But it was definitely hard to get into a flow because they were doing some good things.” – redshirt junior Katie Staiger
WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor advances to the second round of the NCAA Volleyball Championship, facing the host school and 10-seed UCLA Bruins, who took a four-set win over Murray State following Baylor’s match.
