Baylor Defeats Iowa State 3-2 on Wednesday Night

MATCH STATS

• Baylor Defeats Iowa State 3-2: 19-25, 25-19, 26-28, 25-15, 15-6
• Team’s Record: Baylor (17-6, 5-2 Big 12), Iowa State Cyclones (10-9, 2-5 Big 12)
• Schedules: Baylor here, Cyclones here.

BAYLOR PRESS RELEASE

Baylor volleyball (17-6, 5-2 Big 12) dominated the final two frames, clinching a five-set road win over the Iowa State Cyclones (10-9, 2-5 Big 12), 19-25, 25-19, 26-28, 25-15, 15-6, on Wednesday evening at Hilton Coliseum.

The win for BU was the team’s fifth conference win, matching last season’s year-end Big 12 win total. The Bears also notched the first victory for the program in Ames since Oct. 29, 2005.

In the first frame, the Bears started strong, but the Cyclones caught fire late, finishing the set with a .368 hitting mark to take the first, 25-19.

In the second, the Bears rebounded to hold the Cyclones to a .061 hitting mark, using 12 kills in the set to take the frame, 25-19.

In the third set, the Bears took a late run, leading 24-20 to set up the set point. A 4-0 run by the Cyclones held off the BU push, with the Cyclones closing out the set on a 3-0 run, denying six set points for the Bears to take the third, 28-26.

In the crucial fourth, it was all Baylor, with BU holding the Cyclones to just a -.024 hitting mark, taking the big 25-15 set win.

Headed to the fifth set, BU came out firing, picking up the early 3-0 lead off of back-to-back aces from Aniah Philo.

After having its lead cut to two at 8-6, the Bears closed out the set and match on a 7-0 run, with two blocks from Camryn Freiberg and Philo, two kills from Katie Staiger, a kill from Freiberg, and closing the match on an ace from Staiger.

HIGHLIGHTS
• Katie Staiger posted a match-high 27 kills, adding 15 digs to tie for a Big 12-best 11 double-doubles this season.
• Morgan Reed dropped a match-high 40 assists, posting 12 digs for a double-double.
• BU outblocked the Cyclones, 14-9, led by Camryn Freiberg with a season-high 9.0 blocks.
• Baylor improved to 6-2 under Coach McGuyre in five set matches, including a 2-1 mark this season.
• Aniah Philo had a big night for BU, posting season-highs in digs (19) and blocks (6).

QUOTE OF THE MATCH
“God is good. Deeply proud of our resiliency. Multiple times things didn’t go our way and we fought back. We weren’t in rhythm in the first set so we had to fight in the second to find it. Lost a disappointing third to go down 2-1 on the road. Nothing came easy until the fifth. Our blocking showed up and our defense carried us through at the end.” –Baylor head coach Ryan McGuyre

STAT OF THE DAY
-.052 – the hitting percentage for ISU in the last two sets, with BU outscoring the Cyclones, 40-21 over the final two frames.

WHAT’S NEXT
Baylor returns to the Ferrell Center to host the Oklahoma Sooners at 2 p.m. in the Ferrell Center.

IOWA STATE PRESS RELEASE

Iowa State could not convert a 2-1 lead into a win as the Cyclones fell to Baylor 3-2 (19-25, 25-19, 26-28, 25-15, 15-6) Wednesday night at Hilton Coliseum. The loss drops ISU to 10-9 overall and 2-5 in the Big 12, while Baylor is 17-6 overall and 5-2 in league play.

The Cyclone offense was stifled in the final two sets, hitting -.051 in the final two frames. In defeat, ISU was led by 12 kills from Jess Schaben while Alexis Conaway and Grace Lazard each had 10. Hali Hillegas led the back row with 23 digs.

Iowa State Breaks Away at Mid-Point to Take Set One
Baylor had the edge early on, but a strong serving run from Grace Lazard pushed the Cyclones ahead at 8-6. Baylor battled back with a 4-0 run of its own, using some strong blocking to push back ahead 10-8. Iowa State went ahead 15-14 on a Lazard kill, and it was a lead they would not relinquish. The Cyclone offense, in particular Alexis Conaway worked the Cyclone lead and continued to pull away. Lazard put away her second kill of the set to close it out 25-19 in favor of ISU.

Baylor Goes on 8-2 Run to Take Set Two
Suzanne Horner served up an ace to put ISU ahead 6-2, but the Bears responded with an 8-0 run to move ahead 10-6. Iowa State fought its way back, cutting the BU advantage to one at 12-11 on a Monique Harris ace. ISU got it evened back up at 15-15 and 17-17, but each occasion BU ran off two-straight points to stay ahead. Baylor pulled away on the second occasion, using back-to-back Camryn Freiberg aces to get to set point at 24-18, and converting via an Aniah Philo kill at 25-19.

Conaway’s Trio of Kills Give ISU Third
Baylor started the third ahead 4-1, but Iowa State countered with a 5-0 run to get ahead 6-4. The Cyclones looked primed to make it a big advantage, but BU clawed back and eventually got back ahead at 11-10 on an Ashley Fritcher kill. Like the second set, ISU fought back to tie the frame at 15-15, but once again the Bears went on a run to pull ahead and stay ahead. BU moved ahead 19-15, and did not look back. Down 24-20, Christy Johnson-Lynch used her final sub of the set to bring Branen Berta in to serve, the move worked as ISU tied the set back up at 24-24 behind her strong serving. ISU fought off two more set points to tie it back up at 26-26 on a Conaway kill. The Orange City native wrapped it up with back-to-back kills to close out the set 28-26 for ISU.

Baylor Dominates to Force Fifth
ISU fell behind early, and struggled to recover, as the offense slumped in the frame. Early in the set it was the Baylor block causing the Cyclones problems, as BU got three of its first seven points on blocks to get ahead 7-3. Later on it was Iowa State missing its spots, as the Cyclone attack slumped to a -.024 hitting percentage for the frame. Baylor pulled ahead by as many as nine points at 24-15, and forced the fifth set when Jana Brusek got an ace to close things out at 25-15.

Baylor Leads Whole Way to Claim Fifth
Iowa State got off to a rough start in the fifth, as back-to-back aces by Philo gave BU a 3-0 edge to start. After ISU cut it to 3-2, Baylor went on another 3-0 run to open up a 6-2 advantage. It was 8-4 at the change of sides, but Iowa State quickly cut it to 8-6 in favor of BU. However, the Bears closed it out from there, running off the next six points behind the strong serve of Staiger to bring up match point at 14-6. Staiger finished proceedings off in style, finding the sideline for an ace to take the set 15-6 and the match.

Cyclone Notes
*Alexis Conaway posted 10 kills, the sixth time this season she has been in double figures and 21st of her career.
*Monique Harris recorded 23 assists and 13 digs, her fourth double-double of the season and 16th of her career.
*Grace Lazard finished with 10 kills, her third match of her career in double figures.
*Jess Schaben had 12 kills, her 11th match of the season in double figures and 30th of her career.
*Hali Hillegas led Iowa State with 23 digs, her second-straight match over 20 digs and her eighth-straight match in double figures.
*Suzanne Horner posted a double-double of 29 assists and 11 digs, her second double-double of the season and 11th of her career.

Up Next
Iowa State is at TCU on Saturday. First serve between the Cyclones and Horned Frogs will be at 5 p.m. with Fox Sports Southwest Plus televising the showdown.