No. 10 Baylor volleyball upset No. 1 Texas on Saturday night in the Ferrell Center, taking the match 3-1.
The Bears (14-5, 8-2) handed the Longhorns (18-1, 9-1) their first loss of the season after going four sets with UT, 25-23, 18-25, 25-20, 32-30.
In front of the largest crowd of the season, BU found its stride. After falling to Texas in the first match on November 5, Baylor learned their lesson, made adjustments and came back on top.
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Yossiana Pressley returned to the limelight as she recorded 24 kills on 53 attempts for a hitting percentage just above .300. She is one step closer to passing former volleyball standout Elisha Polk on the all-time career kills list, needing just 11 after Saturday's performance. Pressley was the only Bear to record double-digit kills in the second match with Texas.
Hannah Sedwick recorded a double-double with 41 assists and 13 digs. Avery Skinner also had 13 digs on the night, while Shanel Bramschreiber and Lauren Briseño each had 10.
Set one
Just as it was in the first match against Texas, Baylor traded points with the Longhorns early and often. The Bears broke away after they were tied at 8-8, with a UT service error and then back-to-back Hannah Sedwick aces putting them just ahead. BU didn't hold off the gas, pushing all the way to 18-9. The Longhorns added a few points of their own, but Avery Skinner pushed Baylor further with her kills. Texas added points to the board and came just next to Baylor at 24-23, but a ball handling error by a Longhorn sealed the deal at 25-23 in BU's favor.
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Set two
Texas started off the scoring with three-straight points, and then kept adding to it. The Bears put two points on the board and no more until the Longhorns had 10 of their own. Kills from Lauren Harrison and Skinner helped lessen the UT lead, slowly closing the margin. Texas was up 19-11 when Skinner had another kill, and the Longhorns called timeout. From that point, the Bears caught up further, taking it all the way to 21-18 and forcing another pause from UT. Texas pushed on and won the set 25-18 after a service ace, kill and a Baylor attack error.
Set three
The Bears came to fight, and fight they did. The third set was once again neck-and-neck, trading points. At 10-10, Emily Van Slate was serving for the Bears and helped facilitate a Kara McGhee kill and attack error on Texas. The Bears pulled ahead 15-13, and once again danced with the Longhorns. Baylor pulled away at 21-18 where UT called timeout. A bad set from Eggleston and then an attack error put BU up 23-19. All it took was two kills from Lauren Harrison to finish the set 25-20.
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Set four
The intensity was cranked all the way up and the Ferrell Center was overflowing with sound and spirit. Neither team was willing to go quietly, either. At 9-9, Yossiana Pressley put the Bears ahead by one at 10-9 with a kill. Then the two teams continued to match each other's points, all the way through. A crucial kill from Harrison then Pressley made it 22-21, but Texas answered right back. Baylor took a timeout when UT was up 23-22, and tensions were high. Skinner recorded a kill, then Eggleston, then Eggleston has an attack error to change the score to 25-all. Another Pressley kill, then another and another from Skinner had the score at 29-28. Yossiana Pressley had the kill to make it 31-30 and all they needed was the attack error from UT to finish it off at 32-30. Toward the end of the set, the Bears had used up all their substitutions, so two defensive specialists in Lauren Briseño and Emily Van Slate were playing front row.
The Bears hit the road for the second-to-last time of the season to go just north, facing TCU on Nov. 12 and 13 in Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth.
