Baylor Volleyball Thumps GPS

Emma Mulvaney Impressive As Lady Raiders Improve To 9-2

Baylor and GPS have always had a great rivalry in most sports and the competition between the two teams is always special as they seem to bring out the best in each other.

Volleyball is one of those sports that has produced some really close matches that could have gone either way.

Thursday's match at GPS wasn't one of them.

The gym was packed with Baylor students and fans on one end with GPS and McCallie supporters on the other. Those folks in blue were really loud and spirited at the start, but they were deathly quiet as the match progressed.

It was all Baylor from start to finish as the Lady Red Raiders improved to 9-2 overall and 2-0 in region play with the three-set sweep. It wasn't close as Baylor won with ease by scores of 25-10, 25-18 and 25-15.

Baylor improves to 9-2 overall and 2-0 in region play while GPS is now 5-4 overall and 1-1 in region play.

In the words of an old redneck farmer, it was just an old-fashioned whipping. The only thing missing was the woodshed.

There are several new faces on this year's Baylor squad and they all seem to be mixing together well as the team chemistry is really good. They've played well for the first two weeks of the season, but Thursday's match may have been their best as they were on fire from the first serve as the Bruisers were down early and never recovered.

"That was just an amazing performance as all aspects of our game were on," said Baylor coach Sarah Lail shortly after Emma Mulvaney's 10th kill ended the match.

"We came in with a specific game plan and executed it almost to perfection as everything worked out. Emma Mulvaney was just on fire as she can put it down from any spot on the floor. We have to give Sydney Sharpe a lot of credit for getting the ball to her.

"But we executed so well for the entire match. We were really on point for the entire match, but we can't take anyone for granted and we didn't tonight," Lail added.

It was a frustrating evening for GPS coach Alfie Dodd and his group of Bruisers as nothing they attempted seemed to work. They have beaten some good teams already, but Thursday's performance was one to simply forget and move on.

"We just didn't play well as Baylor kept us out of system for most of the match," the veteran coach expressed afterward.

"The good news is that this is the first quarter of the season and we live to fight another day, but Baylor got off to a great start and we just couldn't get back in it. We have to find some consistency, but it just wasn't there tonight," he added.

The teams traded hitting errors to start the match, but three straight service points, including a pair of aces from Sharpe put Baylor up 5-1.

Seven straight service points from Rory Oleksik extended the lead to 15-4 and it never got closer as Mulvaney had four kills in the final five points as Baylor took the first set following a GPS hitting error.

The second set was tied three times in the first three points before five service points from Jessy Blevins put Baylor up, 9-3.

The Bruisers got five straight service points from Ellie Holland at the end, but Baylor's lead was simply too big and they made it two straight sets on a kill from Sharpe.

GPS finally had its only lead of the match when they scored the first point of the third set and even led 7-6 before Baylor tied it.

Four straight service points from Mulvaney, including two aces, put Baylor ahead 10-7.

A service error by Baylor allowed GPS to get within two points at 11-9, but a kill from Addi Kegereis and two aces from Nina Lail extended the lead to 14-9 and it never got any closer.

Mulvaney had 10 kills and Kegerreis seven to lead the Baylor attack while Sharpe finished with 27 assists, four aces, four kills and five digs. Oleksik added 10 digs and five aces while Mulvaney joined Sharpe with four aces.

Cadence Nichols had six kills from GPS while Sophia Jenkins had nine assists. The remaining stats for the Bruisers were not accurate, so they will not be published.

GPS returns to action on Tuesday with a home match against Knoxville Webb while Baylor will face Webb at home on Thursday before entertaining East Hamilton on Friday.

BAYLOR STATS:

Brenna Bagley – 9 digs, 4 kills

Jessy Blevins – 5 digs, 1 assist, 2 aces

Addi Kegerreis – 2 digs, 2 blocks, 7 kills

Nina Lail – 2 aces

Emma Mulvaney – 5 digs, 1 assist, 4 aces, 10 kills

Rory Oleksik – 10 digs, 5 aces, 1 assist

Bailey Shahan – 1 block, 1 assist, 5 kills

Sydney Sharpe – 5 digs, 4 kills, 27 assists, 4 aces

Kaiulani Sharrow – 2 blocks, 3 kills.

GPS STATS:

Cadence Nichols – 6 kills

Georgia Mae Anderson – 1 kill

Sophia O'Keefe – 1 kill

Sophia Jenkins – 2 kills, 9 assists

Catie Nicola – 2 kills.

(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)

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