Daily Bears Report 9/26

It was a full weekend for Baylor Athletics. Volleyball took down 23rd ranked Kansas State, Soccer tied Texas and then won over Oklahoma State, Men’s Golf took 2d at Mirabel, Equestrian lost it’s opener to No. 8 South Carolina, Men’s Tennis broke even, Women’s Cross Country finished 2d at the aTm Invitational and Football sent Mike Gundy for more head scratching.

Volleyball

Despite losing redshirt freshman middle Jaelyn Jackson to an apparent knee injury in the first set, the Baylor volleyball team (13-4) opened Big 12 play Sunday afternoon at the Ferrell Center with a three-set sweep of 23rd-ranked Kansas State. Visit Baylor Bears dot com for the complete story, rundown, highlights and stat of the day.

Junior outside hitter Katie Staiger recorded a three-set career-best 23 kills to help the Bears win their ninth game in a row and first over a ranked opponent since Nov. 13, 2012, beating the Wildcats (12-3), 25-23, 25-22, 25-19.

When Jackson went down, Baylor showed its resiliency with the motto of "next player up."

"Katie is like no other player that I've coached in the past," McGuyre said. "I've had some phenomenal players that have been national MVP-type athletes. But, she's a humble warrior . . she's fun to be around and goofy. I've never had such a goofy, dominant player."

While she put her name alongside elite volleyball players like Nicholas and Elisha Polk, Staiger demonstrated the humility that McGuyre discussed.

"It all starts with the pass and the set," she said. "I'm the third person to touch the ball. We've been so committed to passing well and setting well, that it has given me a lot of opportunities."

Soccer

Baylor soccer had a split Big 12 opening weekend, playing Texas to a 1-1 tie on Friday and winning over Oklahoma State 2-1 on Sunday afternoon. Both matches went into overtime. Baylor Bears dot com has both stories.

Baylor soccer played Texas to a 1-1 tie in the Big 12 Conference opener for both teams on Friday evening at Betty Lou Mays Soccer Field. The Bears (7-3-1, 0-0-1) trailed the Longhorns (6-3-1, 0-0-1) briefly before knotting the match as neither squad was able to score again.

After a scoreless first half, Texas opened up the second with a 47th-minute goal on a turnover in BU territory that was put home by Katie Glenn.

Baylor quickly responded in the 53rd minute, though. Raegan Padgett dropped a cross from the right wing to Sarah King on the left wing. King then dribbled into the box and passed to Caitlin Schwartz for an eight-yard strike to the back of the night from the right side of the box.

Each team had a shot on goal in the first overtime period, but no shots in the second OT.

"I was proud of our team for picking it up after we gave up that goal. I was proud of Caitlin (Schwartz) for stepping up and scoring a big-time goal. I was proud of the team and how they picked it up after that. I think we do better starting the second half, then it's probably a little different game. Obviously, defensively, I thought we played really well. I mean, Texas is a very good team. There's not going to be any weak teams the rest of the way through here (in Big 12 play), and I think we were definitely prepared. I thought we played well, and I think the score is really evident of the game." -- Head Coach Paul Jobson.

Baylor soccer earned a 2-1 overtime win at Oklahoma State on Sunday afternoon at Cowgirl Soccer Complex. The Bears (8-3-1, 1-0-1) fought back from an early 1-0 deficit to top the Cowgirls (5-5-2, 0-2-0) in the 96th minute on a golden goal from Aline De Lima.

The Cowgirls struck in the 18th minute on a set piece goal by Marlo Zeller and took that 1-0 lead into halftime. But like Friday’s game in Waco against Texas, BU bounced back from an early setback, and then some.

The Bears finally countered in the 68th minute as Julie James found Sarah King for a 16-yard goal to the far post. Then in the 96th minute, De Lima corralled a ball and put a 25-yard blast to the far post, top shelf for the winner.

“We battled a strong wind in the first half and OSU did a great job of capitalizing on a set piece in the first half. For the second game in a row we fought back from a 1-0 deficit. It’s even harder to do that on the road, much less get the victory. We scored two great goals on the road and I couldn’t be more proud of our team and getting four points on the weekend.” – Head Coach Paul Jobson.

Men’s Golf

Baylor men's golf took second place at the Maui Jim Intercollegiate after shooting 13-under-par 271 in Sunday's final round at Mirabel Golf Club. The Bears finished the tournament at 36-under 816, carding the second-best 54-hole team score in program history to finish five strokes behind tournament champion LSU (-41). From Baylor Bears dot com.

Three Baylor players finished among the top five individually. Sophomore Garrett May shot 5-under 66 in the final round to earn a career-best third-place finish at 12-under 201. May's 201 was the third-best 54-hole individual score in program history. Sophomore Braden Bailey and senior Hunter Shattuck tied for fourth place at 11-under 202, equaling the fourth-best 54-hole individual scores in program history. Shattuck made seven birdies on his way to a final-round 6-under 65, tying the sixth-best round in program history, and Bailey carded a final round of 2-under 69.

"This week was a great step for this team," head coach Mike McGraw said. "Garrett, Hunter and Braden took the lead. We shot a great team score today, and it makes me look forward to our next event even more. It was definitely a confidence builder for this group."

Equestrian

No. 5 Baylor equestrian (0-1) lost its season opener to the No. 8 South Carolina Gamecocks, falling 12-6 on the road at One Wood Farm. From Baylor Bears dot com.

Despite carrying a 3-2 advantage in the flat and a 2-2 draw in horsemanship, it was a 5-0 deficit in fences and a 3-1 differential in reining that kept the Bears out of the win column in the first meet of the season.

Starting with reining, the Bears’ lone point came from Charlotte Green, with Shyanne Smith forcing a draw to keep the USC advantage at 3-1 through the first discipline.

The Gamecocks blanked BU in fences, with all five USC riders exceeding 80 and the Bears averaging 69.8 across its five.

Trailing 8-1 at the break, the Bears came out strong in the flat, with Alicia Gasser, Samantha Howell, and Brittany Mirkov all earning points for BU, lifting Baylor to a 3-2 edge.

Closing with horsemanship, Kaylee Mellott and Kelsie Holman snagged two points for the Bears, with Abbi Demel drawing to give BU the 2-2 draw.

Men’s Tennis

Baylor men’s tennis senior Max Tchoutakian lost his only match Saturday in the second round of the Southern Intercollegiate Championships at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.

Tchoutakian, seeded 12th in the 64-man draw, fell to Florida’s McClain Kesler, 6-4, 0-6, 7-6.

On the opening day of the Southern Intercollegiate Championships, Tchoutakian was successful in his lone match Friday.

Tchoutakian, seeded 12th in the 64-man draw, took down Kennesaw State’s Simon Pritchard, 5-7, 6-4, 7-5.

The Marseille, France, product, who is ranked No. 54 in the country, is now 2-2 on the season.

Women’s Cross Country

With three runners in the top-10, Baylor's women's cross country team finished second at the Texas A&M Invitational Saturday at the Dale Watts Cross Country Course. From Baylor Bears dot com.

Individually, the Bears were led by seniors Maggie Montoya (20:28.0) and Peyton Thomas (20:42.8), who finished the six kilometer race in fifth and sixth, respectively.

Freshman Anna West was not far behind those veterans as she placed 10th with a time of 21:04.0. Two other freshman rounded out BU’s group of five scoring runners with Kathryn Foreman (26th, 21:44.8) and Gabby Satterlee (29th, 21:49.0).

The five-runner total score of 72 was just two points behind Rice’s 70-point winning total and eight points ahead of third place Lipscomb (80).

"It was hot, so very, very tough conditions. Rice ran well and they were ranked right ahead of us in the region, but it was a good team battle. Three of our top-five were freshman, so for some that was their first 6K ever. I thought they did a good job. Anna West had a big race. Maggie and Peyton ran well. We know we have a pretty big one next week, but I was proud of how we ran this week." -- head coach Todd Harbor on the women's team.

Football

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NFL Baylor Bears

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