WACO, Texas – For the second time this season, the West Virginia University volleyball team found Big 12 success on the road, taking a 3-1 win from Baylor on Wednesday evening at the Ferrell Center. The Mountaineers (13-8, 3-4) took the match in set scores of 25-20, 25-21, 22-25 and 25-19.

 

“I’m very proud of our team for communicating so well tonight, for giving a great effort and fighting for each other,” said WVU coach Jill Kramer. “This team is capable of doing really great things. It was obvious in their play tonight that they all believe that wholeheartedly.”

 

A trio of Mountaineers finished in double figure kills, with Jordan Anderson’s 19 leading the way. Nikki Attea recorded 15 kills, hitting for a .343 clip and just missing a double-double with nine digs, while Hannah Sackett hit .250 with 10 kills. Caleah Wells found the court on seven occasions, and Hannah Shreve added in five while hitting for a .333 clip.

 

Anderson also recorded 10 digs for her sixth double-double of the season and finished with a team-best three aces.

 

In addition to 45 assists, Lamprini Konstantinidou hit .500 with a trio of kills to go along with a pair of service aces, a trio of blocks and seven digs. Gianna Gotterba just missed her career high, finishing with 18 digs on the night while Anna Panagiotakopoulos had seven.

 

Hitting .263 as a team with 61 kills, the Mountaineers totaled 11 team blocks on the evening. Wells tied her season high with five block assists, while Shreve posted four. Anderson and Attea were each credited with three, and Sackett helped out on a pair as well.

 

Despite hitting .179 in the first set, WVU used 13 kills, four blocks and a trio of aces to start the match off on a high note. After trading points to start the set, the Mountaineers used a 5-0 run to take a 10-5 lead. Withstanding a pair of kills from Anderson, the Bears cut their deficit to two, down 14-12, on a kill. Sackett and Shreve each had a kill, but Baylor scored three in a row to tie the set at 20-20. However, the Mountaineers went on a 5-0 run, helped by a pair of Anderson aces, to win the set 25-20.

 

The offense got hotter in set two, hitting an impressive .429 with 18 kills and just three errors as five players hit .300 or better. A pair of Anderson kills and an ace by Konstantinidou headlined a 6-0 WVU run to start things off. A kill from Konstantinidou made it 14-6 in favor of the Mountaineers before Attea found the court twice to give West Virginia the 17-9 advantage. Baylor cut the deficit to five on a kill, but Anderson and Konstantinidou kept the Mountaineers in front. The Bears again attempted a comeback, cutting the lead to three on a WVU attacking error. Attea and Sackett each had a kill to help set up set-point for WVU before Wells finished things off with a kill for the 25-21 win.

 

With eight attacking errors in set three, the Mountaineers finished the stanza hitting .163. After trading points, the Bears used a 3-0 run to take a 10-6 lead on a WVU miscue. Shreve and Attea helped slice into the deficit with a kill each, but three straight kills from Baylor pushed the Bears ahead 17-10. Konstantinidou and Anderson each found the court to cut the Baylor advantage to four, before a pair of Anderson kills led a 4-0 WVU run that trimmed the deficit to just two at 21-19. The Mountaineers took three of the next four points, extending the set with an Attea kill and an Anderson ace, but a Baylor kill gave the Bears the 25-22 win.

 

Bouncing back to hit for a .314 clip with 15 kills, West Virginia posted six team blocks in the final stanza. Taking a 4-1 lead on a Konstantinidou aces, the Mountaineers couldn’t sustain the momentum as Baylor tallied four in a row to take a 5-4 advantage. WVU countered with five consecutive points for a 10-6 advantage, stretching the lead to 15-10 on a kill by Wells and two more from Anderson. The Bears used a 4-0 run to cut the West Virginia advantage to one at 19-18, but a trio of kills from Anderson, along with one from Gotterba, set up match-point for the Mountaineers. Konstantinidou and Shreve teamed for a block to win the set 25-19 and take the match 3-1.

 

West Virginia returns home to host No. 22 Kansas State on Saturday at the WVU Coliseum in a 5 p.m. match.