MORGANTOWN, W.Va.  – Unable to overcome a Baylor offense hitting .385, the West Virginia University volleyball fell 3-0 to the Bears on Saturday afternoon at the WVU Coliseum. Baylor (14-6, 2-4) took the match in set scores of 25-21, 25-14 and 25-23.

 

The Mountaineers (5-14, 0-6) hit better than .250 in the first two sets before stumbling in the third with 11 errors. They finished the day hitting .149 with 33 kills and 20 errors, posting 5.0 team blocks. Baylor had 40 kills and 10 errors with 12.0 team blocks.

 

Morgan Montgomery went for a team-high 13 kills, while Bridgett Talia added in seven. Talia and Hannah Shreve led the blocking effort with a trio of blocks each, and Mia Swanegan added a pair of blocks with three kills.

 

Haley Roe hit for a .600 clip with four kills and assisted on 25 of WVU’s 33 kills. Roe also led the squad with seven digs and registered one of the Mountaineers’ five service aces. Taylor Cross had a pair of aces and a pair of assists, chipping in five digs as well. Caleah Wells had six kill on the day.

 

“Obviously it’s tough to lose,” said WVU coach Reed Sunahara. “But I thought we did some things better than we did on Wednesday night (against Texas Tech). Hopefully, that can be a momentum builder. We’re going to keep plugging away and get better every day.”

 

Behind five kills from Talia and four from Montgomery, the Mountaineers got off to a hot start, taking a 7-4 lead. An ace and a pair of kills from Montgomery kept them in front 19-15. A 4-0 run by Baylor brought the bears within two, forcing WVU into a timeout. Baylor came out of the stoppage undeterred, scoring six more in a row to win the set on back-to-back blocks, 25-21.

 

Despite hitting .259 in the second set, West Virginia couldn’t keep up with Baylor as the Bears hit for a .789 clip with 15 kills. An early 6-0 run that included a trio of service aces put Baylor in front 11-5 before Swanegan stopped the run with a kill. Cross produced back-to-back service aces to bring WVU within two, down 11-8, but a quick 3-0 BU run gave the Bears a 16-10 lead on a block. The Bears again used a long run, scoring six in a row, in taking the set, 25-14, for a 2-0 lead in the match.

 

Four straight attacking errors put the Mountaineers in a 4-1 hole to start the third set, though a kill and a block from Wells helped them work their way out of it to tie the set, 6-6. Consecutive Baylor miscues tied the score again, 11-11, and the teams traded points to a 22-22 tie. However, the Bears took three of the last four kills to earn the 25-23 triumph and record the 3-0 sweep.

 

West Virginia heads to Ames, Iowa, on Wednesday for a 6 p.m. ET tilt with Iowa State at Hilton Coliseum.