MORGANTOWN, W.Va.  – The West Virginia University volleyball team couldn’t overcome 26 attacking errors as the Mountaineers dropped a Big 12 contest to Baylor, 3-0, at the Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas, on Saturday evening. The Bears (16-9, 4-7) topped the Mountaineers (5-18, 0-10) in set scores of 25-19, 25-20 and 25-20.

 

Dzeni Hadzisehovic was the top offensive producer of the day for the Mountaineers, tallying nine kills while hitting for a .318 clip with a pair of digs and a block assist. Mia Swanegan hit for a team-best .333 with eight kills, while Morgan Montgomery notched seven kills.

 

“I thought we were good at some points and then not so good at some points,” said WVU volleyball coach Reed Sunahara. “We gave up too many runs, and then we also made some very good runs. We have to work on being consistent, and we have to keep getting better every day.”

 

Swanegan also had a pair of block assists, contributing to WVU’s 3.0 team blocks. Hannah Shreve added a block assist in addition to four kills, and Caleah Wells registered a pair of block assists and a pair of kills. Montgomery and Taylor Cross tallied the Mountaineers’ two service aces of the match.

 

Gianna Gotterba and Melvina Brown teamed to lead the floor defense with eight digs apiece. Haley Roe dug four balls while assisting on 27 of West Virginia’s 30 kills. Montgomery also added a trio of digs.

 

Baylor finished with 33 kills, hitting .174 as a team with 11.0 team blocks.

 

The Bears scored nine of the first ten points of the match, grabbing a 9-1 advantage before a Montgomery kill ended the 7-0 run in the first set. Baylor scored four more in a row to lead 13-2 before the Mountaineers countered with kills from Hadzisehovic and Swanegan as part of a 4-0 run, helping WVU rally. The teams traded errors before Montgomery registered a service ace to cut the WVU deficit to five, down 20-15. Cross added an ace as the Mountaineers rattled off four in a row to come within three, down 22-19. However, the Bears tallied three straight to take the set, 25-19.

 

Several Baylor scoring spurts put WVU in a seven-point hole, down 11-4, to start the second set. A pair of BU errors combined with a pair of Shreve kills made up some ground for the Mountaineers as they trailed 13-9 but the Bears tallied two kills and an ace to add some padding to their lead. Another kill from Shreve and a BU attacking error put WVU within three, down 23-20, but Baylor scored back-to-back kills to win the set, 25-20, and lead the match 2-0.

 

The Bears and the Mountaineers traded points at the beginning of the third before three straight WVU attacking errors pushed Baylor in front, 6-3. West Virginia tallied four of five points to knot the score at 7-7 on a Swanegan kill, but the Bears jumped in front once again. The Mountaineers later took advantage of three straight BU miscues to lead 14-13; however, Baylor responded with four in a row to take a 17-14 advantage on a WVU attacking error.  Despite kills from Wells and Hadzisehovic, the Mountaineers were unable to rally and dropped the set, 25-20, as Baylor took the match 3-0.

 

West Virginia returns to Morgantown where it will host Iowa State in a Big 12 match on Wednesday. First serve is slated for 6 p.m. at the WVU Coliseum.