Point Texas: #5 Texas Clinches Conference Title

After a six game winning streak the Baylor Bears (18-8) were ready to face the #5 Texas Longhorns (18-4) on their home court Friday night.  While they came out strong, defeating the nationally top ranked team in the first set, the Longhorns took the match (3-1) not only ending the Baylor run but clinching the Big 12 Conference Title for the second year in a row.

The stats reflect where Texas fell behind and delivered the first set and only victory of the night for Baylor (22-25).  Hitting at .333 with 14 kills, not bad for the Texas team, but couldn’t top Baylor’s .375 and 15 kills.  The Bears also saw four aces while the Longhorns had three service errors.  Texas came back in the second with a nice lead (7-1), but Baylor quickly clawed their way back with a five point run to make it a game (7-6). Breaking away again, Texas amassed a six-point lead (18-12) over the Bears benefiting from their poorer hitting game (.139) while Texas improved to .357 (Set 25-19).

Although the third set had no clear leads, Texas clinched with a tip by freshman outside hitter Logan Eggleston (25-22). The fourth set was quite different, following a tight run at the beginning, the Longhorns jumped out with five unanswered points (8-3), and then another four (12-4) to force a Bear timeout.  Dominant and running the table, Texas went up 20-9 over Baylor finally securing the match at 25-14.

Longhorn leaders for the night were senior middle blocker Morgan Johnson (Desoto) with 5 blocks, freshman setter Jhenna Gabriel (Honolulu, Hawaii) with 47 assists, sophomore libero Sydney Petersen’s 16 digs, junior outside hitter Micaya White (Frisco) with 17 kills followed closely by her freshman teammate Logan Eggleston’s (Brentwood, Tennessee) 13.

The Conference Champ Texas Longhorns face Texas Tech in Lubbock on Thanksgiving Eve, November 21 (6PM), only four days before selection Sunday.