WACO — UTSA fell to northern neighbor Baylor in four sets (17-25, 24-26, 26-24, 20-25) on Tuesday night in the Roadrunners' final non-conference match of the season.
Annie Kunes collected a career-high 32 digs and McKenzie Adams, the national leader in kills per set, led UTSA (8-6) with a match-high 17 to go along with 25 digs. Meanwhile, Dajana Boskovic added 12 winners and Brandy Huskey dished out 38 assists.
Baylor’s Nicole Bardaji had five of her team-high 16 kills in the opening set, including three during a set-ending 10-1 run, as the Bears out-hit UTSA .170-.051. Kunes had 11 digs in the opening stanza.
The Roadrunners fought back from an 18-14 deficit to take a 21-19 lead and they even had a set-point in the second, but Baylor (8-8) was able to regain control and tallied the stanza’s final three points to take a 2-0 lead. Adams paced the Birds with six kills.
UTSA got back on track in the third behind Kylie Schott’s three kills and three blocks. UTSA hit .190 and led 24-21 before Baylor threatened with a 3-0 run to tie the set. Back-to-back kills by Adams and Thornton negated the comeback bid and turned the momentum back to the Birds. Huskey led the offense with 14 assists.
Huskey added another 13 helpers in the fourth stanza, but it wasn’t enough, as Baylor hit .306 and broke open a 17-all tie with a match-closing 8-3 run.
UTSA begins its inaugural foray into Conference USA play at 7 p.m. on Friday at Tulane (13-1).