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SAN ANTONIO – UTSA got a career performance from freshman Hannah Lopez but No. 18 Baylor posted a five-set win (21-25, 25-20, 28-26, 20-25, 8-15) over the Roadrunners, on Friday afternoon in the Convocation Center in the first day of the UTSA Invitational Tournament, presented by the Courtyard by Marriott at The Rim.
Baylor (7-3) took the first set after building an early lead and fighting off a late charge from the Roadrunners. UTSA (7-4) responded to take five of the first eight points in the second stanza and held on for a 20-25 win. The third set was a wild UTSA 28-26 win, with the Runners holding off a late Baylor charge, and the Bears forced the fifth with a wire-to-wire win in the fourth set.
The Bears, who last week earned a win over No. 2 Wisconsin in four sets, didn't face a deficit in the fifth set, with the Runners fighting to even the set at six and eight.
A product of San Antonio's Winston Churchill High School, Lopez earned her first career double-double while setting career highs in kills (21), digs (13) and blocks (four). Freshman Kirby Smith finished with a career-high 16 kills and added 10 digs. Brianna McCulloch had nine kills, two digs and three blocks with sophomore Hannah Froeschl owning eight kills and three blocks. UTSA senior Amanda Gonzales had 24 assists and freshman Mia Perales added 24 assists. Senior Shelby Williams led the Roadrunners with 19 digs. Kara Teal finished with two kills and four blocks.
The UTSA Invitational, presented by the Courtyard by Marriott at The Rim, will resume on Saturday with Virginia Tech vs. Baylor at 12 p.m. CT before UTSA faces Virginia Tech at 12 p.m. on Sunday at the Convocation Center.
The first match of the #UTSA Invitational, presented by Courtyard by Marriott at The Rim, was a thriller. @UTSAvolleyball took No. 18 Baylor to five sets, but was unable to pull the upset. Hannah Lopez notched 21 kills & 13 digs to lead the Roadrunners. pic.twitter.com/glC8sLZmOt
— UTSA Athletics (@UTSAAthletics) September 14, 2018
A block from McCulloch and Teal opened the scoring in the match before Baylor spurted out to a 4-2 and 8-4 lead. A monster kill sparked a UTSA rally as the Roadrunners pulled to even at 11. The Bears were able to take 10 of the next 15 points as the Runners were forced to spend a timeout. Out of the break, UTSA earned the sixth kill of the match from Lopez and her seventh kill cut the lead to 22-18. The teams traded the next four points before Baylor posted the 25-21 win.
UTSA roared out of the second set with five of the first eight points, highlighted by a pair of monster swings from Smith. The Runners extended the lead to 7-5 following a great swing from Lopez following a quality service from Smith. A block led to an 8-6 UTSA lead and Lopez ended a long rally with a right-handed swing on the far side of the net for a 9-7 lead. Gonzales fired an ace for a 10-7 lead before the Bears rallied to even it at 10. The 10th kill of the match from Lopez, a soft swing from the near side, pulled it even at 11. The teams traded points until UTSA got the 11th kill of the match from Lopez for a 16-15 lead. After a tandem block from Teal and Lopez, Baylor spent a timeout with the Roadrunners leading 17-15. Madeline McKay's first kill of the match gave UTSA a 19-16 lead and Lopez extended it to four with a kill from the far side across the court. UTSA got the block to take set point at 24-19 and a service error handed the Runners a 25-20 win.
Baylor opened the third set with the first two points and the match was evened up after Froeschl's fourth kill. Froeschl evened it back up at five after a hard smash in the middle of the net and the teams continued to trade points until a 3-0 UTSA run with an ace from Gonzales and a kill from Lopez. Teal and Lopez teamed up on a block for an 11-9 lead and Lopez finished home the kill for a 12-9 advantage. UTSA was able to extend its lead as the teams traded the next eight points, with the first ace of the match from Williams giving UTSA a 17-13 lead and forced a Baylor timeout. BU got the next three points to force a UTSA timeout. Lopez answered with her 15th kill and Smith stretched the lead to 20-17 with her fourth kill, off a nifty assist from Gonzales. Smith's fifth and sixth kills saw the lead up to 23-19 but a 2-0 spurt forced a UTSA timeout with a 23-21 lead. Smith's termination out of the timeout gave the Runners set point. Baylor's 4-0 run evened it at 24 and UTSA saw set point again at 25-24 and 26-25. A dynamic dig from Williams led to a kill from McCulloch and UTSA edged Baylor for a 28-26 win in the third.
UTSA earned the first two points of the fourth set, with Teal giving UTSA a 2-0 lead. Baylor used five of the next seven points to take a 5-3 lead before six straight UTSA points – including kills from Smith and Froeschl – saw UTSA take its first lead of the game, 6-5 and extend it to 8-5 to force a Baylor timeout. Smith took the lead to 9-5 with her 14th kill and the Roadrunners were able to extend the lead to 11-7 and after a pair of dynamite swings from Lopez, 13-9. McCulloch's seventh kill made it 15-11 and Smith stretched to lead to 16-11 with her 15th termination. Smith stopped a 4-0 Baylor run with her 15th kill and a 17-15 lead but the Bears evened it back up at 17-17. The Bears then used five of the next six points to force a UTSA timeout while leading 21-18. UTSA cut the lead to 23-20 but Baylor finished off the win.
In the fifth set, Baylor opened up with the first point and took a 3-1 lead. UTSA rallied back to cut the lead to 5-4. Consecutive kills from Lopez and McKay evened the fifth at 6-6. The 21st kill of the night from Lopez and the ninth from McCulloch evened the match at eight. UTSA called timeout after a 3-0 Baylor run took the lead to 11-8. Baylor was able to finish off the 15-9 win in the fifth.
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