Baylor players and coach Sarah Lail celebrate after getting the final point.
photo by M.A. Locke
The Sting got stung at Baylor Saturday afternoon.
The Hutchison Sting made the long trip from Memphis to play the Lady Red Raiders in the quarterfinal round of the D-II state volleyball tournament, but it was a much longer trip home after getting swept by Baylor.
Set scores were 25-10, 25-16 and 25-10.
Hutchison came to town feeling good about themselves with a 25-10 record, but they were no match for a Baylor team that will be making its ninth straight trip to Murfreesboro for the state tournament with a record of 39-5.
“That was phenomenal,” said Baylor coach Sarah Lail shortly after her team had waltzed to another 3-0 victory.
“We’re ready for another run at a state title next week. I’m really excited about the way we started as I wasn’t expecting us to come out that on fire. Normally it takes a few minutes for each team to get used to each other, but we shut them down from the start.
“I knew we had all the pieces for a great team at the start of the season, but you never know how it will all come together. We have so much depth at so many positions that we’re hard to beat when we’re playing together,” she added.
Hutchison served first, but a kill from Sarah Sumida gave Baylor the early lead and Denver Rogers added to it with 10 straight service points for a commanding 11-0 lead.
A kill from Sarah Barker extended the lead to 15-1 and she ended the first set with another kill several minutes later.
Baylor got five service points from Hayden Barton at the start of the second set as a 4-2 lead swelled to 9-2. The Sting got within 14-10 before Lail called a timeout, but Baylor then scored five of the next six points and were never really challenged again.
And much like the first set, Baylor raced to a 7-0 lead in the third set with Rogers setting the tone with six straight service points. It didn’t take much longer for Baylor to win the match as Lexie Laurendine finished it off with a kill.
Hutchison coach Michael Ralph felt like his girls battled hard, but Baylor was simply too good.
“We laid it all on the line, but there are times when things just don’t go your way. We played hard and we never quit, but this wasn’t our best volleyball today,” he said after a long chat with his girls following the match.
“Baylor is certainly one of the best teams we’ve played this season and they played well today as they controlled the ball and were really consistent. They will be hard to beat next week,” he concluded with praise for the Lady Red Raiders.
Sumida is a 17-year-old senior who’s been a regular in the Baylor lineup for the past five years. She’s had an incredible final season and was recently named the Player of the Year for the Middle-East Region. She played well again in her final home appearance as she was credited with three kills, one block, 38 assists and nine digs.
“We’re so excited to be going back to Murfreesboro as we’ve all worked so hard to reach this point. It hasn’t hit me yet,” she said when asked about her last match on the Baylor court.
“We all contributed as we were all on today. We knew what was at stake and this is what we’ve been waiting on all year. It was all about playing our game today, but we got the momentum early and it just kept going. And I’m so honored to be named Region MVP,” she added.
Sophomore Zoe Ubamadu was joined by juniors Ally Craig and Rogers as All-Region selections and all were instrumental in Saturday’s win.
Ubamadu had eight kills and six blocks while Craig had a dozen kills and seven digs. Rogers had eight kills in addition to five digs, two aces and a block.
Baylor will play its first match on Tuesday at MTSU’s Murphy Center against the winner of the Father Ryan-St. Benedict match.
BAYLOR STATS:
Sarah Barker – 5 kills, 1 dig
Elizabeth Case – 1 ace, 11 digs
Sarah Sumida – 3 kills, 1 block, 38 assists, 9 digs
Hayden Barton – 3 aces, 1 assist, 5 digs
Zoe Ubamadu – 8 kills, 6 blocks
Ally Craig – 12 kills, 7 digs
Laura Kate May – 6 digs
Denver Rogers – 2 aces, 8 kills, 1 block, 5 digs
Lexie Laurendine – 3 kills.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)