Baylor Volleyball Crushes Outmanned Pope John Paul

Lady Red Raiders Finish Regular Season Friday At Harpeth Hall

Thursday, October 6, 2016
John Hunt

Baylor continued their run towards the state tournament Thursday afternoon with a strong win over Pope John Paul 2nd, 3-0 on the Lady Red Raiders' court. Ally Craig (12) above, was a major part of the win. Defending Craig's kill shot is the Knights' Celeste Williams (14). Set scores were 25-6, 25-9 and 25-8. Baylor is now 41-2, with a spotless 11-0 record in their region.
photo by Dennis Norwood

It was just another day at the office for the Baylor volleyball team.

The Baylor squad has played some really outstanding teams this fall, but their opponent on Thursday afternoon wasn’t one of them.

It didn’t take long as Baylor rolled past an outmanned Pope John Paul II team, the Lady Red Raiders winning easily by scores of 25-6, 25-9 and 25-8.

Baylor is now 41-2 overall and 11-0 in region play. The final regular-season match will be played at Harpeth Hall on Friday before the playoffs begin next week.

“It’s always nice to win, but I’m glad that some of our role players got a chance to see some action,” said Baylor coach Sarah Lail following Thursday’s match.

“We’re really fortunate to have a great group of kids that allows us to have some really hard practices at times, but today was a good opportunity for us to see the future of Baylor volleyball.

“We have a lot of unsung heroes on this team and it’s always good to see just how the younger ones will respond, but I thought we played pretty well today,” Lail added.

Pope John Paul coach Kim Shaver knew what was coming long before the first point was scored. The Lady Knights only have one player with any varsity experience to speak of and Shaver knew what to expect.

“I told you it would be quick,” she said afterward.

“ We played a little better as the match went on and were able to get our hands on a few balls, but Baylor is an amazing team and they put the ball away so well. They have a lot of long arms up front and we’re just not at the same level as they are,” the coach said.

None of the three sets were close at all.

Baylor scored nine of the first 10 points in the first one before Laura Kate May recorded six straight service points, including the last one with an ace to give the Lady Red Raiders a commanding 16-2 lead. A hitting error by the Lady Knights was the final point in that set.

May was the key player in the second set as well as she had nine straight points as Baylor’s lead stretched from 14-7 to 23-7. An ace from Sarah Sumida closed out the second set.

Ally Craig was the service queen in the third set as she had eight straight as a 3-1 lead quickly grew to 11-1. Back-to-back kills from Zoe Ubamadu a few minutes later was the final straw as Baylor cruised to victory.

Gabby Gray had eight kills and eight digs to lead Baylor while Ubamadu, who is just a freshman, had one of her better matches to finish with seven kills and five blocks. Ally Craig had 13 digs to go along with her four kills and four aces.

GPS SPLIT MATCHES with Father Ryan and Pope John Paul with the Purple Irish beating the Bruisers by scores of 29-27, 25-14 and 25-16 on Wednesday. GPS bounced back to beat the Lady Knights by scores of 25-10, 25-19 and 25-21.

BAYLOR STATS:

Sarah Sumida – 2 aces, 3 kills, 1 block, 32 assists, 6 digs

Gabby Gray – 1 ace, 8 kills, 8 digs, 2 blocks

Ally Craig – 4 aces, 4 kills, 2 blocks, 13 digs

Lilly Turner – 1 dig

Jane Wilson – 2 kills

Paris Buckner – 4 kills

Lexie Laurendine – 2 kills, 1 block, 1 dig

Denver Rogers – 1 ace, 2 kills

Laura Kate May – 3 aces, 3 digs

Elizabeth Case – 3 aces

Kelsey Holden – 1 ace, 4 digs