Away game diary: Waco, Texas for No. 19 Baylor

Check back here all day today for updates on what the team is doing down in Waco before, during and after their 7:00 pm match with Baylor.

I’ll have an update posted when I wake up. Thank God for delayed publishing on WordPress.

7:30 am—I just woke up. As a college student, waking up at 7:30 in the morning is never a fun thing. I have to be at Columbia Regional by 8:30, so I should probably get going here.

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Just got on the plane. Amanda and Catie were guessing how many cowboy hats they would see in Waco–apparently Catie saw 16 or 17 in Norman.
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Alright, we just landed in Waco. For the record, if you’re flying with a cold, DON’T. The descent into Waco was realllly painful and my right ear hasn’t popped yet.
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We may or may not be lost. We have seen a lot of scenic Waco, including what may have been an asphalt plant.
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Whew. Just got to the arena. It’s a giant gold dome that looks…interesting.

Yep. I’m in Waco.
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Practice is underway here at Paul J. Meyer Arena.

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Looks like the team is having a good practice. I’m also very hungry and would love if the team decided to have lunch at George’s here in Waco, but I get the suspicion that Shiner Bock on tap is not the best pregame beverage.
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Practice is wrapping up. If the saying “you practice like you play” applies to Mizzou today, Baylor will be in for a fight.
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Oh, sweet, I’m eating food today. Deng Yang just graciously called ahead to Fazoli’s and ordered me some spaghetti and meatballs. Talk about service!
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Team lunch at Gratziano’s off the campus. Rosa’s reading Upton Sinclair, I feel sorry for her.
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Oh yeah, I ordered a Dr. Pepper. I hear that’s the thing to do in Waco.
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Here’s a “getting to know the team” random fact: Rosa Medrano doesn’t like Cherry Coke. I hope this tidbit makes your day that much more enlightened.
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Just got back to the arena. We now have a ton of downtime until serve & pass at 5…so sit tight. I’ll have stuff between now and then.
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We’ve been hanging in the media room at the arena for about an hour now. A few players are in here, on their computers or phones. Or sleeping on the thinly carpeted floor. Hey, don’t judge. Gotta have energy for gametime.
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Just played a couple games of NBA Jam on my computer to pass the time here. Rik Smits dropped 31 on my Magic squad of Penny Hardaway and Nick Anderson. Blasphemy.
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That’s my seat for today’s action. There are a few fans already filing in, including a few members of Baylor’s student section.

Baylor’s student section is named “Quick Attack.” I’m not entirely sure if that’s a volleyball reference or a Pokemon reference. If it’s the latter, then bravo, Baylor students.

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The press desk I’m sitting at is right in front of the Baylor band. This might get a bit loud.

Also: Baylor, you had me at hello. The sound system here just started playing “The Fixer” by Pearl Jam (easily, easily my favorite band). No offense to Mizzou, but this is better than the stock Poison and BTO songs played after every match. Props, Baylor.

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We’re under 15 minutes to gametime here in Waco. A couple of notes before this match starts:

• Julianna Klein picked up the 1,000th point of her career to end last Saturday’s match against Texas A&M. Pretty cool.
• Mizzou leads the all-time series with Baylor 15-11.
• I will not be able to hear anything by the end of this match as the band is far louder than I anticipated.
• Priscilla Armendariz’s 21 digs against A&M were a career high and the second time this year that a MU player picked up 20+ digs in a match.
• Mizzou leads the Big 12 with 75 service aces this year.
• Did I mention that I’m not going to be able to hear anything after this match? Thanks, band.

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Oh wow, the starting lineups are presented by Dr. Pepper? Shocking. Positively shocking.

Starting lineup:

Lei Wang-Francisco

Brittney Brimmage

Julianna Klein

Paola Ampudia

Priscilla Armendariz

Catie Wilson

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Rosa Medrano’s off to a nice start in this one. 5-4 Baylor early with Paola Ampudia serving.

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It’s now 13-8 Baylor. So far the Bears have played a very clean set. Mizzou just called for a timeout—it looks like some early-match jitters for the Tigers.

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Side note: It’s freezing cold in this arena. I guess being in a warm area of the country makes them overly compensate with too much air conditioning? I feel like I should be watching a Blackhawks game in these conditions, not a volleyball match.

It’s now 16-8 Baylor.

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Kate Harris just entered the game and set up a nice kill. However, Baylor’s still up 19-9 right now.

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Oof. Baylor takes the set 25-13. Let’s see if Mizzou can pick things up here in the next few sets.

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Stat notes from the first set:

• Mizzou hit just .028 while Baylor hit .353. That’s obviously going to have to improve for Mizzou if the Tigers want to come back and win this match.
• Baylor also picked up 21 digs to Mizzou’s 15.
• Katie Sanders was the big scorer for Baylor, racking up five kills for Baylor. Rosa Medrano led Mizzou with three while Paola Ampudia had two—in 16 attempts.

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Once again, Baylor’s off to a quick start. 9-7 Bears with Annie Lopez serving.

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Mizzou’s doing a better job rolling with the punches in this set. 12-9 Bears heading into a Mizzou timeout.

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21-16 Baylor as Mizzou calls their final timeout. Again, Mizzou’s doing a better job this set…but Baylor’s offensive attack has been incredibly good today. There’s a ton of firepower in green & yellow right now.

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Baylor takes the second set 25-18.

Well, Mizzou was in this position on Saturday and came back to beat one of the best teams in the conference in Texas A&M. Let’s see if they have another comeback in them tonight in Waco.

Baylor’s proven to me that they deserve to be a top-ranked team, that’s for sure. You have to remember, this is the same team that STORMED the No. 11 team in the nation—a 3-0 win over Iowa State.

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Stat notes from the second set:

• Mizzou hit a very solid .281, but Baylor hit a ridiculous .433. I don’t care how well you’re playing, beating a team that’s hitting as well as Baylor is today (.391 on the match) is going to be a stiff, stiff challenge.
• Baylor has 5.5 team blocks, while Mizzou has none on the match.
• Baylor’s Katie Sanders has eight kills while Medrano and Ampudia lead Mizzou with five each.

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Baylor once again out to a quick lead, this time 8-4.

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Nice rally by Mizzou puts the score at 10-9 Baylor. The Bears just took their first timeout of the match.

Let’s see if Mizzou can keep this momentum up now. It just takes one win of a set to get this team rolling, as we saw last weekend…

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Hey, Mizzou just tied it up at 11 and took the lead on a Bears error. 12-11 Tigers!

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This has easily been the most competitive set of the match. Baylor’s up 16-14, but you can really see Mizzou playing better.

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Currently 20-17 Baylor.

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22-21 now…

And a huge kill by Jules makes it 22-22. Baylor calls timeout.

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23-22 Baylor on a good bounce…

Ampudia with a kill makes it 23-23…and then an error makes it 24-23 Baylor.

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Baylor follows that up with a kill to win the set 25-23 and the match 3-0. The outcome isn’t what Mizzou wanted, but at least they played well in the final two sets. Baylor’s just a really, really good team that has a very good chance to go deep into the NCAA tournament this year.

But the fun’s not over yet for me—I’ll have more updates via my phone before the flight back to Columbia and when we land. Stay tuned.
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Just got on the plane. Should be back in Columbia in 90 or so minutes.
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And we just landed. Thanks to everyone who read these updates–hope you enjoyed them. I had a blast despite the team losing and I hopefully will do one of these again in the near future.

Good night!