No. 10 volleyball battles past No. 20 Baylor in five sets
Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2025 1:23 am
From SMUMustangs.com:
No. 10 volleyball battles past No. 20 Baylor in five sets
BATON ROUGE, LA. (SMU) – No. 10 SMU Volleyball (2-0) outlasted No. 20 Baylor (1-1) in its second consecutive five-set match to begin the 2025 season. The win marks SMU's first ranked win of the season and ninth under head coach Sam Erger.
Opposite Malaya Jones secured back her second straight 20 or more kill outing with 24 to go along with 16 digs and four blocks against the Bears. Sophomore outside Jadyn Livings went for a career-high 21 kills, while adding 12 digs and four blocks. Setter Averi Carlson notched her second consecutive 50+ assist outing with 53 against her former team, along with 14 digs and career-high five blocks, two of which were solo rejections.
As a team, the Mustangs hit .271 and held Baylor to a .219 percent attack percentage. SMU out dug Baylor 66-62 and outblocked the Bears 19-10. Four Mustangs notched double-digit digs in Saturday's showing.
MATCH NOTES:
With the win, SMU took the lead in the all-time series 7-6 over Baylor.
Coach Erger remains unbeaten against Baylor, improving to 3-0.
Carlson, Jones and Livings logged their first double-doubles as Mustangs. Carlson notched her 29th career double-double, Jones earned her 18th and Livings logged her fifth.
Carlson surpassed 50 assists in back-to-back matches for just the third time in her career.
Carlson (5) and Newsome (8) finished with career-highs in blocks.
Freshmen Sarah Frazee and Maggie Croft saw their first action as a Mustang against the Bears. Frazee finished with two digs on the afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
SET ONE | SMU raced out to a 6-3 lead, with three of the six points coming on kills from Livings. Baylor closed the gap midway through and kept pace with the Mustangs until a 6-2 run put SMU up 21-16. Baylor responded with three straight points, forcing SMU into a timeout to discuss the situation, as its lead had dwindled to two (21-19). The Bears extended their run to six, including back-to-back aces to prompt another timeout by SMU. A kill out of the break by Livings and a solo rejection by Anyanwu put the Mustangs back in front. The teams traded points until a kill from Anyanwu and an ace from Livings gave the Mustangs a 26-24 victory in the first set. Jones led the set with six kills, followed by Livings with four. SMU logged five blocks in the set.
SET TWO | Baylor got off to a 4-1 start in the second set. SMU kept itself within striking distance by trading points with the Bears. The Mustangs eventually struck big with a 6-0 stretch, which put the SMU back in front and up three (14-11). Livings logged two kills during the run to aid the Mustangs' efforts. Baylor answered with seven of the next nine to get a two-point advantage. Kills from Carlson and Newsome evened the score back up at 18-18. An attack error by Baylor between two kills by the Bears put them in front by one. However, three straight by SMU, including two kills from Jones and a block from Livings and Anyanwu, put the Mustangs up two. The teams found themselves in another draw at 23-all until another kill from Jones gave the Mustangs the first set point of the frame. Two straight by Baylor gave them their first set point of the match. SMU was able to fight off a second set point, but the Bears strung together two kills to win the frame 28-26.
SET THREE | A 5-0 run by Baylor gave the Bears their largest lead of the match in the third frame. The run put the Bears up 11-5. SMU slowly chipped away at its deficit. Three straight points by the Mustangs, including a block from Anyanwu and Rogers, a solo block by setter Carlson, brought SMU within a point at 15-14. Freshman Rogers led another strong stretch by SMU with a kill and an ace, followed by a block from Newsome and Jones, tying the set at 19-all. After trading the following two points, Baylor collected an ace and a kill and then three of the next four points to win the frame, 25-22. SMU hit their lowest percentage of the match, swinging at just a .087 percent rate.
SET FOUR | Baylor led 8-7 in the fourth, until a 5-0 scoring run for the Mustangs put them up 12-8. SMU then score on two of the next three on a kill and block from Newsome to keep their five-point advantage. The Mustangs stretched their lead out to as much as seven, however Baylor kept things interesting with two separate scoring flurries to draw within two points. Fortunately, back-to-back kills from Jones sealed the fourth set in SMU's favor. Newsome logged four blocks in the set, while Jones tallied six kills on 11 swings.
SET FIVE | In the fifth set, SMU fought their way to victory by executing in the final stretch. The teams battled to a 10-10 tie in the deciding match to 15. A kill from Livings and a block from Jones and Anyanwu gave SMU a 12-10 lead. After a kill from the Bears, SMU got one back on an attack error by Baylor to stay up two (13-11). Down the stretch, SMU went to their hot hand. Jones put the final two balls away for the Mustangs to win the frame 15-13. Jones notched six kills in the fifth set followed by Livings with five of her own. Jones also had four digs in the final frame.
SMU LEADERS:
SMU Kills Leader: Malaya Jones (24)
SMU Assist Leader: Averi Carlson (53)
SMU Digs Leader: Malaya Jones (16)
SMU Blocks Leader: Favor Anyanwu & Natalia Newsome (8)
SMU Ace Leader: Five with (1)
Up Next: SMU will host Washington in its home opener Thursday, Sept. 4 in the first match of the DoubleTree Invitational. First serve is set for 7 p.m. CT.
No. 10 volleyball battles past No. 20 Baylor in five sets
BATON ROUGE, LA. (SMU) – No. 10 SMU Volleyball (2-0) outlasted No. 20 Baylor (1-1) in its second consecutive five-set match to begin the 2025 season. The win marks SMU's first ranked win of the season and ninth under head coach Sam Erger.
Opposite Malaya Jones secured back her second straight 20 or more kill outing with 24 to go along with 16 digs and four blocks against the Bears. Sophomore outside Jadyn Livings went for a career-high 21 kills, while adding 12 digs and four blocks. Setter Averi Carlson notched her second consecutive 50+ assist outing with 53 against her former team, along with 14 digs and career-high five blocks, two of which were solo rejections.
As a team, the Mustangs hit .271 and held Baylor to a .219 percent attack percentage. SMU out dug Baylor 66-62 and outblocked the Bears 19-10. Four Mustangs notched double-digit digs in Saturday's showing.
MATCH NOTES:
With the win, SMU took the lead in the all-time series 7-6 over Baylor.
Coach Erger remains unbeaten against Baylor, improving to 3-0.
Carlson, Jones and Livings logged their first double-doubles as Mustangs. Carlson notched her 29th career double-double, Jones earned her 18th and Livings logged her fifth.
Carlson surpassed 50 assists in back-to-back matches for just the third time in her career.
Carlson (5) and Newsome (8) finished with career-highs in blocks.
Freshmen Sarah Frazee and Maggie Croft saw their first action as a Mustang against the Bears. Frazee finished with two digs on the afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
SET ONE | SMU raced out to a 6-3 lead, with three of the six points coming on kills from Livings. Baylor closed the gap midway through and kept pace with the Mustangs until a 6-2 run put SMU up 21-16. Baylor responded with three straight points, forcing SMU into a timeout to discuss the situation, as its lead had dwindled to two (21-19). The Bears extended their run to six, including back-to-back aces to prompt another timeout by SMU. A kill out of the break by Livings and a solo rejection by Anyanwu put the Mustangs back in front. The teams traded points until a kill from Anyanwu and an ace from Livings gave the Mustangs a 26-24 victory in the first set. Jones led the set with six kills, followed by Livings with four. SMU logged five blocks in the set.
SET TWO | Baylor got off to a 4-1 start in the second set. SMU kept itself within striking distance by trading points with the Bears. The Mustangs eventually struck big with a 6-0 stretch, which put the SMU back in front and up three (14-11). Livings logged two kills during the run to aid the Mustangs' efforts. Baylor answered with seven of the next nine to get a two-point advantage. Kills from Carlson and Newsome evened the score back up at 18-18. An attack error by Baylor between two kills by the Bears put them in front by one. However, three straight by SMU, including two kills from Jones and a block from Livings and Anyanwu, put the Mustangs up two. The teams found themselves in another draw at 23-all until another kill from Jones gave the Mustangs the first set point of the frame. Two straight by Baylor gave them their first set point of the match. SMU was able to fight off a second set point, but the Bears strung together two kills to win the frame 28-26.
SET THREE | A 5-0 run by Baylor gave the Bears their largest lead of the match in the third frame. The run put the Bears up 11-5. SMU slowly chipped away at its deficit. Three straight points by the Mustangs, including a block from Anyanwu and Rogers, a solo block by setter Carlson, brought SMU within a point at 15-14. Freshman Rogers led another strong stretch by SMU with a kill and an ace, followed by a block from Newsome and Jones, tying the set at 19-all. After trading the following two points, Baylor collected an ace and a kill and then three of the next four points to win the frame, 25-22. SMU hit their lowest percentage of the match, swinging at just a .087 percent rate.
SET FOUR | Baylor led 8-7 in the fourth, until a 5-0 scoring run for the Mustangs put them up 12-8. SMU then score on two of the next three on a kill and block from Newsome to keep their five-point advantage. The Mustangs stretched their lead out to as much as seven, however Baylor kept things interesting with two separate scoring flurries to draw within two points. Fortunately, back-to-back kills from Jones sealed the fourth set in SMU's favor. Newsome logged four blocks in the set, while Jones tallied six kills on 11 swings.
SET FIVE | In the fifth set, SMU fought their way to victory by executing in the final stretch. The teams battled to a 10-10 tie in the deciding match to 15. A kill from Livings and a block from Jones and Anyanwu gave SMU a 12-10 lead. After a kill from the Bears, SMU got one back on an attack error by Baylor to stay up two (13-11). Down the stretch, SMU went to their hot hand. Jones put the final two balls away for the Mustangs to win the frame 15-13. Jones notched six kills in the fifth set followed by Livings with five of her own. Jones also had four digs in the final frame.
SMU LEADERS:
SMU Kills Leader: Malaya Jones (24)
SMU Assist Leader: Averi Carlson (53)
SMU Digs Leader: Malaya Jones (16)
SMU Blocks Leader: Favor Anyanwu & Natalia Newsome (8)
SMU Ace Leader: Five with (1)
Up Next: SMU will host Washington in its home opener Thursday, Sept. 4 in the first match of the DoubleTree Invitational. First serve is set for 7 p.m. CT.