Baylor volleyball didn’t just beat Arizona on Sunday. The Bears controlled the match from the first serve on their way to a 3-0 sweep at Ferrell Center, backed by a scorching offensive night that never gave the Wildcats much of a foothold.
The numbers told the story fast. Baylor hit a season-high .410 with 49 kills, its best attack percentage against a Big 12 opponent since Nov. 18, 2023, against West Virginia.
Arizona finished at .178 with 33 kills. The Bears also won the dig battle 48-38 and delivered seven aces to Arizona’s two.
Ksenia Rakhmanchik paced Baylor with 18.5 points and 17 kills, while Nadiya Johnson turned in a sharp all-around attacking performance with 16 kills and a season-high .538 hitting percentage. Isabela Haggard managed the floor with 41 assists and 10 digs for her third double-double of the season. Morgan Madison added a season-high three aces, and Victoria Davis led the Bears with three blocks.
Baylor wasted no time in the opening set, racing out to a 4-0 lead and then pulling away with a run that flipped a tight early frame into a 19-9 cushion. Tehani Ulufatu served up an ace, Davis added a kill, and Haggard joined Davis for a block during the surge. Johnson did plenty of the heavy lifting early, scoring Baylor’s first four points on kills and later adding two more, including the set winner in a 25-14 start.
The second set looked a lot like the first. Baylor again seized control from the opening points and stretched the lead to as many as 10 at 19-9.
Arizona trimmed it to 19-14, but the Bears answered with a Rakhmanchik kill and later reached set point on a Johnson kill. Johnson finished the frame the same way she had the first, with a kill off a Haggard assist to seal a 25-17 win.
The third set opened with Baylor’s most explosive run of the afternoon: 7-0 to start. Mya Hemmer delivered a sideout kill, and Madison stacked six straight service points into the stretch, including two aces.
Arizona got within 16-13, but Baylor again had an answer, stringing together kills from Davis, Haggard, Bailey Warren and Johnson. Rakhmanchik pushed the Bears to set point, and Johnson closed out the sweep with a kill off a Rakhmanchik feed, 25-20.
The win moved Baylor to 2-2 all-time against Arizona and 2-0 at Ferrell Center. It also gave the Bears back-to-back Big 12 wins for the first time this season.
There were a few other milestones buried in the box score. Warren moved past 100 kills on the season and now has 104.
Madison’s three aces were a season high. Johnson’s .538 clip was also a season best.
Ulufatu picked up her first kill of the season and crossed the 100-dig mark, finishing with 108 after a nine-dig day. Davis also went over 100 kills on the year, sitting at 102.
Johnson said the team’s collective energy mattered just as much as the stat line. "It's definitely a great feeling.
Especially having my team behind me, encouraging me and telling me, "We got this. One last point."
We all go at it together, and I feel I'm not just doing it for myself, I'm also doing it for the team. It's always a really good feeling."
Ryan McGuyre pointed to Baylor’s efficiency and balance on offense after the match. "Bela's doing a really good job.
She gets a lot of the brunt of everything. When you win, it's normally because you've got great hitters, which we have.
When you lose, it's my fault or the setter's fault. She's really good with film.
We felt we had some opportunities on the backside, and Nadia hit efficiently. I thought passers did a good job.
We didn't feel stressed on offense. We made some good shots too.
Nadia didn't just annihilate, Ksusha didn't just annihilate, but there were some holes, we thought, in the middle of the court at certain times. We were able to move the ball around, at least in those first two sets, so they couldn't just see the same thing over and over again."
Baylor now gets six days off before heading to No. 8 TCU next Sunday, Oct. 18 at 2 p.m. from Schollmaier Arena on ESPN+.
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