Bailey Warren picked the right night to deliver her best scoring output of the season.
Baylor’s outside hitter powered the Bears with a season-high 14 kills and 17.5 points Wednesday night as BU opened the 20th Baylor Classic with a 3-1 win over Incarnate Word at the Ferrell Center. The Bears took the match 25-10, 25-19, 23-25, 25-18 and improved to 7-2, while UIW dropped to 2-6.
Warren’s 14 kills marked the first time she has led Baylor in that category since Oct. 29, 2025, at Iowa State. Ksenia Rakhmanchik backed her up with 11 kills and a career-best .435 hitting percentage, and in the process she crossed 500 career kills, moving to 507.
Baylor’s attack was sharp from the start. The Bears finished with 53 kills, hit .433 in the opening set and .308 in the fourth, and limited the Cardinals to a .064 hitting percentage. BU also piled up 73 digs and 12 blocks.
The first set turned into a runaway. Baylor won seven of the final eight rallies to turn an 18-9 lead into a 25-10 finish. Jules Hernandez served the last four points, including an ace, and Rakhmanchik closed it with consecutive kills.
The second set followed a similar pattern. Baylor stretched a 12-10 edge into a 19-11 cushion with a 7-1 run, getting key swings from Nadiya Johnson and Warren. Incarnate Word pulled within 19-15, but the Bears finished it off 25-18 on a Taylor Crain ace.
UIW answered in the third. Baylor seemed ready to close when a Grace Carroll kill, a Cardinals attack error and Warren’s kill pushed the Bears ahead 23-22, but Incarnate Word took the final three points, helped by a kill and two BU attack errors, to steal the set 25-23.
Baylor regrouped quickly in the fourth and put the match away. The Bears jumped out 6-3, built the lead to 13-10, then ripped off a 6-0 run behind Rakhmanchik kills and a pair of UIW errors to go up 19-11. Baylor kept pressing, reached match point at 24-17, and Victoria Davis finished it with a kill off an assist from Isabela Haggard.
Haggard tied her season high with 37 assists and set a career best with five total blocks. Morgan Madison posted a season-high 27 digs, Jules Hernandez added a season-high 10 digs, Abigail Schoene made her collegiate debut and Halle Bills recorded her first kill of the season.
The win continued Baylor’s strong track record in the event, as the Bears are now 50-6 all-time in the Baylor Classic. BU is also 2-0 all-time against Incarnate Word and 73-35 against in-state teams in the Ryan McGuyre Era.
Wednesday marked just the third time in nine matches this season that Baylor has gone to a fourth set, and Rakhmanchik extended her streak to 18 straight matches with double-digit kills.
Bailey Warren on building on a good weekend in Nebraska - "I think our potential is insane. In Nebraska, we performed pretty well; obviously it didn't go how we wanted, but I think we saw a lot of good things from that match and we want to build on those.
I think there is some confidence there for sure, obviously. We did lose a set that we probably shouldn't have, but I don't think that defines who we are as a team.
I think we just have things that we need to build on and cut out bad habits, maybe."
Mya Hemmer on the team's continued growth - "I feel we really try to push coming out strong. I feel every game we've played, we've been getting better at coming out stronger. I'm excited for these next couple games to see how well we perform coming out the gate again."
Baylor closes the Baylor Classic against UTEP on Friday night at 7 p.m.
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