The opening game of Monday evening’s volleyball match wasn’t the way GPS senior Heather Parman and her teammates had expected to start their first meeting of the season against rival Baylor.

But after dropping the first game 25-23, the host Bruisers recovered to win the next three for a 3-1 match victory that keeps them unbeaten in Division II East Region play.

“We weren’t very happy,” said Parman, who finished the match with 23 kills. “But the crowd pumped us up and we realized we needed to step it up. We weren’t really expecting Baylor to be so tough.”

Parman’s big night helped make up for the absence of hitters Whitney Hammond and Tory Lewis, who were out sick Monday. Without them, the Bruisers (32-4, 3-0) struggled in game one, losing their 17-11 lead to an 8-0 Baylor run.

“We had a big lead and laid it down,” Bruisers coach Paul Brock said. “You have to give credit to Baylor because they came roaring back, but we had some service errors and some easy hitting errors that cost us some points and helped them get back in it.”

The Lady Red Raiders (17-13, 0-2) closed out the win on a kill by Courtney Rhodes, and they started game two with one of junior Elli Rissanen’s seven aces. Baylor coach Lynne Stopford said winning the first game helped build confidence for her young team.

“That kind of set the tone and let the girls know they could compete here,” she said. “This was a really gutsy effort tonight.”

GPS pulled away for a 19-13 lead in the second game, and although Baylor cut it to 22-21, kills from Danna Myatt and Parman finished a 25-21 win. Eight kills from Parman helped the Bruisers take game three 25-19, but their early fourth-game advantage dwindled on three consecutive aces from Baylor’s Leslie Franklin.

An ace from Rissanen gave Baylor the lead, which they lost on a block from Myatt but regained on another ace, this time from Jenna Brooke Elliott. A kill from Abbie Dill put the Lady Raiders ahead 20-17, but they gave up the next four points before another rally tied it at 21.

A Baylor service error and a lift call put GPS back in control, and a Jasmine Brown ace and Parman’s final kill secured a 25-21 win for the Bruisers.

“When they get their backs against the wall, they play that much harder,” Brock said. “It was nice to see them come back. You could see the fire in their eyes. They don’t like to lose.”

Parman also had 25 digs and 15 assists, while Brown totaled 30 digs, 24 assists and 11 kills. Megan Given added 26 digs for the Bruisers, while Rissanen led Baylor with 17. Rhodes led the team with eight kills, and Helen Jackson made 27 assists.

“We’ve been steadily improving,” Stopford said. “It’s just about getting consistent. We’re young, and we will make some mistakes, but as tonight showed, we’re definitely making fewer of them.”

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