HONOLULU  – Action got underway for the Nevada Wolf Pack volleyball team Thursday night at the Outrigger Resorts Volleyball Challenge. The Pack fell to 2-5 on the season after losing to the Baylor Bears (5-3) in four sets.
 
The sets went 25-10, 25-13, 23-25 and 29-27, showing a surge from the Wolf Pack in the final two frames. Sophomore Shayla Hoeft had a strong outing, putting down 13 kills and hitting at a tick of .387. A total of four Pack players racked up at least 10 digs in sophomores Camille Davey (14) and Ayla Fresenius (12) along with freshmen Kayla Afoa and Dalyn Burns (10). It marked the first time this season the Pack has seen such a balanced effort on defense. Hoeft also tallied five of Nevada's 10 total blocks on the night.
 
The Bears ran away with the first two sets as the Pack just couldn't get things going, taking set one 25-10 and set two 25-13.
 
Nevada finally came alive in the third set. Not letting Baylor get the early lead again, the Pack knotted things up at 4-4. Although Baylor would take the lead again, it wasn't by much as a renewed effort from Hayward and mistakes on the Bear side kept things close. Then, off three straight kills from Hayward, the Pack went up 17-15. Baylor would tie it up again at 19-19, but Nevada wouldn't give up the lead, taking set three 25-23.
 
The Pack jumped out to a quick 7-4 lead to begin set four, but Baylor quickly caught back up and the two teams wrangled back and forth. A total of eight ties and three lead changes would happen before Nevada went up 23-21. The Bears then went on a 3-1 run to tie things up at 24, but Hoeft immediately responded with a kill to put the Pack up one with the set point. The Bears tied it up again at 25. The two teams would even up at 25, 26 and 27 before the Bears scored two straight points to take the set 29-27, giving them the 3-1 victory.
 
Nevada will continue play at the Outrigger Resorts Volleyball Challenge Friday night, facing off with BYU at 7:45 p.m. PT.