This Texas two-step was as difficult to start as it was to finish for the Hawaii women’s volleyball team.

A night after a four-set loss at two-time defending national champion and No. 8 Texas in Austin, the result was much of the same in a four-frame defeat at No. 20 Baylor in Waco on Saturday.

UH again came out flat in a first set, rallied to take the second, then got ushered out of the building in a 14-25, 25-21, 25-14, 25-17 loss to the Bears of the Big 12. A gathering of 957 came out for the meeting at the Ferrell Center, which has a nearly identical construction blueprint as UH’s Stan Sheriff Center.

Robyn Ah Mow’s squad concluded its nonconference season with a 6-4 record. It went 0-3 on its road trip that began at UNLV on Tuesday, matching the program’s longest losing streak since it dropped its first three matches of the 2022 season at the Texas A&M Invitational.

Junior hitter Caylen Alexander led UH in kills with 18 on 43 swings, hitting .302, and supplied 10 digs. Texas native Kate Lang had 35 assists and 11 digs for her 40th career double-double and libero Tayli Ikenaga had 10 digs.

Middles Miliana Sylvester and Jacyn Bamis had a more productive offensive night than Saturday as they combined for 19 kills, but they could not replicate the blocking effort UH put on against the Longhorns.

Baylor, which has former UH men’s volleyball standout hitter and assistant coach Josh Walker as its associate head coach, outdid the Rainbow Wahine 9-2 in blocks and by an identical count in aces.

Elise McGhee led the Bears with 16 kills on 30 swings (.433) while Kendal Murphy added 13 (.417) and Alicia Andrew nine (.563).

The Bears hit above .300 in all four sets and .376 overall, while UH was held under .200 hitting in the three sets it dropped.

The exception was Set 2, when the Wahine hit a blistering .515, their highest conversion rate in a set this season. Sylvester put down five kills in the frame.

Baylor went on runs of 9-2 and 10-3 to close out Sets 3 and 4, respectively.

Big West play begins at home Friday against UC Irvine (6-5), with Cal State Fullerton (4-6) in town the following night.

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.