By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation

After back-to-back road sweeps, the 24th-ranked Baylor volleyball team (18-5, 8-2) comes back to host TCU (10-11, 2-7) at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Ferrell Center.

Playing without senior All-American Katie Staiger, the Bears started the second half of Big 12 play with a 3-0 win over Texas Tech, 25-23, 25-9, 25-16, last Wednesday in Lubbock, then swept Oklahoma, 25-19, 25-22, 25-17, Saturday in Norman, Okla., finishing off season series sweeps as well.

"It was just cool to see other people stepping up and then people taking on roles they haven't had to take on yet this year," said freshman setter Hannah Lockin, who ranks second in the Big 12 and 28th nationally with 11.12 assists per set. "It really showed that we can be a whole team, with or without Katie. She is obviously a really important part, but just to see that we could be really good even without her was awesome."

Baylor coach Ryan McGuyre said Staiger has "some little things lingering in there that we've just got to be cautious about."

"She took too many swings last year, and we've relied on her heavily this year," he said. "There are no bad teams in conference, but we want her to be at her best in December."

Freshman Yossiana Pressley switched from right side hitter to her more natural outside hitter position to replace Staiger, posting a league-leading 5.67 kills per set. She matched a season high with 20 kills in the win over Oklahoma and was named the Big 12 Offensive Player and Freshman of the Week.

"Man, the future is so bright for this young athlete," McGuyre said of Pressley, who is second on the team with 249 kills and 3.07 kills per set. "I think she had a few errors early on and just got back into her rhythm. To have a freshman setter, freshman hitter, where they're connecting for 20 kills, you can only imagine what's going to happen down the road. It gives us some versatility, too. When we get Katie back, it adds some wrinkles that we can have."

The Bears hold a 12-7 edge in the all-time series, splitting last year's matches with a home sweep and a 3-2 loss on the road. Earlier this season, Baylor swept the Horned Frogs in Fort Worth in front of their largest crowd of the season.

TCU snapped a five-match losing streak with a 3-1 win over West Virginia last Thursday and was idle this weekend.

"We're not going to look past it," said McGuyre, whose team will host 19th-ranked Iowa State at 2 p.m. Saturday. "They're a really good team and they've changed some things in their lineup as well, so it causes an alertness on our part that I think will benefit us in the long run, because we can't sleep on them and put in the same game plan we did last time.

"We have some people playing in different positions, so there's a healthy anticipation to see what they're going to do. And they're not just lulled to sleep, because now they have some different things to work on."

Baylor will also welcome fans to stay after the match as part of FCA Night where select players will share their personal testimonies. Also, the first 250 fans in the door will receive a free Baylor tumbler.

Wednesday's match will be televised by FOX Sports Southwest, with Voice of the Bears John Morris providing play-by-play and former Baylor volleyball player Alex Bannister handling color commentary and analysis.

The match will be broadcasted live on Fox Sports Southwest with John Morris (play-by-play) and Alex Banister (color analyst) on the call.

With a win Wednesday night, BU would have captured at least 10 home wins in every season under head coach Ryan McGuyre. The Bears are sitting at 9-2 with four home matches remaining.

Last time these two teams met, the Bears swept the Horned Frogs in Fort Worth to capture their first win in the metroplex since 2012.

The Bears will also welcome fans to stay after the match as part of FCA Night where select volleyball student-athletes will share their personal testimonies. Also, the first 250 fans in the door will receive a free Baylor tumbler.

Keep up with the team all season long by following their official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts: @BaylorVball.

BEARS STAY AT NO. 24 IN LATEST AVCA RANKINGS
- No. 24 Baylor volleyball will play its fifth consecutive match as a ranked team as it hosts TCU Wednesday night. The Bears were listed in the AVCA Division I Coaches Poll for the first time since 2009 by cracking the list on Oct. 25 at No. 25.
- The Bears are ranked for the 24th time in program history and were last ranked for multiple weeks during the 2009 season.
- During that season, BU was ranked for 10 straight weeks and peaked at No. 17, which still stands as the program high ranking in the 35-year history of the AVCA poll.
- Baylor has recorded wins over two ranked opponents this season, besting then-No. 10 BYU in five sets on Sept. 9 and sweeping then-No. 20 Iowa State in Ames last Wednesday.
- Baylor is the fourth ranked Big 12 team behind No. 3 Texas, No. 12 Kansas and No. 19 Iowa State.
- This is the fourth-straight week that the Bears are ranked under third-year head coach Ryan McGuyre.

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE IS REAL
- Baylor is currently 9-2 at home this season and looks for its 10th home win for the third-straight year.
- The Bears have captured at least 10 home wins every year under third-year head coach Ryan McGuyre.
- Last season, BU finished 11-4 in Waco. In McGuyre's first season at Baylor, the team finished 10-5.
- BU has swept four opponents and defeated five opponents in four sets inside the Ferrell Center.
- Baylor broke the attendance record in the 2017 season opener as 3,617 fans watched BU take on then-No. 15 Florida State to begin the Baylor Invitational.

PRESSLEY EARNS PAIR OF BIG 12 WEEKLY HONORS
- Yossiana Pressley was named the Big 12's Offensive Player and Freshman of the Week by the conference office Monday afternoon. Pressley is the first freshman to be named the Offensive Player and Freshman of the Week since WVU's Hannah Sackett on Aug. 27, 2012. She is also the first Big 12 player since teammate Jana Brusek on Nov. 3, 2014 to win simultaneous awards in the same week.
- Pressley earns her second and third career awards after helping the Bears earn two road sweeps last week, blitzing both Texas Tech and Oklahoma in straight sets.
- The Cypress, Texas native led the league in kills per set (5.67) and points per set (6.42) as a freshman last week. This is the second week she has led the Big 12 in both categories this season.
- With Pressley leading the way last week, Baylor continues to lead the Big 12 in kills per set (14.52) this season.

TEAM NOTABLES
- Coming into Wednesday's match, Baylor is eighth-best in the NCAA in kills per set (14.52) and 10th in assists per set (13.68).
- Baylor is 6-0 when hitting .300 or better this season, including 3-0 in conference play.
- BU is 13-0 when holding opponents to below a .200 hitting percentage.
- BU has six players with double-digit aces (Fanning, Staiger, Lockin, Pressley, Brusek and Philo). - Baylor is 13-0 when leading in blocks this season, 4-4 when trailing and 1-1 when tied.
- As an outside hitter, Aniah Philo has 20 double-digit dig performances, including seven in a row.
- BU won 13 of its last 15 matches dating back to Sept. 9. The team has only dropped matches to No. 3 Texas and No. 12 Kansas in that time span.
- Baylor has only trailed in team kills three times this season (at Hawai'i, at Texas, vs. Kansas), and been outdug twice (vs. then-No. 15 Florida State, vs. Kansas).
- Baylor is 9-2 in three-set matches and 7-1 in four-set matches.

BU VS. TCU HISTORICALLY
- The Bears leads the all-time series against the Horned Frogs, 12-7. BU looks for the season sweep over TCU for the first time since the 2012 season.
- Last time these two teams met, BU had a match-high 16 kills from Katie Staiger as the Bears swept the Horned Frogs in front of TCU's largest home crowd this season.
- After winning the first seven in a row, Baylor has taken five of the last 12 matchups.
- Last season, the Bears swept TCU at home and then went on the road and lost a tight five-set battle in Fort Worth.
- The Bears look for their third win in four tries at home against the Horned Frogs.
- Baylor is 2-4 against TCU under current head coach Ryan McGuyre.

BRUSEK MOVING UP CAREER DIGS LIST
- Senior Jana Brusek is moving on up the Baylor career digs list during a successful four-year career in Waco. She moved from fifth to third after a 13-dig performance at Oklahoma last Saturday.
- Coming into Wednesday's match with 1,526 career digs, the Chicago, Ill. native has posted 20 double-digit dig performances and 336 digs this season.
- Brusek is 49 digs shy of passing Cory Sivertson (1991-94) for the No. 2 spot with 1,575.

FREIBERG, FANNING MAKING AN IMPACT IN THE MIDDLE
- Middle hitters Shelly Fanning and Camryn Freiberg are one dynamic duo in the middle this season, providing the Bears with key offensive and defensive plays.
- Fanning leads the team in hitting efficiency (.394) and has the fourth-most blocks in the Big 12. Her attack effort is second best in the conference this season.
- Freiberg is right behind Fanning with a .381 hitting effort, good for fourth-best in the Big 12. She also helps lead the blocking effort with 78 total blocks and 1.04 blocks per set, all good for top 10 in the conference.