Preview: No. 2 VB Hosts Oklahoma For Two Matches

	BAYLOR BEARS (3-1) Location: Waco, Texas Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Ryan McGuyre (Biola, 1998) Roster \| Stats \| Game Notes (PDF)	BAYLOR (3-1) vs. OKLAHOMA (0-2) Oct. 8, 2020 • 6 p.m. CT Oct. 9, 2020 • 6 p.m. CT Waco, Texas • Ferrell Center Live Stats: baylorstats.com WATCH: ESPNU Big 12 Now on ESPN+ Baylor Social Media:

	OKLAHOMA SOONERS (0-2) Location: Norman, Okla. Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Lindsey Gray-Walton (Georgia Tech, 2008) Roster \| Stats \| Game Notes (PDF)

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            For the first time this year, Baylor volleyball coach Ryan McGuyre isn't going into a weekend of back-to-back matches "completely blind."
            After a split against a reloaded Kansas team the opening weekend on the road, the second-ranked Bears (3-1) had 3-0 sweeps at home against TCU in the Horned Frogs' 2020 debut.
            Now, Baylor hosts Oklahoma (0-2) at 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday at the Ferrell Center. The Sooners were off last week, but at least McGuyre has video from the Sooners' first two matches of the season against top-ranked Texas.
            "At Kansas, we had no game plan specific to them," McGuyre said of a season-opening 3-2 loss to the Jayhawks. "After we knew who they were, it was very specific and there was a huge difference the next day. TCU, we were in the same boat, where we were going in completely blind and then the next day we had information.
            "This will be the first time where we at least have two matches on them, so hopefully there will be a better game plan going forward than having none, like the previous two opponents."
            Through the first two weekends of the adjusted conference-only schedule that has teams playing back-to-back matches at the same site, there have been four splits.
            "Coach Mac always says the tougher team always comes out on the second day," said junior libero Shanel Bramschreiber, who leads the team with 2.64 digs per set. "Adjusting quickly is a very important factor coming into these doubleheader games, and making sure that we're physically prepared as well."
            While the Big 12 Conference has typically played a Wednesday-Saturday schedule, McGuyre said he had a similar back-to-back schedule when he was an assistant coach at Maryland and Florida State before coming to Baylor.
            "If anything, it took me a while to adjust to the Big 12. I felt like you could really get after it for a couple days and then ease up and go play," he said. "This probably gives us a little bit more hours and touches in the gym over the course of the week. . . . That helps, because we have a lot of new faces in new places this year."
            Bramschreiber is one of those in a new place, moving from defensive specialist to the libero position after the graduation of Tara Wulf. But, libero is the position she was initially recruited to play at Baylor.
            "I think the whole gym feels comfortable with Shanel at libero," McGuyre said. "Shanel's got the serve/receive down, but reads very, very well. She can tell when people are hitting hard and when they're tipping. But, I think her ability to set out of system . . . as the season goes on, when you see Callie (Williams) getting 13 digs, you're going to start seeing a lot of assists, actually, from Shanel."
            Williams, the daughter of associate head coach Jason Williams, has taken over at setter while All-American Hannah Sedwick recovers from an injury. A high school All-American at Midway, the redshirt junior sat out last season after transferring from Tennessee.
            "Last year, even though I didn't get to play and had to sit, I was surrounded by the best teammates who prepared me the best they could," said Williams, who is third in the Big 12 and ranked 12^th nationally with 10.43 assists per game. "Both Hannah (Sedwick) and Hannah Fleugel were people I could look up to last year and help me prepare for where I am today. There is definitely pressure. Hannah is awesome, and I want to be as good if not better than she is."
            McGuyre credits Williams for pushing Sedwick to become an All-American last year and helping the Bears win a share of the Big 12 championship and advance to the Final Four with a 29-2 record.
            "She really earned the respect of her teammates very quickly early on last year in just how she competed and how she handled that role," McGuyre said. "I think whenever you hit what we did last weekend (.402), the credit goes to the setter and the distribution and the decision-making. She's smart, she thinks on her feet well. Her agility coming off the net has really helped us as we're trying to get our passing still dialed-in to a higher standard."
            The Bears are hitting a national-best .363 for the season, with sophomores Kara McGhee (.514) and Lauren Harrison (.432) both ranked in the top six. With All-American Yossiana Pressley still not at 100 percent following offseason surgery, Harrison leads the team with 3.43 kills per set.
            OU freshman Guewe Diouf from France is second in the Big 12 and ranks ninth nationally with 4.43 kills per set. She had a match-high 18 kills in the Sooners' 3-1 loss to Texas in the second of two matches against the Longhorns.
            In an interesting matchup inside the matchup, Williams and Oklahoma libero Keyton Kinley were freshman teammates and roommates at Tennessee. Kinley, who is averaging 3.29 digs per set, is a two-time first-team All-Big 12 pick and Big 12 Libero of the Year.
            "I'm super excited to get to play against Keyton," Williams said. "She's one of my best friends, we were roommates at Tennessee. I would love to be on the same side, because she's a great player, but I'm definitely excited to have a little competition between the two of us and just to get to see her again from a distance."
            Thursday's match will be broadcast on ESPNU and Friday's by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with "Voice of the Bears" John Morris and former Baylor All-American Katie (Staiger) Smith calling the action.

STORYLINES

WHAT'S POPPIN'

Baylor is riding a 20-match home win streak, dating back to Nov. 16, 2018.
Each of the Bears' last three regular-season home matches have resulted in a sweep, including last weekend's two wins over TCU.
The Bears are currently ranked No. 2 in the AVCA's fall coaches poll. BU has claimed the second spot in both of the organization's rankings so far this fall.

AGAINST THE SOONERS

Baylor is in the midst of an eight-match win streak against Oklahoma, dating back to 2015.
Oklahoma leads the all-time series 39-23.
BU is 13-16 in Waco all-time against OU.
Under sixth-year head coach Ryan McGuyre, the Bears are 8-2 against the Sooners.
In their last eight meetings, the Bears and Sooners have gone past three sets six times.

BY THE NUMBERS

Baylor currently leads the nation in team hitting percentage at .363.
Sophomore Kara McGhee is second nationally with a .514 efficiency, while redshirt-sophomore Lauren Harrison ranks sixth at .432.
The Bears place in the top-10 of five statistical categories as a team: hitting percentage (.363, 1st), opponent's hitting percentage (.161, 7th), blocks per set (2.36, 7th), kills per set (13.93, 8th), assists per set (12.71, 9th).

HITTING .400

Baylor has hit above .400 as a team in each of its three victories this season.
Prior to the 2020 season, Baylor had hit above .400 as a team in just four matches from 2017-2019.
BU has had at least one player hit .400 or better individually in all four matches this season.

SEEING DOUBLE-DIGITS

In three of Baylor's four matches this season, the Bears have had three players reach double-figures in kills.
So far, BU has seen 11 double-digit kill performances from its offense.
Lauren Harrison, Kara McGhee, and Yossiana Pressley have each reached double-digits three times, while Marieke van der Mark has done so twice.

CHASING HISTORY

Senior Yossiana Pressley is currently one kill shy of 1,500 for her illustrious career.
Pressley is within range of fifth place on BU's all-time career kills leaderboard. She needs just three kills to move into sixth place, and eight more kills will give her sole possession of fifth.
In the rally scoring era, Pressley is third with 1,499 career kills entering Thursday's match. She needs 49 kills to pass Katie Sanders for second place, and will trail only Katie Staiger on the rally scoring leaderboard.

-BaylorBears.com-

Preview: No. 2 VB Hosts Oklahoma For Two Matches

Players Mentioned

Shanel Bramschreiber

Lauren Harrison

Kara McGhee

Yossiana Pressley

Hannah Sedwick

Marieke van der Mark

Tara Wulf

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Preview: No. 2 VB Hosts Oklahoma For Two Matches

Players Mentioned

Shanel Bramschreiber

Lauren Harrison

Kara McGhee

Yossiana Pressley

Hannah Sedwick

Marieke van der Mark

Tara Wulf

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