Friday, September 25
Lawrence, Kan.
6:30 p.m.
Baylor
at
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Kansas
Preview: VB Travels to Kansas to Begin 2020 Season
9/24/2020 11:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Bears looking to follow up historic 2019 season
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BAYLOR BEARS (0-0) Location: Waco, Texas Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Ryan McGuyre (Biola, 1998) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
BAYLOR (0-0) at KANSAS (0-0) Sept. 25, 2020 • 6:30 p.m. CT Sept. 26, 2020 • 4 p.m. CT Lawrence, Kan. • Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena Live Stats: baylorstats.com Baylor Social Media:    |
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KANSAS JAYHAWKS (0-0) Location: Lawrence, Kan. Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Ray Bechard (Fort Hays State, 1980) Roster | Stats (PDF) | Game Notes (PDF) |
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By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Determined to prove that 2019 was not a fluke, reigning Big 12 co-champion Baylor will open the season with back-to-back road matches against Kansas on Friday and Saturday at the Horejsi Arena in Lawrence.
"Everyone was like, 'Yeah, Baylor, this is just a one-time thing.' It's not," said junior opposite-side hitter Marieke van der Mark. "We're all here to show that we're here to stay, that we're here for the top."
The Bears made it to the top last year, winning a share of the program's first conference championship, earning their first No. 1 ranking and the top overall seed for the NCAA Tournament and advancing all the way to the national semifinals before losing to Wisconsin.
Beginning his sixth season at Baylor, head coach Ryan McGuyre returns five starters and 14 letterwinners from a team that finished 29-2.
"The fact that we're not playing each other makes it exciting," said McGuyre, whose team received three first-place votes and was picked second in the Big 12 coaches' preseason poll. "We're definitely ready to stop beating up on each other in the gym. The girls do a good job sharpening each other. I'm looking forward to seeing what some of these new faces in new places are really going to do."
There are lots of familiar faces still around as well, starting with senior outside hitter Yossiana Pressley, the returning Big 12 and AVCA National Player of the Year. She led the Big 12 and ranked second nationally in kills per set (5.4) and 10th in total kills with 546.
"Our identity this year is just to play for the Lord, play for Christ and just have fun," Pressley said, "because not everybody gets to play. This is definitely a blessing. We get to take full advantage of it. This could be our last practice. This might be our last match this coming weekend, so we just want to leave it all out on the table and have the standard of Baylor volleyball be strong."
Also back are senior All-American setter Hannah (Lockin) Sedwick, who ranks fifth all-time with 3,288 career assists; the 6-foot-6 van der Mark, a Preseason All-Big 12 selection who had a breakout NCAA tournament; 6-4 sophomore middle blocker Kara McGhee, who led all Big 12 freshmen with 139 blocks; and junior Shanel Bramschreiber, who is transitioning from defensive specialist to the libero position.
"I think the experience is really, really important, just because everybody has been limited in the amount of training," McGuyre said. "We lost all of the spring (due to COVID-19). That's why we're trying to add new stuff. . . . I think we're further along than if it was a team full of rookies or implementing some ideas and concepts for the first time. I just think it will be good to have some battle-tested warriors in a match atmosphere."
The Bears also added a trio of transfers in sophomore outside hitter Lauren Harrison from North Carolina, 6-2 middle blocker Lache Harper from UCF and 6-3 middle Andressa Parise from St. Petersburg (Fla.) College, where she earned junior college All-America honors and led the nation with a .504 hitting percentage.
"They're our secret weapons," Pressley said of the newcomers. "Lauren brings a lot of maturity and firepower. She has a heavy arm and is going to electrify the whole gym. Lache brings a lot of wisdom and great block. Andressa, great blocking and just a firecracker as well. We love the energy they bring."
Junior setter Callie Williams, who had to sit out last year as a transfer from Tennessee, is the daughter of associate head coach Jason Williams and Baylor Hall of Famer Cori (Sivertson) Williams.
"Callie is just a bulldog, a competitive warrior, a coach's kid," McGuyre said. "When it comes to understanding the game and how to score and distribute the ball, she plays to win. So, I think you're going to see her get a lot of touches."
Coaching veteran Ray Bechard completely turned over his Kansas roster with seven incoming freshmen and a trio of transfers in outside hitters Jenny Mosser (UCLA), Anezka Szabo (Nebraska) and Paige Shaw (Mississippi State). Caroline Crawford, a 6-3 middle, was a first-team Under Armour All-American and Big 12 Preseason Freshman of the Year.
"Kansas will know more about us than we know about them, for sure," McGuyre said. "just because we have returners going out there. They picked up a great transfer from UCLA, a transfer from Nebraska and had a good recruiting class coming in this year. So, they're going to be a lot different from last year, but I also think they upgraded at all those positions."
Game times will be 6:30 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Saturday, with Baylor returning home to host TCU next weekend at the Ferrell Center.
STORYLINES
VOLLEYBALL IS BACK
- Baylor volleyball will open its season on the road for the second consecutive season and just the second time overall since head coach Ryan McGuyre's first season in 2015.
- The Sept. 25 start date is the latest the Bears have ever opened a season.
- The Baylor volleyball program is 22-20 all-time in season openers, including 14-15 in road openers.
- The Bears are 2-3 in season openers under sixth-year head coach Ryan McGuyre.
- Last season, BU topped UCLA in three sets at a neutral site in Lincoln, Neb.
- Under McGuyre, BU previously defeated LSU in four sets to begin the 2018 season. The Bears dropped a four-set match to No. 15 Florida State in front of a record-breaking crowd of 3,617 in the 2017 season opener.
- In 2016, the Bears dropped a four-set decision to UTRGV. In McGuyre's first season, the Bears dropped a three-set match to No. 12 Colorado State in Fort Collins to open the 2015 season.
- The Bears are picked to finish second in the Big 12 for the third consecutive season. Baylor received three first-place votes behind Texas, who was selected as the league's favorite.
- Yossiana Pressley, Hannah Sedwick and Marieke van der Mark were all selected to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team.
- The Bears are coming off the most successful season in program history, going 29-2 and making a run to the NCAA National Semifinals.
- The Bears were ranked No. 1 in the nation for six weeks during the 2019 campaign. Prior to last season, BU had never been ranked higher than No. 12.
- Baylor broke its school record for single season wins with 29 and won a share of the Big 12 title for the first time in program history after posting a 15-1 conference record.
- BU's Nov. 9 win over Texas Tech gave the Bears their fourth-straight 20-win season under head coach Ryan McGuyre and four consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time in program history.
- The win over Texas Tech also gave the Bears double-digit wins in Big 12 play for the third-straight season, a new program best.
- The Bears were the final undefeated team in D1 college volleyball after holding a 16-0 record.
- Baylor had a program-best 31-set winning streak during the 2019 season, sweeping 10 straight matches after a fourth-set win against Houston on Sept. 12
- The revised 2020 schedule includes a new, 16-match format in which teams will play on back-to-back days against league opponents.
- The Bears will host four Big 12 opponents and travel for four road series, splitting the 2020 ledger evenly with eight home and eight away contests.
- The Big 12 has set the minimum number of players required to play a match this season at nine, which must include one setter. Teams falling below the benchmark, based on game week test results, could still elect to play as scheduled if so desired. Otherwise, upon approval by Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby, the match would be declared a no-contest if it cannot be moved to a later date.
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