FOLLOWING GOD'S LEAD
12/4/2025 11:00:00 AM | Volleyball, My Baylor Story
VB: Florida transfer middle blocker working on sport management master’s
Coming off a 25-win season at Florida when she was second in blocks and fourth in kills for a Sweet 16 team, Gabbi Essix actually "fell in love" with the sport again playing for USA Volleyball's U21 team at the Pan American Cup in Nogales, Mexico.
"I was definitely at a point in my career where I wasn't sure how I was feeling about the sport," she said. "But going on that two- or three-week experience, getting to train with all the girls and then getting to go overseas with (former Baylor volleyball players Lauren Briseño and Allie Sczech) was so incredible, because they're so funny and warm and welcoming. And I feel like they brought out my competitive fire even more."
That team, coached by current Baylor associate head coach Joshua Walker, went on to win the gold medal.
"He truly helped me fall in love with the game again and kind of see it from a different lens," said Essix, who transferred to Baylor after four years at Florida. "So, when I was looking, I definitely wanted to get better going forward. But I also knew he was a competitor himself, and he knows what it takes to win. So, I was like, 'Let's do this thing.'''
A 6-3 middle blocker from Hoover, Ala., Essix anchored Baylor's front line this season with 123 blocks to earn second-team All-Big 12 honors. She added 151 kills and a .313 hitting percentage for a 17-9, sixth-seeded team that will face Arkansas State (22-4) at 3:30 p.m. Thursday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in West Lafayette, Ind.
At Sunday's watch party for the NCAA Tournament Selection Show, as soon as Essix saw Purdue's name came up as the No. 3 seed in the region, "I just knew, deep down, that we were going to Purdue."
"Funny story, one of my really good friends actually plays at Purdue," Essix said of 6-3 senior outside hitter Akasha Anderson. "We've known each other for about six years now, and we both hit the transfer portal. We've been in different conferences, but we have never missed playing each other every single year. Before our name even popped up, I was like, 'We're going to Purdue.'''
Essix and Anderson will get the chance to meet again if they both advance to Friday's 5 p.m. second-round match on the Boilermakers' home court.
"This is super special. I can't wait to go on this journey with my new family," Essix said. "It's just one match at a time, staying focused on who's in front of us, and just knowing that we have the potential to do anything we set our minds to."
After playing in just one match for the Gators last season and undergoing a knee surgery in October, Essix entered the transfer portal and ultimately picked Baylor over Kansas and SMU.
"I had been in the portal for about a week, and I was really mentally and emotionally drained," Essix said of her visit to Waco. "But everything when I was here felt so natural, even in my state of tiredness. The girls were so amazing. When I got back, I was still a little conflicted, but I was like, 'God, I'm going to give this to you. And wherever you tell me is where I'm going to go.'''
Although she was coming into a completely new program with a lot of other new faces, Gabbi said she meshed with the rest of the team "almost immediately."
"It was a completely new team, so we were all kind of figuring it out," she said. "The ones that had been on the team before, showing us the way we do everything, was really great, because everybody was like, 'Do your thing, let us know what you need.' It was so easy, and everybody was so welcoming. One of my favorite things was we got these little gift bags when we first got here. I was kind of awestruck when I walked to my locker and saw this whole gift bag."
After rehabbing her knee in the spring, Gabbi made an immediate impact with four kills and five blocks in the Bears' season-opening win over South Alabama. Returning to the O'Connell Center in Gainesville, she had a season-high 13 kills to go with three blocks and three digs in a five-set loss to the Gators.
"Honestly, I was really stressed out in the days leading up to it," she said. "I just wasn't sure how I was going to feel and what the reception was going to be like with me coming back. But I had so much invested in that university that I felt like a child again. Just falling in love with the university and seeing why I chose it from my 13-year-old perspective, and then just coming back with my amazing new family."
Since she had taken predominantly online classes at Florida, Gabbi said one of her struggles early on was balancing a hectic schedule.
"When I first got here (in January), I was in class every single day, multiple classes," she said. "I had never done that during my time in Florida. I always chose to do one class in person each semester. I had to get up, go to weights, and then I had two class periods and straight to practice. It was like I was a freshman all over again."
While her Baylor teammates are now her best friends, Gabbi said she has loved the "competitiveness in the gym and on the court."
"I was definitely at a point in my career where I wasn't sure how I was feeling about the sport," she said. "But going on that two- or three-week experience, getting to train with all the girls and then getting to go overseas with (former Baylor volleyball players Lauren Briseño and Allie Sczech) was so incredible, because they're so funny and warm and welcoming. And I feel like they brought out my competitive fire even more."
That team, coached by current Baylor associate head coach Joshua Walker, went on to win the gold medal.
"He truly helped me fall in love with the game again and kind of see it from a different lens," said Essix, who transferred to Baylor after four years at Florida. "So, when I was looking, I definitely wanted to get better going forward. But I also knew he was a competitor himself, and he knows what it takes to win. So, I was like, 'Let's do this thing.'''
A 6-3 middle blocker from Hoover, Ala., Essix anchored Baylor's front line this season with 123 blocks to earn second-team All-Big 12 honors. She added 151 kills and a .313 hitting percentage for a 17-9, sixth-seeded team that will face Arkansas State (22-4) at 3:30 p.m. Thursday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in West Lafayette, Ind.
At Sunday's watch party for the NCAA Tournament Selection Show, as soon as Essix saw Purdue's name came up as the No. 3 seed in the region, "I just knew, deep down, that we were going to Purdue."
"Funny story, one of my really good friends actually plays at Purdue," Essix said of 6-3 senior outside hitter Akasha Anderson. "We've known each other for about six years now, and we both hit the transfer portal. We've been in different conferences, but we have never missed playing each other every single year. Before our name even popped up, I was like, 'We're going to Purdue.'''
Essix and Anderson will get the chance to meet again if they both advance to Friday's 5 p.m. second-round match on the Boilermakers' home court.
"This is super special. I can't wait to go on this journey with my new family," Essix said. "It's just one match at a time, staying focused on who's in front of us, and just knowing that we have the potential to do anything we set our minds to."
After playing in just one match for the Gators last season and undergoing a knee surgery in October, Essix entered the transfer portal and ultimately picked Baylor over Kansas and SMU.
"I had been in the portal for about a week, and I was really mentally and emotionally drained," Essix said of her visit to Waco. "But everything when I was here felt so natural, even in my state of tiredness. The girls were so amazing. When I got back, I was still a little conflicted, but I was like, 'God, I'm going to give this to you. And wherever you tell me is where I'm going to go.'''
Although she was coming into a completely new program with a lot of other new faces, Gabbi said she meshed with the rest of the team "almost immediately."
"It was a completely new team, so we were all kind of figuring it out," she said. "The ones that had been on the team before, showing us the way we do everything, was really great, because everybody was like, 'Do your thing, let us know what you need.' It was so easy, and everybody was so welcoming. One of my favorite things was we got these little gift bags when we first got here. I was kind of awestruck when I walked to my locker and saw this whole gift bag."
After rehabbing her knee in the spring, Gabbi made an immediate impact with four kills and five blocks in the Bears' season-opening win over South Alabama. Returning to the O'Connell Center in Gainesville, she had a season-high 13 kills to go with three blocks and three digs in a five-set loss to the Gators.
"Honestly, I was really stressed out in the days leading up to it," she said. "I just wasn't sure how I was going to feel and what the reception was going to be like with me coming back. But I had so much invested in that university that I felt like a child again. Just falling in love with the university and seeing why I chose it from my 13-year-old perspective, and then just coming back with my amazing new family."
Since she had taken predominantly online classes at Florida, Gabbi said one of her struggles early on was balancing a hectic schedule.
"When I first got here (in January), I was in class every single day, multiple classes," she said. "I had never done that during my time in Florida. I always chose to do one class in person each semester. I had to get up, go to weights, and then I had two class periods and straight to practice. It was like I was a freshman all over again."
While her Baylor teammates are now her best friends, Gabbi said she has loved the "competitiveness in the gym and on the court."
Players Mentioned
L/DS
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OPP
/ VolleyballWould go to battle with this crew anytime 🫶
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