BLESSED TO BLESS
8/26/2026 5:28:00 PM | Volleyball
Volleyball builds home for family in the Dominican Republic
Eight years ago, in the summer of 2018, Ryan McGuyre took a young Baylor volleyball team to Mexico to build a house through the Homes for Hope mission.
"I really felt like that planted good seeds and kind of led into a great 2019 season for us," McGuyre said of the Bears' Big 12 championship and a run to the Final Four.
This summer, an even younger team – six freshmen, four sophomores and only three seniors – trekked to the Dominican Republic and built a house in just three days for the Perez family through Casas Por Cristo and organizational leader Jessiah Keller.
Junior outside hitter MJ McCurdy, in an Instagram post, wrote that the team has been "praying all semester that we would be a vessel for the kingdom and that the family we are building for might see Him through us. I am so excited to see how God moves in and through us this week."
Assistant coach Shelby Livingstone Anema, who led the trip with Director of Operations Peyton Ritchie, said they approached the mission trip with the idea that, "We're going to be able to bless this family and build a house for them, and it's truly going to change their lives. But in the process, it's also going to change our lives. The girls took that to heart and just crushed it, building a house."
After a long travel day, the first day of the building project started with a 5:30 a.m. wake-up call and an hour bus ride to the village where they were building the house.
"This bus ride isn't the chartered bus ride they're used to," McGuyre said. "We're cheek to cheek, driving through the Dominican on some crazy roads. It was like an hour-plus from the base to where we were building the house. No phones. One night, we had a dance party on the bus, but just a lot of good conversations going on there, just being together."
Two of the older players, senior setter Harley (Kreck) Greek and junior libero Taylor Crain, served as the construction site foremen and "were able to navigate what everyone was doing," Anema said.
"The first day, we're laying cement all day and picking up buckets of rocks and cement powder and water. And the girls crushed it," Anema said. "It was so impressive just seeing different athletes rise up in different moments . . . and be great at new experiences in really hard moments.
"It's hard to build a house in the heat, in a new country, meeting people in a language that you don't necessarily understand. My heart was like bursting with pride for how they attacked the week and did it with love."
McGuyre said the work on the house stretched the players' abilities and took them out of their comfort zone as they took on unfamiliar tasks. McCurdy and sophomore libero Morgan Madison worked together on helping wire the house.
While they had no experience in that area, "we learned, though," McCurdy said.
"We had so much fun. After lunch, we thought we would get like a 30-minute job, and we did it for five hours straight. And we actually enjoyed it so much. But no, I had no previous knowledge of electricity."
McGuyre said they tested the lights before they left, "and most of them went on."
Each day, the community from the small village would show up and help with the construction and provide lunch for the crew.
"They live up this steep hill that's not easy to get to," Anema said. "And there are 20 to 30 members of the community that are showing up every day to help us build the house, make our lunch and hanging out.
"Groups and groups of kids came and hung out with our girls. And the family next door had a volleyball, so our girls got to play volleyball with the kids. And the girls got their hair braided and their eyebrows done by some of the local women. Taylor Crain was saying that it's really cool to see how girls will be girls wherever they are."
At lunch the second day, with only the foundation and bare studs of the wall in place, 3-year-old Eyden Perez asked 6-5 junior outside hitter Grace Carroll to come sit and eat with him at his new house.
"He's like the tiniest person I've ever seen, like probably up to my knees," Carroll said. "And I just remember him looking up at me with his big eyes and saying, 'Let's go eat at my house.' We went and sat on the floor together and ate our lunch. After we were done eating, he asked if he could help with his room. I gave him a hammer and some nails, and I literally don't know how he did it. But he drove multiple nails into the floor. It was so sweet to see. And he said, 'I'm building my room.' That was just so inspiring to me."
Much like in training, when the setters miss their marks on passes to the outside hitters, McGuyre estimates that there were "probably hundreds of bent nails that had to be pulled out and straightened."
"A good handful of them would probably bend the first five (nails), and then they would get one in straight," McGuyre said. "Then, they would bend four before they got the next one in. But that's life. In training, we say you've got to make mistakes in order to get better."
Along with developing skills they couldn't have even imagined, several of the players conquered their worst fears. For freshman outside hitter Nadiya Johnson, it was her crippling fear of mosquitos. Senior libero Tehani Ulufatu got over her fear of heights enough to do work on the roof of the house.
"It's funny, because I love things like roller coasters, where you're only up there for a short time," Ulufatu said. "I'm just so tiny that when I get up there, I'm like, 'Oh my goodness, this is way higher than I expected!' But I overcame a lot of fears."
With the house completed by mid-afternoon on the third day, they held a dedication ceremony that included the rest of the community.
"The ceremony today was extremely special for all of us," freshman middle blocker Mya Hemmer wrote in an Instagram post. "Being able to see all of our hard work, thought and love we have poured into this project is something we will never forget.
"To be able to bless a beautiful family with something they've been waiting so long for is truly remarkable to be a part of. God blessed us with not just the opportunity to build a home, but to spread God's love to those around us and making these special relationships."
Picked fourth in the Big 12 coaches' preseason poll and No. 21 in the AVCA preseason rankings, Baylor will open the season this weekend at the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic in Honolulu, facing San Diego at 9 p.m. CT Friday, Hawaii on Saturday and Georgia Southern on Sunday.
"For me, there's a little less pressure," McGuyre said, "because I feel like we're starting the year with a good victory going in. We still want to win our next match and win the rest of them, but I think it has us radically optimistic as we head into the season."
Gallery: (8-27-2026) 2026 Baylor Volleyball Mission Trip
"I really felt like that planted good seeds and kind of led into a great 2019 season for us," McGuyre said of the Bears' Big 12 championship and a run to the Final Four.
This summer, an even younger team – six freshmen, four sophomores and only three seniors – trekked to the Dominican Republic and built a house in just three days for the Perez family through Casas Por Cristo and organizational leader Jessiah Keller.
Junior outside hitter MJ McCurdy, in an Instagram post, wrote that the team has been "praying all semester that we would be a vessel for the kingdom and that the family we are building for might see Him through us. I am so excited to see how God moves in and through us this week."
Assistant coach Shelby Livingstone Anema, who led the trip with Director of Operations Peyton Ritchie, said they approached the mission trip with the idea that, "We're going to be able to bless this family and build a house for them, and it's truly going to change their lives. But in the process, it's also going to change our lives. The girls took that to heart and just crushed it, building a house."
After a long travel day, the first day of the building project started with a 5:30 a.m. wake-up call and an hour bus ride to the village where they were building the house.
"This bus ride isn't the chartered bus ride they're used to," McGuyre said. "We're cheek to cheek, driving through the Dominican on some crazy roads. It was like an hour-plus from the base to where we were building the house. No phones. One night, we had a dance party on the bus, but just a lot of good conversations going on there, just being together."
Two of the older players, senior setter Harley (Kreck) Greek and junior libero Taylor Crain, served as the construction site foremen and "were able to navigate what everyone was doing," Anema said.
"The first day, we're laying cement all day and picking up buckets of rocks and cement powder and water. And the girls crushed it," Anema said. "It was so impressive just seeing different athletes rise up in different moments . . . and be great at new experiences in really hard moments.
"It's hard to build a house in the heat, in a new country, meeting people in a language that you don't necessarily understand. My heart was like bursting with pride for how they attacked the week and did it with love."
McGuyre said the work on the house stretched the players' abilities and took them out of their comfort zone as they took on unfamiliar tasks. McCurdy and sophomore libero Morgan Madison worked together on helping wire the house.
While they had no experience in that area, "we learned, though," McCurdy said.
"We had so much fun. After lunch, we thought we would get like a 30-minute job, and we did it for five hours straight. And we actually enjoyed it so much. But no, I had no previous knowledge of electricity."
McGuyre said they tested the lights before they left, "and most of them went on."
Each day, the community from the small village would show up and help with the construction and provide lunch for the crew.
"They live up this steep hill that's not easy to get to," Anema said. "And there are 20 to 30 members of the community that are showing up every day to help us build the house, make our lunch and hanging out.
"Groups and groups of kids came and hung out with our girls. And the family next door had a volleyball, so our girls got to play volleyball with the kids. And the girls got their hair braided and their eyebrows done by some of the local women. Taylor Crain was saying that it's really cool to see how girls will be girls wherever they are."
At lunch the second day, with only the foundation and bare studs of the wall in place, 3-year-old Eyden Perez asked 6-5 junior outside hitter Grace Carroll to come sit and eat with him at his new house.
"He's like the tiniest person I've ever seen, like probably up to my knees," Carroll said. "And I just remember him looking up at me with his big eyes and saying, 'Let's go eat at my house.' We went and sat on the floor together and ate our lunch. After we were done eating, he asked if he could help with his room. I gave him a hammer and some nails, and I literally don't know how he did it. But he drove multiple nails into the floor. It was so sweet to see. And he said, 'I'm building my room.' That was just so inspiring to me."
Much like in training, when the setters miss their marks on passes to the outside hitters, McGuyre estimates that there were "probably hundreds of bent nails that had to be pulled out and straightened."
"A good handful of them would probably bend the first five (nails), and then they would get one in straight," McGuyre said. "Then, they would bend four before they got the next one in. But that's life. In training, we say you've got to make mistakes in order to get better."
Along with developing skills they couldn't have even imagined, several of the players conquered their worst fears. For freshman outside hitter Nadiya Johnson, it was her crippling fear of mosquitos. Senior libero Tehani Ulufatu got over her fear of heights enough to do work on the roof of the house.
"It's funny, because I love things like roller coasters, where you're only up there for a short time," Ulufatu said. "I'm just so tiny that when I get up there, I'm like, 'Oh my goodness, this is way higher than I expected!' But I overcame a lot of fears."
With the house completed by mid-afternoon on the third day, they held a dedication ceremony that included the rest of the community.
"The ceremony today was extremely special for all of us," freshman middle blocker Mya Hemmer wrote in an Instagram post. "Being able to see all of our hard work, thought and love we have poured into this project is something we will never forget.
"To be able to bless a beautiful family with something they've been waiting so long for is truly remarkable to be a part of. God blessed us with not just the opportunity to build a home, but to spread God's love to those around us and making these special relationships."
Picked fourth in the Big 12 coaches' preseason poll and No. 21 in the AVCA preseason rankings, Baylor will open the season this weekend at the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic in Honolulu, facing San Diego at 9 p.m. CT Friday, Hawaii on Saturday and Georgia Southern on Sunday.
"For me, there's a little less pressure," McGuyre said, "because I feel like we're starting the year with a good victory going in. We still want to win our next match and win the rest of them, but I think it has us radically optimistic as we head into the season."
Players Mentioned
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