No. 18 VB Wraps Up Baylor Classic with a 3-0 Sweep Over UTEP

Friday, September 18

Waco, Texas

7 p.m.

Baylor

8-2,0-0Big 12

UTEP

8-3,0-0Mountain West

Team	1	2	3	Final F
UTEP	20	21	22	0
Baylor	25	25	25	3

No. 18 VB Wraps Up Baylor Classic with a 3-0 Sweep Over UTEP

9/18/2026 10:14:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score

BU closes non-conference 8-2, featuring five sweeps

WACO, Texas – Baylor volleyball closed out the 20th edition of the Baylor Classic with a 3-0 victory over UTEP on Friday night at the Ferrell Center, 25-20, 25-21, 25-22.

Ksenia Rakhmanchik led the charge for the Bears, with 15 kills and 15.5 points. Bailey Warren added 11 kills and points, while Isabela Haggard tallied 45 assists to fuel the Bears' 5th sweep of the season.

Baylor accomplished a season-best seven-point comeback, credited to an 11-2 run by the Bears down the stretch of the third. To complete the sweep, BU recorded 50 kills on 46 assists and 41 digs. Baylor advances to 8-2 with the win, giving UTEP their third loss of the season.

RUNDOWN
Mya Hemmer got the Bears off to a hot start, getting three kills within BU's first five points. The two exchanged rallies throughout the frame, but Baylor claimed a narrow 15-12 lead at the media timeout. Leading 22-19, Bailey Warren put down three-straight kills to claim set one, 25-20, finishing with six kills in the frame.

Battling back for much of the second set, Baylor turned a 17-15 deficit into a 20-18 lead, using a Victoria Davis kill, an Isabela Haggard ace, and late kills from Nadiya Johnson and Rakhmanchik. After UTEP pulled within 21-20, the Bears scored four of the final five points, with consecutive UTEP attack errors during Tehani Ulufatu's service run, to finish the 25-21 set win.

Rakhmanchik claimed two early kills in the third, but UTEP quickly chipped away at the lead. At the media timeout, the Bears trailed 15-11. Seeing her first action of the game late in the third, MJ McCurdy had a pair of dominant kills to shift the momentum and cut into the Miner lead to 18-14. Rakhmanchik and Johnson continued the 11-2 run, delivering back-to-back kills that gave BU a 21-20 lead. Down the stretch, a block from Davis and a pair of Rakhmanchik kills completed the sweep with a 25-22 final-set comeback.

GAME NOTES

Baylor hit .336, its highest attack percentage of the season and its highest since hitting .337 against Utah in Nov. of 2025.
BU is 95-2 in the Ryan McGyre era when hitting .300 or better.
The Bears tallied 19 kills in the first set, its most in a single set this season.
BU is 51-6 all-time in the Baylor Classic.
Baylor is 74-35 against in-state teams in the Ryan McGuyre Era.
This is the Bears' fifth win this season via a sweep.
Ksenia Rakhmanchik extended her streak to 19 straight matches with double-digit kills.
Bears went on an 11-2 comeback run in the third set to complete the sweep.
Mya Hemmer tied her season-high of six kills, setting a new season high with a .556 attack percentage.
Isabela Haggard recorded a season-high of 45 assists.
Bailey Warren claimed six kills in the first set, her most in a single set this season.

QUOTABLE
Isabela Haggard on 11-2 run to come from behind in the third set — "I hear it all the time; let's play Baylor volleyball. I don't think I truly felt that until tonight in the Ferrell. There were a lot of people out there, and it was so much fun. I just think that's a testament to who we are. Down 18-11, I don't think we truly played Baylor volleyball until that point. Down 18-11, that's not who we are, and I think we knew that. We were not going to a fourth set; I just love that fight in us, that was Baylor volleyball."

Head Coach Ryan McGuyre on the crowd — "The Ferrell Center is fun. It's high energy. There's great athleticism. How many wild moments were there chasing balls down, and Bella playing soccer with a kick save, getting it over? The dive moves, laying out- it's better than any entertainment I see on TV. It's camaraderie; it's teams working together. It's kind of the ups and downs of life; you get it all compacted in a match, but our fans are great. They were great tonight, and this is a fun place to be."

McGuyre on MJ McCurdy sparking the team in the third set — "Oh, that was huge. That's the highlight for me tonight, for sure, just because it's hard. As a coach, you're proud of them and what they're doing, but when they can do the hard things well, you're really excited. We're here to be in strict training for life and doing that. MJ and Grace, when she comes in—no matter what's thrown at them beyond this —we know they can handle it. But tonight, MJ did an exceptional job.

WHAT'S NEXT
The Bears hit the road to open up Big 12 play in Utah, facing BYU on Friday, Sept. 25 at 9 p.m., televised on FS1.

Season and single-match tickets are on sale now for the 2026 season. You can find them at BaylorBears.com/tickets or by calling the Baylor Athletics Ticket Office at 254-710-1000.

To stay up to date with Baylor Volleyball all year long, follow the program on Instagram, Facebook, X and TikTok: @BaylorVBall. Want to support the team? You can do so by giving to the One Way Club.

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