No. 20 VB Sweeps Away North Texas in Home Opener

Thursday, September 3

Waco, Texas

7 p.m.

Baylor

4-0,0-0Big 12

North Texas

3-1,0-0American

Team	1	2	3	Final F
North Texas	20	13	26	0
Baylor	25	25	28	3

Baylor Stands for the National Anthem before win over UNT in 2026

No. 20 VB Sweeps Away North Texas in Home Opener

9/3/2026 10:19:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Match Book (PDF)

BU's Carroll delivers prolific performance on both sides of the net to help the cause

By: Matt Roberts

WACO, Texas – Baylor volleyball opened its home schedule in style Thursday night, sweeping North Texas, 3-0 (25-20, 25-13, 28-26), at the Ferrell Center.

The Bears (4-0) used a balanced offensive attack with three players notching nine or more kills to go along with a defensive effort that limited the Mean Green to hitting just .138 on the night. Ksenia Rakhmanchik led Baylor with 13 kills and added three aces, while Grace Carroll delivered a career-best .438 hitting percentage on 10 kills and tied her career high with three total blocks.

Baylor also received nine kills from Nadiya Johnson, while Morgan Madison led the Bears in digs for the third-straight match with 18. Isabela Haggard finished with 21 assists while Harley Greek had a season-high 15.

RUNDOWN
Baylor started strong getting off to a 6-2 lead that ballooned to as high as 11-5 in the first, but they could not shake the Mean Green. North Texas cut BU's lead to one on four separate occasions before tying the match at 18. A pair of kills from Rakhmanchik and an ace from MJ McCurdy saw the Bears surge across the finish line on a 7-2 run to seal the first set.

After North Texas took the first point, BU answered with eight straight points to lead 8-1. Rakhmanchik was instrumental in the run serving seven consecutive points that included an ace and some emphatic kills by Mya Hemmer and Grace Carroll. North Texas got as close as 10-6 before Carroll, Johnson and McCurdy put down kills to up the lead to 18-9, en route to a 25-13 win.

The Bears broke a 3-3 tie by taking seven of the next eight points, with kills from Rakhmanchik, Davis and Johnson helping push the lead to 10-4. North Texas worked back into the set, tying it at 15-15 before the teams traded points through before North Texas pushed Baylor to set point with a 24-22 lead. BU answered with a big block and a North Texas attack error to tie it at 24-24, staving off another set point after North Texas went up 25-24, Johnson put the Bears in front 27-26 with a kill from Haggard. Taylor Crain connected on just her second serve of the match to seal things for the Bears at 28-26.

GAME NOTES

Baylor improved to 4-0 to start the season, marking the second time in three seasons and fourth time in the Ryan McGuyre Era the Bears have opened a season 4-0.
The Bears have now won eight-straight against North Texas and 23 of the last 24 meetings with the Mean Green.
Baylor improved to 72-35 against in-state opponents during the McGuyre Era.
Baylor is now 4-0 this season and 203-24 under McGuyre when winning the opening set.
Ksenia Rakhmanchik led Baylor with 13 kills
The sophomore added a season-high three service aces and has now recorded double-digit kills in 13-straight matches dating back to last season
Grace Carroll posted a career-best .438 hitting percentage
Thursday was her first double-digit-kill match since Aug. 31, 2025 at LSU
She finished with 10 kills and tied her career high with three total blocks.
Morgan Madison - Recorded at least 18 digs in two consecutive matches.
Victoria Davis Recorded three or more total blocks in four consecutive matches.

QUOTABLE
Grace Carroll on her big night at the net — "I think it was a super fun home opener. I thought energy was really good from us. I think just as a whole we have so much trust in each other and so much depth that me and Harley can be thrown in after not playing the first rotation. I think for Coach Mac to trust us to go in and just fight through that adversity is super awesome on both of ends. I'm just really proud overall of the way that we all played."

Nadiya Johnson on settling in to the college game — "Honestly, I'm feeling really great. We have six freshmen, so we're really young, really new, and I feel every single practice and game we all get closer as a team. We all learn how to adapt to each other. I'm really excited the way this is going, and I'm really excited for Saturday."

WHAT'S NEXT
The Bears continue the homestand as they welcome in No. 17 Florida for a top-20 showdown under the Gold Top. The match will begin at 1 p.m. and be streamed on ESPN+, with live stats available all season at BaylorBears.com/Stats.

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.

—Baylorbears.com—