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Baylor (13-5, 1-3 Big 12) vs #9 Kansas (17-0, 5-0 Big 12) October 14, 2015 | 7 p.m. CT Waco, TX | Ferrell Center (6,000) TV: FOX Sports Southwest & FOX Sports GO Watch | Listen | | Baylor Match Notes

WACO, Texas - The Baylor volleyball team (13-5, 1-3 Big 12) faces off against the 9th-ranked Kansas Jayhawks (17-0, 5-0 Big 12) on Wednesday, Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. in the Ferrell Center.

Fresh off a sweep of nonconference foe Texas State, the Bears look to hand the Jayhawks their first loss of the season.

The Bears lead the all-time series record with Kansas by 22-19. Baylor also holds an advantage in Waco, besting Kansas by a 14-6 margin.

Kansas has held the advantage in recent years, though, taking the last four contests between the squads.

Wednesday's match will be BU's Gold Out match, with all fans encouraged to wear gold. Additionally, the first 100 Baylor students in attendance will receive a wristband to enter McLane Stadium early for Saturday's football game against West Virginia.

Fans can watch the broadcast of the game on FOX Sports Southwest and the FOX Sports GO mobile app. For all home matches, fans can watch and listen to Baylor's Internet broadcast on BaylorBears.com/AllAccess. Keep up with the team all season long by following Baylor Volleyball on the team's official Twitter page, @BaylorVball.

MATCH INFO:

Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2015, 7 p.m.
Waco, Texas
Ferrell Center (6,000)
TV: FOX Sports Southwest
BU Audio: BaylorBears.com/AllAccess
BU Video: BaylorBears.com/AllAccess
Live Stats: BaylorBears.com

BAYLOR BEARS
2015 Record: 13-5
2015 Big 12 Record: 1-3
Head Coach: Ryan McGuyre (1st season)
All-Time Record vs. KANSAS: 22-19 (last meeting, three-set loss in Lawrence, 11/5/14)
All-Time Record vs. KANSAS in Waco: 14-6 (last meeting, four-set loss, 10/10/14)

KANSAS JAYHAWKS
2015 Record: 17-0
2015 Big 12 Record: 5-0
Head Coach: Ray Bechard (18th season)

Baylor Volleyball Match Preview
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation

Facing a top-10 foe for the second time in eight days, the Baylor volleyball team (13-5, 1-3) hosts No. 9 Kansas (17-0, 5-0) at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Ferrell Center.

The Bears lost at home for the first time this season last Wednesday, falling in three sets to No. 2 Texas, before bouncing back to sweep Texas State, 3-0, Friday night in a nonconference tilt.

"With Texas, we did some things well; we had some good swings, some good kills," Baylor coach Ryan McGuyre said. "They just have some physical athletes that are able to make up for some plays when they're out of system. . . . I want to play free and fearless, and we had that in parts of the plays. But discouragingly, there were still some hesitancy where we weren't all-out. We have to build on that and improve on that (for the Kansas match)."

McGuyre said the Bears "played really free" in the 3-0 win over Texas State. Andie Malloy (11) and Shelly Fanning (10) posted double-digit kills in helping Baylor hit .277 while holding the Bobcats to a .064 hitting percentage in a match that took just 76 minutes.

"Boom, that was probably one of the cleanest matches we've had," he said. "Texas and Kansas push back when you play that way. So, it's a matter that when they push back that we stay the same and push back and get a little of that nitty-gritty. (Kansas has) five girls that can really hit the ball and hit it from a high-contact point, so we're going to need to be able to dig some heat that's hit hard at us and return it back at them, versus just shooting it back and letting them keep hitting until they get their kills."

Kansas has dropped just three sets combined in 17 matches this season and has posted four straight shutouts after opening league play with a 3-1 win over Kansas State. The Jayhawks have three of the top eight in the Big 12 in kills per set with Kelsie Payne at 4.00, Tiana Dockery (3.33) and Madison Rigdon (3.09).

Baylor's defense counters with two of the best blockers in the league in junior Tola Itiola (1.02 per set) and freshman Jordan Vail (1.12), who missed the last three matches.

"I think it's a great opportunity that we're all ready for, to be able to play in front of Baylor Nation and pull out a win by playing hard and playing fearless," Itiola said.

Earlier this week, the Bears matched a program-high with a No. 30 NCAA RPI ranking. The previous high came on Dec. 19, 2009, when Baylor advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

"It's still early," McGuyre said of the RPI ranking. "We want to keep moving forward. We're playing a top-10 team coming in, but we're going to become a top-10 program. We just need to keep making steps . . . and it's a matter of how fast we can make those steps. That RPI puts us in a great position to be good in December. And I want to make sure these girls have that opportunity because we've taken such big steps so far. I'm looking forward to see what those future steps are."

-BU-