Volleyball Wheels Up for Dayton Invitational
9/10/2015 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
 Dayton Flyers2015 Record: 2-4 Head Coach: Tim Horsmon (7th season) | Friday, Sept. 11 at Dayton, 6 p.m. Frericks Center (Dayton, Ohio) Video: DaytonFlyers.com Stats: GameTracker Audio: BaylorBears.com/AllAccess |
 CLEVELAND STATE VIKINGS2015 Record: 6-2 Head Coach: Chuck Voss (16th season) | Saturday, Sept. 12 vs CSU, 9 a.m. Frericks Center (Dayton, Ohio) Stats: GameTracker Audio: BaylorBears.com/AllAccess |
 EASTERN ILLINOIS PANTHERS2015 Record: 5-2 Head Coach: Samatha Wolinski (1st season) | Saturday, Sept. 12 vs. E. Illinois, 2 p.m. Frericks Center (Dayton, Ohio) Stats: GameTracker Audio: BaylorBears.com/AllAccess |
WACO, Texas - Baylor volleyball (5-1) sets out on their second road tournament to compete in the Dayton Invitational.
BU will play three games over the two day tournament, beginning with a 6 p.m. CT contest with the tournament-host Dayton. The Flyers are 2-4 on the season, but are fresh off of a 30-6 2014 season that included a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
The Bears close out the weekend with a doubleheader on Saturday, facing Cleveland State (6-2) at 9 a.m. and Eastern Illinois (5-2) at 2 p.m. Cleveland State finished last year at 14-14, while Eastern Illinois posted a record of 15-16.
Friday's match versus Dayton will have a live video stream at DaytonFlyers.com, along with a live stats feed for all three matches. Additionally, all three games will be available to fans with a live audio stream on BaylorBears.com/AllAccess. Baylor fans can follow action all season long on Twitter by following @BaylorVball.
Baylor Volleyball Weekend Preview
By Cody Soto for Baylor Bear Insider
After a very successful home-opening weekend at the Ferrell Center, Baylor volleyball is not taking much time relishing its success. There's still more work to be done as the Bears (5-1) hit the road for the team's third tournament of 2015.
"We had been making significant improvements from what we had been playing earlier," freshman outside hitter Amanda Lesikar said. "It was good to come in and get a big win at home, but there's still a lot of things we can improve on. We always say we can get one degree better."
The Bears felt their 15-block performance against previously unbeaten Cal Poly was still not what the team is capable of doing in big matches. That is just one area Baylor plans to improve on throughout the season, especially this weekend.
"We needed to win the battle at the net, that's where we needed to stop (Cal Poly)," head coach Ryan McGuyre said. "Blocking from the previous weekend was something that I was disappointed in. Honestly, we blocked average. I don't feel like we shut them down like we were capable of, but I was happy to see the progress."
The Bears face NCAA tournament team Dayton to open the Dayton Invitational at 6 p.m. Friday in Dayton, Ohio. The Flyers advanced to the second round of the 2014 tournament before being swept by eventual national champion Penn State.
Similar to their season opener against Colorado State, the team anticipates the same type of environment.
"The feeling will be similar, the fans will be just as loud," freshman middle hitter Shelly Fanning said. "(Playing Colorado State) was a little overwhelming because it was a loud environment. It helped me get a feel of what big games feel like."
Baylor is currently 0-1 in road matches, with its only loss coming to the Rams in the Aug. 28 season opener. Since then, the Bears have rattled off five straight wins, including three-straight five-set victories.
If we win in five every time, then I'm OK with that. It's disappointing that we went to five sets, but we finished and played strong," said McGuyre after the team's five-set victory over Sam Houston State last Friday in the opening game of the Baylor Invitational.
Baylor wraps up the Dayton Invitational with two matches Saturday, facing Cleveland State at 9 a.m. and Eastern Illinois at 2 p.m. While the Bears have never played either team, McGuyre is treating them like any other match and just wants to see the team continue to improve.
"We're still excited about the opportunities to battle and to beat good teams, not just at home but on the road as well," McGuyre said. "We have a lot of young players on the floor. They need to be able to play in that atmosphere. We've made adjustments."
Friday's match is Dayton's 2015 home opener, but the Bears are looking to crash the party.
"They are definitely going to come out and want that win, but for us it's the same: we want that win," Lesikar said. "We want to go out there and beat a big team, so we just need to go in there with that mindset."
