By Cody Soto
Baylor Bear Insider

It took the Baylor volleyball team several matches to get comfortable with head coach Ryan McGuyre's new playing system, but the Bears figured it out at the right time.

Baylor came out firing in its first three home matches of the season to win the 2015 Hampton Inn Waco North Baylor Invitational with victories over Cal Poly, Coppin State and Sam Houston State.

The Bears (5-1) are on a five-match winning streak, the only loss coming in the season opener at then-No. 12 Colorado State in Fort Collins, Colo. Since then, McGuyre's team has made big adjustments to come away victorious against a tough non-conference slate.

Friday's home opener against Sam Houston State showed the team's strengths and weaknesses. Setters Amy Rosenbaum and Morgan Reed shared playing time throughout the weekend, but the Bears quickly switched to a one-setter offense after dropping the second set, 25-21.

The Bears found themselves with their backs against the wall when the Bearkats took a 2-1 lead after set three, but BU climbed back into the match behind a powerful .297 attack effort in the fourth set, winning 25-19.

A 6-0 run made the difference in set five, and Baylor took its third-straight five-set win with a 15-9 win in the final set.

Saturday morning, Baylor jumped out to early leads in sets one and three against Coppin State but had trouble maintaining a consistent offense. After allowing an early lead in set two, an ace by sophomore libero Jana Brusek ended the rally.

With the opportunity to showcase their underclassmen, the Bears were led by freshman outside hitter Ashley Fritcher with 10 kills in the 3-0 win over Coppin State.

"We played really clean and did a lot of good things," McGuyre said. "It's great to see Ashley (Fritcher) compete like she's been playing for us in practice. She's another freshman on the court who's going to do great things for us."

Saturday night's game against unbeaten Cal Poly was an appropriate ending to the two-day tournament. Both Baylor and the Mustangs were undefeated in tournament play, and the match turned into a de facto tournament championship.

With a burst of energy and accurate offensive plays, Baylor went into the 10-minute break with a somewhat surprising 2-0 lead over Cal Poly (5-1). The Mustangs fired back and forced the Bears to play from behind for the majority of the third set.

Cal Poly extended the match with a 25-23 third-set victory, but Baylor had the motivation to make sure the game didn't go the distance.

Behind a dominant front line and a match-high 16.5 team blocks, junior middle hitter Tola Itiola and sophomore outside hitter Katie Staiger denied a Cal Poly cross-court attempt on match point, giving the Bears a solid 3-1 win for the tournament title.

"We really needed to own the net," McGuyre said. "That was point number one for us in the locker room. They hit the ball really hard, so our best chance was to beat them at the net. That's something that we didn't do very well last weekend, so it's great to see them emerge with that tonight."

Along with the team title, senior middle hitter Adrien Richburg was named Best Blocker and freshman middle hitter Shelly Fanning was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. Richburg contributed 13 blocks in three games, and Fanning hit an impressive .440 in the team's win over Cal Poly.

Next up for the Bears is a road trip to Dayton, Ohio, to compete in the Dayton Invitational with matches against Dayton, Cleveland State and Eastern Illinois on Friday and Saturday.