By John Shellenberger
Baylor Bear Foundation

In an eerily silent Ferrell Center, the rest of the Baylor volleyball team watched an all-too-familiar sight as redshirt freshman middle Jaelyn Jackson lay on the hardwood floor, clutching her knee.

Somewhere in the blend of sickened reactions, between the "What now?" and "Not her!" was the question that players, coaches and fans alike were wondering:

How could this possibly be happening again?

Jackson, Baylor's 6-foot-3 redshirt freshman, was just the latest victim in a slew of injuries that plagued the Bears early on this season. Jackson, Tola Itiola and Shelly Fanning, the three tallest players on the Baylor roster, were all expected to have a commanding presence on the court this year.

A senior, Itiola led the Bears in blocks in each of the past two seasons as a starter. Fanning was a preseason All-Big 12 pick after earning second-team honors last season with 290 kills. And Jackson was expected to have a tremendous influence and develop into a force at the net after redshirting last season.

Unfortunately, all three would be confined to the bench for the remainder of the year.

Trotting onto the court to replace her fallen teammate was Nicole Thomas, an unproven freshman thrust into the match by purely unforeseeable circumstances.

"Right as she fell, I kind of knew that I was going to play, that I was going to play for her," said Thomas, who hails from Richmond, Va. "I remember thinking that I needed to do the best I could, because I knew that she would have done that. So, I wanted to do that for her and my teammates."

Standing next to her was Camryn Freiberg, a junior transfer from High Point University who's a solid two inches shorter than the 6-1 Thomas.

Second-year head coach Ryan McGuyre would probably never admit it, but there had to be at least a moment of sheer panic as he watched his team transformed into a young, undersized front.

If there was, the panic didn't last long.

Rallying behind a mixture of transfer students, underclassmen and established veterans, Baylor was not about to let injuries destroy its season. Instead, the Bears dug their heels in, came together and finished with a 21-11 record overall, posted their best Big 12 record in seven years (9-7) and picked up the program's fifth-ever NCAA Tournament berth.

"I think immediately, it was gut-wrenching," Freiberg said. "It was awful, because we love Jaelyn so much. But, it was really comforting having Nicole come in right away. She got tons of blocks in the Kansas State match. And we knew, even it does suck losing Jaelyn, it was God-appointed."

Embracing their role as underdogs, Baylor's scrappy, undersized blockers led their team to finish third in the Big 12 in blocks (2.44 per set) and second in opponent hitting percentage (.183).

"We always talk about how it's a mindset," said Freiberg, a junior from Allen, Texas, who ranks seventh in the Big 12 with 1.15 blocks per set. "We don't have to block every ball, but at least get touches on every ball and make sure our block is having an influence."

With 139 blocks on the season, Freiberg became the first Baylor player since 2011 to eclipse the 100-block mark.

McGuyre's team might be short, but it's definitely not short on talent and star power. Junior outside hitter Katie Staiger earned first-team All-Big 12 honors and led the league kills (5.53) and points (6.09) per set. Junior libero Jana Brusek was a second-team honoree, along with Freiberg, after posting the fourth-most digs in program history with 552.

Add to all that the stellar play of senior setter Morgan Reed, which gave McGuyre some key pieces to work with this season.

"We've needed a lot of people to step up, and a lot of girls have done it in ways that don't always show up in the stat line," McGuyre said. "Morgan, specifically, has done a great job. She's done a good job distributing the ball."

The most intriguing aspect of the team wasn't the spectacular play of Staiger, a strong All-American candidate. Nor was it the impressive performances of Louisville transfer Aniah Philo or hard-hitting lefty Ashley Fritcher.

What stands above all else is this team's ability to unify, overcome adversity and win matches where at least on paper it looked like everything was stacked against them.

"We always talk about how a body has many parts and how each part has its own task that it needs to do," Freiberg said. "One is not greater or less than ... the ear is different than the foot, but they both help you be a human being. We've kind of had that mindset where each player has their own part, and we couldn't do it without one another."

That cohesion was certainly present during the Bears' 10-game winning streak, and even more so off the court. Talk to any of the players, and you'll hear the familiar soundbites of McGuyre in their answers, echoing sentiments of "getting one degree better each day," or the ultimate purpose for Baylor volleyball.

"Our goal is to reflect God's glory and the gifts that he's given us," McGuyre said.

For the Bears, it's more than just wins and losses. But, the opportunity to play San Diego (24-5) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament has to feel good for this resilient, gritty squad.

Baylor faces San Diego at 7:30 p.m. CST Friday at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, Calif., with the winner advancing to face Murray State or the 10th-seeded Bruins on Saturday for a berth in the Sweet 16.

All of Baylor's pieces will have to elevate their play if the Bears plan on advancing past the 14th-ranked Toreros, who are making their seventh consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance with an all-time record of 14-19.

"(San Diego is) kind of like Iowa State," McGuyre said. "They're tall, across the net. . . . Their right-side attacks are where they are pretty dominant. If we can serve tough and be destructive enough with our offense where they are having to throw a lot of balls outside, I feel like it becomes an outside-hitter battle.

"We'd love to have that, because we've got Katie. They have one opposite who is really good, and Katie will probably be matched up on her. So, you have the two stars of both teams go there. And then, it's just a matter of which role players stop the other team and who can contribute the most."

If it comes down to a battle of role players, Baylor has to feel pretty good about its chances. Still, the Bears are intent on taking it one match at a time.

"It's postseason, so they are motivated to win and keep it going," McGuyre said. "We've been underdogs since the season started and definitely since the injuries. We'll be underdogs all the way through it, so now that's a role we relish and look forward to put it all together."