Saturday, September 28
Lawrence, Kan.
1:00 p.m. CT
Baylor
at
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Kansas
Preview: No. 2 VB Opens Big 12 Play at Kansas
9/27/2019 11:10:00 AM | Volleyball
The Bears look to push their non-conference success to league play
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Winning a Big 12 championship is not a new goal for the second-ranked Baylor volleyball team.
"It's been the goal to win the Big 12 since we started here," said fifth-year assistant coach Jason Williams. "We feel we can win it every year. This year is no different. We just feel like we've had a great start."
The lone remaining undefeated team in Division I volleyball after top-ranked Stanford's 3-1 win over No. 1 California Thursday night, the Bears (10-0) can match their best-ever start when they open Big 12 play with a matchup against Kansas (4-6) at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena in Lawrence, Kan.
"The goals are definitely there," said junior outside hitter Yossiana Pressley, the national leader with 6.0 kills per set. "We definitely want to win this conference. We're just making sure that we're not saying, 'Oh, we only have to beat Texas,' because that is not what the mentality is at all. We have to beat every single opponent. We have to face them like it's the national championship."
Williams said winning the program's first conference championship is part of what fuels the team's fire, "and when the time is right, we are going to ignite that fire. We are still adding to that fire every day."
These are heady days, indeed, for a program that had never been ranked higher than 17th before last year. The Bears moved up to No. 5 with wins over Wisconsin and Marquette and then No. 2 in this week's AVCA rankings following sweeps of Missouri and Hawaii in the Baylor Classic.
The Bears are 5-0 versus ranked opponents and have dropped just two of 32 sets.
Senior right-side hitter Gia Milana said the Bears are learning by the points they lose in games, "so we are taking those points and we are really harping on them in practice and really going after our weaknesses and what we think teams are going to exploit on us."
That's been head coach Ryan McGuyre's modus operandi since coming to Baylor five years ago. As good as it's been this year, he's never satisfied.
"He told me this himself personally: 'Yossi, don't try to satisfy me, because I will never be satisfied,''' Pressley said. "There's always something we can improve. Doesn't matter if it's a win or a loss. We take some matches as losses if we didn't play to our best ability or there was a lack of focus or lack of effort. So, we try to learn from every match. Doesn't matter what the outcome is."
Kansas was in the Final Four just four years ago, but the Jayhawks had a run of six-straight NCAA Tournament appearances snapped last season and have lost six of their last seven matches coming into Saturday's conference opener.
"Kansas has a lot of change in their lineup, so they are really working through new players, new positions," Williams said. "Obviously, they beat Texas last year early in conference, so we are taking them very serious and expect a great match."
Saturday's match will be broadcast by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with Leif Lisec and former Kansas standout Jill Dorsey-Hall calling the action.
Baylor will return home for its next two matches, hosting Oklahoma (9-3, 1-0) on Wednesday and Kansas State (5-7, 0-0) next Saturday.
WACO, Texas – The second-ranked Baylor volleyball team (10-0) will open Big 12 play by traveling to face Kansas (4-6) on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT at the Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena in Lawrence, Kan.
The match will be broadcasted on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ with Leif Lisec and Jill Dorsey-Hall on the call.
Fans can follow along for match coverage with Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @BaylorVBall.
BEARS OPEN BIG 12 PLAY IN JAYHAWK COUNTRY
• The Bears are the only undefeated team left in D1 college volleyball after No. 21 California (10-1) dropped their first match to No. 1 Stanford Thursday night in Berkley.
• BU went undefeated through non-conference play for the first time since 2009 and only the third time in program history. The 2001 season was the first time the Bears went unblemished in non-conference action with an 8-0 record, and the 2009 squad went a program-best 11-0.
• BU looks for its third win in four matches against the Jayhawks and first win over KU in Lawrence since a three-set sweep in 2017.
• Baylor is riding a 10-match winning streak, including two straight in true road matches.
• BU looks for the 11-0 record to tie the program record for consecutive wins and consecutive wins to open a season. BU's 2009 squad holds the record at 11-0 and finished the season with a 24-10 record and a spot in the program's only NCAA Sweet 16.
• BU is 2-2 in conference openers and 0-1 in Big 12 road openers under McGuyre. BU dropped a four-set loss to Texas Tech in Waco to open conference action last season.
• BU last opened Big 12 play on the road at Kansas State in 2015. The Bears dropped a three-set match against the Wildcats.
• A win would give BU back-to-back wins over Kansas for the first time since Oct. 1, 2011.
SECOND-RANKED BEARS EARN 27 FIRST-PLACE VOTES
• Baylor volleyball is ranked a program-best No. 2 in the AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 Poll after a 9-0 start to the season for the first time since 2009, released Monday afternoon.
• The No. 2 ranking shatters the previous all-time program record set two weeks ago at No. 5.
• BU's 27 first-place votes are also a program record, just one shy of No. 1 Stanford who garnered 28 first-place votes.
• Prior to last season, BU was ranked for 10 straight weeks and peaked at No. 17 in 2009, which stood as the program-high ranking for eight years in the 37-year history of the AVCA poll.
• Since 2017, the Bears have entered the top-25 for the first time since 2009, become a top-15 team for the first time ever and recently become a top-five squad.
• The Bears are ranked for the 42nd time in program history and have received votes in the poll for 31 straight weeks dating back to the 2017 season.
• BU is 5-0 against ranked opponents so far in 2019, beating No. 18 Creighton, No. 4 Wisconsin No. 11 Marquette, No. 17 Missouri and No. 13 Hawai'i in non-conference action.
• Baylor is now the highest ranked Big 12 team with No. 6 Texas as the other league team in the poll.
• BU has never been the highest-ranked Big 12 team in the history of the AVCA poll.
• BU opened the season at No. 20 in the AVCA Preseason Coaches Poll, opening the season as a ranked team for the third time in program history.
ROAD WARRIORS
• Baylor is 2-0 in true road matches in 2019 and will play on the road for the first time since Sept. 8 when the Bears swept then-No. 11 Marquette in Milwaukee.
• Baylor was 7-4 on the road in 2018, including a season-best five-match win streak.
• BU is 29-20 all-time in road matches under head coach Ryan McGuyre.
• On the road, BU is 1-0 in three sets, 1-0 in four sets and 0-0 in five-set matches.
• Baylor is 1-3 against Kansas in Lawrence under McGuyre.
LAST TIME VS. KANSAS (Oct. 27, 2018)
• Baylor volleyball shut down the league's best blocking team in a 3-0 sweep over Kansas Oct. 27 at the Ferrell Center, 25-21, 25-21, 25-17.
• The Bears split the regular season series for the second consecutive season and swept the Jayhawks at home for the first time since Sept. 26, 2009.
• (Fanning) Stafford posted her 17th double-digit match of the season with 18 kills on 26 attacks with no errors. Her .692 hitting efficiency marks her second-best effort this season and highest at home in 2018.
• Behind the service line, the Bears held a 6-0 advantage in service aces with two each from Hannah Fluegel and Tara Wulf.
EVERY SET MATTERS
• The second-ranked Bears are 10-0 on the season, but the most impressive stat is the fact that the team has won 30 sets and only dropped two in the process.
• The Bears have swept eight teams in 2019, including four ranked squads in Marquette, Hawai'i, Missouri and Creighton.
• Out of 30 sets won, only six of those have been decided by two points.
• Three sets have been decided in extra points with BU winning them all (Wisconsin, Marquette, Missouri).
• The Bears are averaging six-point wins in sets won this season, including a season-best 14 against Texas State on Tuesday (25-11 in set three).
• The Bears dropped set one at No. 4 Wisconsin, 25-21, and went 12-of-37 with eight errors to hit .108 against the Badgers. Then, the Bears came right back and took set two, 25-22, behind a .406 hitting efficiency.
• BU dropped set three against Houston in the team's home opener, 25-23. BU went 13-of-41 with five errors to hit .195 against the Cougars. BU jumped right back and hit .394 to close it out in four sets.
Baylor Bear Insider
Winning a Big 12 championship is not a new goal for the second-ranked Baylor volleyball team.
"It's been the goal to win the Big 12 since we started here," said fifth-year assistant coach Jason Williams. "We feel we can win it every year. This year is no different. We just feel like we've had a great start."
The lone remaining undefeated team in Division I volleyball after top-ranked Stanford's 3-1 win over No. 1 California Thursday night, the Bears (10-0) can match their best-ever start when they open Big 12 play with a matchup against Kansas (4-6) at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena in Lawrence, Kan.
"The goals are definitely there," said junior outside hitter Yossiana Pressley, the national leader with 6.0 kills per set. "We definitely want to win this conference. We're just making sure that we're not saying, 'Oh, we only have to beat Texas,' because that is not what the mentality is at all. We have to beat every single opponent. We have to face them like it's the national championship."
Williams said winning the program's first conference championship is part of what fuels the team's fire, "and when the time is right, we are going to ignite that fire. We are still adding to that fire every day."
These are heady days, indeed, for a program that had never been ranked higher than 17th before last year. The Bears moved up to No. 5 with wins over Wisconsin and Marquette and then No. 2 in this week's AVCA rankings following sweeps of Missouri and Hawaii in the Baylor Classic.
The Bears are 5-0 versus ranked opponents and have dropped just two of 32 sets.
Senior right-side hitter Gia Milana said the Bears are learning by the points they lose in games, "so we are taking those points and we are really harping on them in practice and really going after our weaknesses and what we think teams are going to exploit on us."
That's been head coach Ryan McGuyre's modus operandi since coming to Baylor five years ago. As good as it's been this year, he's never satisfied.
"He told me this himself personally: 'Yossi, don't try to satisfy me, because I will never be satisfied,''' Pressley said. "There's always something we can improve. Doesn't matter if it's a win or a loss. We take some matches as losses if we didn't play to our best ability or there was a lack of focus or lack of effort. So, we try to learn from every match. Doesn't matter what the outcome is."
Kansas was in the Final Four just four years ago, but the Jayhawks had a run of six-straight NCAA Tournament appearances snapped last season and have lost six of their last seven matches coming into Saturday's conference opener.
"Kansas has a lot of change in their lineup, so they are really working through new players, new positions," Williams said. "Obviously, they beat Texas last year early in conference, so we are taking them very serious and expect a great match."
Saturday's match will be broadcast by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with Leif Lisec and former Kansas standout Jill Dorsey-Hall calling the action.
Baylor will return home for its next two matches, hosting Oklahoma (9-3, 1-0) on Wednesday and Kansas State (5-7, 0-0) next Saturday.
WACO, Texas – The second-ranked Baylor volleyball team (10-0) will open Big 12 play by traveling to face Kansas (4-6) on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT at the Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena in Lawrence, Kan.
The match will be broadcasted on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ with Leif Lisec and Jill Dorsey-Hall on the call.
Fans can follow along for match coverage with Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @BaylorVBall.
BEARS OPEN BIG 12 PLAY IN JAYHAWK COUNTRY
• The Bears are the only undefeated team left in D1 college volleyball after No. 21 California (10-1) dropped their first match to No. 1 Stanford Thursday night in Berkley.
• BU went undefeated through non-conference play for the first time since 2009 and only the third time in program history. The 2001 season was the first time the Bears went unblemished in non-conference action with an 8-0 record, and the 2009 squad went a program-best 11-0.
• BU looks for its third win in four matches against the Jayhawks and first win over KU in Lawrence since a three-set sweep in 2017.
• Baylor is riding a 10-match winning streak, including two straight in true road matches.
• BU looks for the 11-0 record to tie the program record for consecutive wins and consecutive wins to open a season. BU's 2009 squad holds the record at 11-0 and finished the season with a 24-10 record and a spot in the program's only NCAA Sweet 16.
• BU is 2-2 in conference openers and 0-1 in Big 12 road openers under McGuyre. BU dropped a four-set loss to Texas Tech in Waco to open conference action last season.
• BU last opened Big 12 play on the road at Kansas State in 2015. The Bears dropped a three-set match against the Wildcats.
• A win would give BU back-to-back wins over Kansas for the first time since Oct. 1, 2011.
SECOND-RANKED BEARS EARN 27 FIRST-PLACE VOTES
• Baylor volleyball is ranked a program-best No. 2 in the AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 Poll after a 9-0 start to the season for the first time since 2009, released Monday afternoon.
• The No. 2 ranking shatters the previous all-time program record set two weeks ago at No. 5.
• BU's 27 first-place votes are also a program record, just one shy of No. 1 Stanford who garnered 28 first-place votes.
• Prior to last season, BU was ranked for 10 straight weeks and peaked at No. 17 in 2009, which stood as the program-high ranking for eight years in the 37-year history of the AVCA poll.
• Since 2017, the Bears have entered the top-25 for the first time since 2009, become a top-15 team for the first time ever and recently become a top-five squad.
• The Bears are ranked for the 42nd time in program history and have received votes in the poll for 31 straight weeks dating back to the 2017 season.
• BU is 5-0 against ranked opponents so far in 2019, beating No. 18 Creighton, No. 4 Wisconsin No. 11 Marquette, No. 17 Missouri and No. 13 Hawai'i in non-conference action.
• Baylor is now the highest ranked Big 12 team with No. 6 Texas as the other league team in the poll.
• BU has never been the highest-ranked Big 12 team in the history of the AVCA poll.
• BU opened the season at No. 20 in the AVCA Preseason Coaches Poll, opening the season as a ranked team for the third time in program history.
ROAD WARRIORS
• Baylor is 2-0 in true road matches in 2019 and will play on the road for the first time since Sept. 8 when the Bears swept then-No. 11 Marquette in Milwaukee.
• Baylor was 7-4 on the road in 2018, including a season-best five-match win streak.
• BU is 29-20 all-time in road matches under head coach Ryan McGuyre.
• On the road, BU is 1-0 in three sets, 1-0 in four sets and 0-0 in five-set matches.
• Baylor is 1-3 against Kansas in Lawrence under McGuyre.
LAST TIME VS. KANSAS (Oct. 27, 2018)
• Baylor volleyball shut down the league's best blocking team in a 3-0 sweep over Kansas Oct. 27 at the Ferrell Center, 25-21, 25-21, 25-17.
• The Bears split the regular season series for the second consecutive season and swept the Jayhawks at home for the first time since Sept. 26, 2009.
• (Fanning) Stafford posted her 17th double-digit match of the season with 18 kills on 26 attacks with no errors. Her .692 hitting efficiency marks her second-best effort this season and highest at home in 2018.
• Behind the service line, the Bears held a 6-0 advantage in service aces with two each from Hannah Fluegel and Tara Wulf.
EVERY SET MATTERS
• The second-ranked Bears are 10-0 on the season, but the most impressive stat is the fact that the team has won 30 sets and only dropped two in the process.
• The Bears have swept eight teams in 2019, including four ranked squads in Marquette, Hawai'i, Missouri and Creighton.
• Out of 30 sets won, only six of those have been decided by two points.
• Three sets have been decided in extra points with BU winning them all (Wisconsin, Marquette, Missouri).
• The Bears are averaging six-point wins in sets won this season, including a season-best 14 against Texas State on Tuesday (25-11 in set three).
• The Bears dropped set one at No. 4 Wisconsin, 25-21, and went 12-of-37 with eight errors to hit .108 against the Badgers. Then, the Bears came right back and took set two, 25-22, behind a .406 hitting efficiency.
• BU dropped set three against Houston in the team's home opener, 25-23. BU went 13-of-41 with five errors to hit .195 against the Cougars. BU jumped right back and hit .394 to close it out in four sets.
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Would go to battle with this crew anytime 🫶
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