Baylor
Iowa State
Preview: No. 2 VB Heads North To Ames For Two
10/22/2020 8:07:00 PM | Volleyball
Bears carry seven-game win streak into series with Cyclones
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BAYLOR BEARS (7-1) Location: Waco, Texas Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Ryan McGuyre (Biola, 1998) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
BAYLOR (7-1) vs. IOWA STATE (2-4) Oct. 23, 2020 • 6:30 p.m. CT Oct. 24, 2020 • 4 p.m. CT Ames, Iowa • Hilton Coliseum Live Stats: baylorstats.com WATCH: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ Baylor Social Media:    |
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IOWA STATE CYCLONES (2-4) Location: Ames, Iowa Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Christy Johnson-Lynch (Nebraska, 1996) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
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By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Halfway into a unique conference-only fall schedule, the second-ranked Baylor volleyball team (7-1) is still trying to find its identity and figure out a way not to struggle in the first of back-to-back matches.
The Bears, who will face Iowa State (2-4) at 6:30 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Saturday at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa, have had second-day sweeps in all four of their previous series. But, in the opening matches, they lost to Kansas, 3-2, and went five sets with both Oklahoma and Texas Tech.
"We have to be resilient and adapt, but it's been frustrating," Baylor coach Ryan McGuyre said. "If I knew the answer, we wouldn't be doing it anymore. . . . You do have to win ugly sometimes. Teams know we're vulnerable. We're a Final Four team, so we're getting their best more often than I think we did in past years. When we give them hope, they play pretty free and it turns into a battle."
Senior All-American Yossiana Pressley, who earned Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week honors after registering 50 kills in the two matches at Tech, said the Bears haven't come out with the same energy on the first day.
"It's more so our energy levels and how we handle each point," said Pressley, who moved up to third all-time with 1,589 career kills. "We just try not to lose. We need to try to win the game and conquer each et. I feel like once we do that, it will get better on the first day, because the second days have been great. The first day, we're just kind of slow."
Baylor swept the Big 12 Offensive and Defensive honors, with UCF grad transfer Lache' Harper claiming the defensive honor. After recording 11 blocks combined in the first six matches, the 6-2 middle blocker had 13 in the two matches against Tech.
"We were a little frustrated with how we've been blocking, so we did move some middles around a little bit just to shake things up," McGuyre said. "(Harper), obviously, brings blocking to the table. We're just trying to get a little more offense, but she's passionate about it, she wants to do it, she personalizes it."
Harper said she was comfortable with her new team from the beginning, "it's just having that game, kind of that moment where you're like, 'OK, yeah.' I know I'm capable of doing things, but it was more just settling in and getting my mojo back."
Pressley, who is still not 100% percent recovered from an offseason surgery, said she's not back to her 2019 form when she was named the AVCA and ESPN National Player of the Year. But, "if I was in the Pac-12 or something, it would probably be easier for me to get some lucky kills."
"People know me because I've been in the Big 12 for four years," said Pressley, who is second in the Big 12 and 10th nationally with 4.5 kills per set. "They know how I play, and they've got two shots at it, back-to-back. At the same time, I feel like I'm good enough to score, it's just a mind game."
A returning first-team All-Big 12 pick, right-side hitter Eleanor Holthaus leads Iowa State with 3.13 kills per set and is hitting at a .342 clip. The Cyclones split their first two series against Kansas State and Texas Tech before getting swept by top-ranked Texas two weeks ago.
"(Holthaus) can go off. Right side, heavy cut hitter. They will set her front row and back row," McGuyre said. "Their middles are very fast. It's probably the one other program in the Big 12 where I feel the speed of the middle – they don't run it to the pins as much – that is complementary to ours. Traditionally, we've been a little slow to slow down their middles. . . . If our blocks cannot get tooled, I think we will funnel the rest and it could be a shorter match."
The Friday and Saturday matches against Iowa State will be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
STORYLINES
WHAT'S POPPIN'
- Baylor carries a seven-match win streak into the weekend series against Iowa State.
- This is the sixth streak of at least seven victories during sixth-year head coach Ryan McGuyre's tenure.
- Five of the Bears' seven wins have been sweeps.
- The Bears have held steady at No. 2 in the AVCA's fall coaches poll for four straight weeks.
AGAINST THE CYCLONES
- Baylor owns a six-match win streak against Iowa State dating back to 2016.
- BU has claimed each of the last four contests against ISU in Ames.
- Baylor leads the all-time series 26-24 and 14-10 in Ames.
- Under McGuyre, the Bears are 7-3 against the Cyclones.
BOW DOWN TO THE QUEEN
- Senior OH Yossiana Pressley earned her 16th-career Big 12 weekly award after being named the conference's Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 20.
- Pressley put down 50 kills on a .349 clip in two matches at Texas Tech, averaging 6.25 kills per set.
- She recorded double-doubles in both matches, going for 27 and 23 kills with 12 digs each night.
- The Cypress, Texas native went off for a whopping 7.67 kills per set and a .392 attack percentage in Saturday's sweep of the Red Raiders.
- This is Pressley's 12th-career Offensive Player of the Week honor, the most in Big 12 history.
- Her 16 total career weekly accolades are the second-most in conference history, just one behind ISU's Kristen Hahn who earned 17 in her career.
CLIMBING THE LEADERBOARDS
- After her 50-kill weekend, Pressley sits in third place on Baylor's all-time career kills leaderboard.
- She is 111 behind former All-American Katie Staiger for second place, and first in the rally scoring era.
- Baylor's record holder, Elisha Polk, is 683 kills ahead of Pressley.
NO WAY, LACHÉ!
- Senior MB Laché Harper was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week after collecting 13 blocks last weekend at Tech.
- She tallied a season-high eight rejections in just two sets in the series finale and also led the Bears with five on Friday.
- Harper combined her 1.86 blocks per set with four kills to record 10.5 points for BU on the weekend.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Baylor is currently fourth in the nation in team hitting percentage at .314.
- Senior Yossiana Pressley is seventh nationally with 135 total kills.
- The Bears place in the top-15 of five statistical categories as a team: hitting percentage (.314, 4th), opponent's hitting percentage (.157, 11th), assists per set (12.47, 12th), kills per set (13.57, 14th), service aces (34, 14th).
-BaylorBears.com-
