Preview: No. 3 VB Travels To Austin For Showdown With No. 1 Texas

	BAYLOR BEARS (11-1) Location: Waco, Texas Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Ryan McGuyre (Biola, 1998) Roster \| Stats \| Game Notes (PDF)	BAYLOR (11-1) vs. TEXAS (10-0) Nov. 5, 2020 • 7 p.m. CT Nov. 6, 2020 • 7 p.m. CT Austin, Texas • Frank Erwin Center Live Stats: baylorstats.com WATCH: LONGHORN NETWORK Baylor Social Media:

	TEXAS LONGHORNS (10-0) Location: Austin, Texas Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Jerritt Elliott (Cal State Northridge, 1991) Roster \| Stats \| Game Notes (PDF)

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Until last year's historic 3-2 win over Texas, which snapped a 35-match losing streak, Baylor All-American Yossiana Pressley said the goal was just to "try to get a set."
            "Of course, we were trying to win, but they were just that team," said Pressley, who had 31 kills and a career-best 24 digs in the Bears' win over the Longhorns last November. "Now that we know we can win, it's, 'OK, bet, let's make sure that we are doing x-y-z, to accomplish that same goal.'''
            Third-ranked Baylor (11-1) gets that chance again when the Bears face top-ranked Texas (10-0) at 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin. Riding an 11-match winning streak, Baylor slipped a spot in the AVCA national poll despite sweeping then-No. 15 West Virginia.
            Head coach Ryan McGuyre said the five-set win over Texas "helped push us through to the Final Four." The overall No. 1 seed in last year's NCAA Tournament, the Bears made their first Final Four before losing to Wisconsin in the national semifinals.
            "That was something that was part of the dream. It was the checklist," he said. "It was like, we've got to win conference and we've got to beat Texas. Conference has to go through Texas, always. Hopefully, other programs would say it has to go through Baylor, too, at some point."
            While Pressley, sophomore middle blocker Kara McGhee, All-American setter Hannah Sedwick and junior right-side hitter Marieke van der Mark return from that Baylor team, "we have about five players or more that are in different positions and different roles," McGuyre said.
            That includes transfers Lauren Harrison, Laché Harper, Andressa Parise and setter Callie Williams, who had to sit out last year and "didn't get to play against Texas yet, either."
            "Yossi is awesome, but it's kind of new for everyone else," McGuyre said. "They understand the rivalry, but they haven't had to live it out or flesh it out and understand the intensity of the matches that we had last year."
            Baylor, which closes out its fall schedule with a series against Kansas State on Nov. 20-21, is in a must-win situation in trying to win at least a share of the Big 12 championship it shared with Texas last year. The Longhorns, who are 42-0 all-time versus Baylor in Austin, have series remaining against West Virginia and TCU.
            Pressley said the Bears have lived with that kind of pressure since opening the season with a five-set loss at Kansas.
            "We have that pressure the whole season, like we have to win two in a row just to maintain that consistency and keep the Baylor volleyball flow going," said Pressley, who is second in the Big 12 and 10^thnationally with 4.40 kills per set. "If you lose a match, it can really throw you off, especially because you have that that turnaround the next day and not three to four days till your next match. The pressure is not new. We know what we have to do, and we are going to do that."
            Texas returned most of the pieces from a 23-4 team that was upset by Louisville in the NCAA region semifinals last year and added libero Morgan O'Brien, a grad transfer from Illinois who is fourth in the league with 3.97 digs per set. Junior outside hitter Logan Eggleston is averaging a league-high 5.12 kills per set and hitting at a .359 clip.
            "You add them all to the mix, and it's going to be hard to terminate and get balls on the floor," McGuyre said, "with them still being big and physical at the net. . . . They are more in rhythm with a returning setter and key returning hitters."
            Baylor had one of its key pieces back in place last week, with Sedwick returning to the court after missing the first 10 matches with a leg injury. She had two kills, nine digs and a block in a 3-1 win over West Virginia last Thursday before sitting out the Friday match.
            "As soon as she was coming into sub, I was like, 'Ah, my heart is happy,' because she has been through so much and I'm just happy that she is back on the court with us," Pressley said.
            Sedwick said she forms a good "tag team" with Williams, who is third in the league with 10.26 assists per set.
            "No matter what we are running, I would say Callie and I are able to work together, just telling each other what we see," Sedwick said. "I feel like we are both good, so we can both run a good offense."
            Both matches will be broadcast on the Longhorn Network.

STORYLINES

CREAM OF THE CROP

No. 1 meets No. 3 as the Bears travel to Austin this week for a two-match series with the Longhorns.
When the Bears and Longhorns competed in 2019, No. 4 Texas def. No. 1 Baylor on Oct. 23, and No. 3 Baylor def. No. 1 Texas on Nov. 20. The two sides have never matched up as the top-two teams in the nation.
Baylor is 1-12 all-time against No. 1-ranked opponents, winning its most recent matchup over UT in 2019.
BU is 5-10 all-time against top-10 opponents and 3-11 all-time against the top-five, including 3-2 and 2-2 marks last season.

GOING STREAKING

Baylor carries an 11-match win streak into the series with Texas.
This is BU's third-longest win streak under sixth-year head coach Ryan McGuyre, behind 2019's streaks of 16 and 13 wins.
Eight of the Bears' 11 wins have been sweeps, including four of the last five.
The Bears streak of five-consecutive weeks at No. 2 in the AVCA Fall Coaches Poll was snapped as BU checked in at No. 3 on Nov. 4's rankings.

STRENGTH ON THE SECOND DAY

Coach McGuyre has preached all season long that the tougher team always comes out on top on the second day, and the Bears have shown their strength by sweeping each series finale so far in 2020.
BU is 6-0 on the second day, winning all 18 sets that it has played.

AGAINST THE LONGHORNS

Baylor collected its first win against Texas since 2001 last season when the two sides met in Waco.
The Bears outlasted the Longhorns in a thrilling five-set affair, 25-23, 25-23, 21-25, 23-25, 15-9.
BU has never won in Austin and was swept last season 19-25, 10-25, 19-25.
Under McGuyre, the Bears are 1-9 against Texas.

RACKING 'EM UP

Senior OH Yossiana Pressley and sophomore MB Kara McGhee were named the Big 12 Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week on Nov. 3 after standout performances against No. 15 West Virginia.
Pressley picked up her second weekly award of the season, and 17th of her career, tying her for the most in conference history.
She knocked down 31 kills on a .380 clip over the weekend, collecting 4.43 kills per set, with nine digs and nine blocks. On Saturday, Pressley hit .654 with 17 kills on 26 swings and zero errors.
McGhee received the defensive award for the second-consecutive week and fourth time in her career. She tallied 14 blocks in the series, helping BU to a season-high 14.5 rejections on Friday.
Baylor has garnered the most Big 12 weekly awards this season with six, ahead of Kansas State (5) and Texas (4).
This is the first time in program history that the Bears have won the same award in four-consecutive weeks, as Shanel Bramschreiber, Laché Harper and McGhee have teamed up to bring home defensive honors each week since Oct. 13.

-BaylorBears.com-

Preview: No. 3 VB Travels To Austin For Showdown With No. 1 Texas

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Players Mentioned

Shanel Bramschreiber

Laché Harper

Lauren Harrison

Kara McGhee

Andressa Parise

Yossiana Pressley

Hannah Sedwick

Marieke van der Mark

Callie Williams

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Preview: No. 3 VB Travels To Austin For Showdown With No. 1 Texas

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Shanel Bramschreiber

Laché Harper

Lauren Harrison

Kara McGhee

Andressa Parise

Yossiana Pressley

Hannah Sedwick

Marieke van der Mark

Callie Williams

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