By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            After surviving a five-set test on the road at TCU, sixth-ranked Baylor volleyball (16-5, 10-2) returns home to host Iowa State (16-9, 8-6) on Friday and Saturday at the Ferrell Center, honoring the largest and most-decorated senior class in program history. 
            Currently second and third in the Big 12 standings, respectively, the Bears and Cyclones will square off at 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with 11 seniors honored on Saturday. That group includes a trio of All-Americans in Yossiana Pressley, Hannah Sedwick and Kentucky transfer Avery Skinner. 
            "It's going to be special," said Baylor coach Ryan McGuyre, whose team has won eight in a row against Iowa State. "We've got 11 (seniors), probably tops in the country, but they are also special, beautiful women that I really look forward to celebrating. We're playing a good Iowa State team, so we want to make sure we're playing our best volleyball and giving those seniors a win as well."
            A mixture of true seniors and fifth-year players, the group also includes 2020 Big 12 Libero of the Year Shanel Bramschreiber and former transfers Callie Williams (Tennessee), Preslie Anderson (California), Andressa Parisse (St. Petersburg College) and AJ Koele (Mississippi State), along with Marieke van der Mark, Bri Coleman and Emily Van Slate. 
            "It's great to be a senior and have Senior Night, but I'm excited for what's next," said Pressley, who passed Hall of Famer Elisha Polk to become Baylor's all-time kills leader in Friday's match at TCU and now has 2,304. "I don't want to think about it until the season's over, because it's easy to check out and not be mentally focused with what's ahead. I have mixed emotions, for sure. We'll see if I cry."
            Pushed to five sets by last-place TCU, the Bears rallied from 1-0 and 2-1 set deficits to beat the Horned Frogs, 24-26, 25-15, 18-25, 25-20, 15-11, on Saturday. 
            "I think at this point in the season, we're going to be tested," said Williams, who had a season-high 20 assists, along with two aces and three digs. "Really all season, but from this point forward, we don't play any bad teams. There are just no easy wins. It was great to come away with a couple road wins."
            Williams took over as the setter in the last two sets and helped the Bears' offense get going again. 
            "Without giving away too much, she's able to run certain people certain sets at a higher clip," McGuyre said of Williams. "We felt like we kind of needed that to break things open. Our pins did look a little bit tired. Callie got the middles going and did a good job finding Yossi out of the back row to finish things up."
            With All-Big 12 middle blocker Kara McGhee sidelined with an injury, the Bears also got good production off the bench from Kara's younger sister, Elise, at right side and Parisse, who had a season-high seven kills and six blocks. 
            "Even with 23 people, we're confident whenever someone comes in," said Pressley, who had 26 kills, "because we practice hard every single day and we challenge each other and make sure we're ready to go into the game for those moments. We trust them, and it was awesome to see how well they played."
            The Bears face an Iowa State team that split with Kansas State last weekend and has won four of its last six to move up to third place in the Big 12 standings, behind only second-ranked Texas (21-1, 12-1) and No. 6 Baylor. 
            Led by Argentina Olympian middle blocker Candelaria Herrera, the Cyclones are third in the league in opponent hitting percentage (.176) and fourth in blocks per set (2.54). Herrera is the Big 12 leader and 28^thnationally with 1.30 blocks per set. 
            "They're really good, a scary team," McGuyre said. "They serve and pass really well, so that's going to put you in every single match. Both middles are athletic, one with Olympic experience, very fast, explosive. 
"When they're healthy, their pines have really live arms. And their setter (Jaden Newsome) is probably the only other setter other than Hannah (Sedwick) that's dumping a lot and scoring. We see it in our gym, but we haven't seen another setter be quite so active."
            In a quick turnaround, the Bears will close out the regular season with matches against Oklahoma (10-15, 4-10) at 5 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday in Norman, Okla. The NCAA Tournament selections will be announced next Sunday, Nov. 28, with the first and second rounds scheduled for Dec. 2-4. 
            The Friday and Saturday matches against Iowa State will be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with Kit McConnico and former Baylor All-American Katie Staiger Smith calling the action. 
            A full recap along with final stats will be posted to BaylorBears.com after conclusion of play.
 
BEAR BITES

• BU's series with Iowa State will close out the home slate.
• Bears are on an eight-match winning streak against ISU.
• Yossiana Pressley is now the career kills leader for Baylor with 2,304.
• Friday night is Foster Care Awareness Night for BU while Saturday is Senior Night.
• Head coach Ryan McGuyre now has 76 Big 12 wins in his career after the TCU sweep.
• 10 Bears were named Academic All-Big 12 First Team, while three were named CoSIDA Academic All-District.

 
To stay up to date throughout the season on all things Baylor volleyball, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @BaylorVball.