By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Ryan McGuyre puts together a challenging schedule every year that he hopes will prepare his fifth-seeded Baylor volleyball team (22-5) for deep postseason runs.
            Making their third-straight region semifinal appearance, the Bears played six of the 16 teams still alive in the NCAA Tournament and had a combined six wins over Kansas, Texas, Minnesota and Florida. 
            What he didn't know is that Baylor would travel back to Madison, Wis., and potentially play the same teams at a regional in December as it opened the season with in August.
            After breezing through the first and second rounds at home with sweeps over Texas A&M-CC and Washington State, the Bears face 12^th-seeded Minnesota (22-8) in the region semifinals at 2 p.m. CT Thursday at UW Field House and would face No. 4 Wisconsin (27-3) in Saturday's 7 p.m. region final if the Badgers get by 13^th-seeded UCLA (25-8). 
            "I'd like to say it was brilliant foresight that I knew it was going to be like this, that I scheduled it that way," said McGuyre, whose Bears opened the season with a 3-1 win over the Gophers before a 3-1 loss to the Badgers in the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge, "but that would be a complete lie."
            Not only does this regional offer potential rematches – Wisconsin was 2-0 versus Minnesota in Big Ten play – it also features three of the teams that made it to the Final Four in 2019. The Badgers defeated top-seeded Baylor, 3-1, before losing to a Stanford team that knocked off the Gophers in the other national semifinal. 
            Asked if the regional has a Final Four-type feel to it, McGuyre said, "100%. Absolutely."
            "Having all these seniors, you're going to have a lot of elite-level volleyball," he said. "Avery (Skinner) having won a national championship. We go back to '19 – Baylor, Minnesota, Wisconsin – and we're very similar in who we are as far as teams. 
            "Most definitely, the amount of firepower in this regional is extremely high. You are looking at teams with multiple, multiple athletes that 1, have the experience; 2, have the firepower; and 3, they're all hungry for that championship."
            Skinner, part of Kentucky's national championship run last year, is a 6-1 grad transfer who is averaging 3.50 kills and 2.46 digs per set. She had 14 kills in last year's 3-1 win over Texas in the NCAA championship match. 
            "What I try my best to bring is I'm the same whether we're really far down or really far up, and encouraging my teammates to be that way," Skinner said. "But also, just the value of the whole team and how we can't do what we do without each and every one of us, regardless of how big or small each team is. We push each other in practice, and that helps us to be our best every single day."
            The Big 12 runner-up to second-seeded Texas, Baylor has four first-team All-Big 12 picks and All-Americans in Skinner, 2019 National Player of the Year Yossiana Pressley, Lauren Harrison and Big 12 Setter of the Year Hannah Sedwick.
            That's the case with every team here, though. Wisconsin has a four-time AVCA first-team All-American in 6-8 middle blocker Dana Rettke, as well as Big Ten Setter of the Year Sydney Hilley. Minnesota's Stephanie Samedy is the Big Ten Player of the Year and a three-time All-American, while UCLA's Mac May is a two-time Pac-12 Player of the Year and three-time All-American. 
            "I think it's amazing to have so many fifth-year seniors come back," Skinner said. "The level is so high, but I think that makes it more fun, because you know you have to bring it. Everybody's experienced, so you have to bring it day in and day out."
            In that first matchup between Baylor and Minnesota 104 days ago, Samedy had a match-high 21 kills, while Pressley and 6-6 senior Marieke van der Mark had 19 and 14, respectively. 
        McGuyre didn't want to compare Pressley and Samedy, unquestionably two of the best players in the country, but said "Samedy does phenomenal things for her program and Yossi does phenomenal things for us. I love Yossi for who she is as a person, and I'll leave it at that."
            Pressley, though, said Samedy is "explosive, she's dynamic and she offers so much to the Minnesota program."
            "We hope it's the best versions of both players that play for every match," McGuyre said. "We definitely want Minnesota to be at their best, and we want to do our best to be at our best."
            Thursday's Baylor-Minnesota match will be broadcast by ESPNU, with Courtney Lyle and Olympic gold medalist Karch Kiraly calling the action. Live stats and bracket updates for the NCAA Tournament can be found at NCAA.com.
            The Wisconsin-UCLA match is scheduled for 4 p.m. Thursday, with the winners advancing to Saturday's 7 p.m. region final and the chance to play for a Final Four berth.  
            "I think we're still improving," McGuyre said, "even though we've got a couple weeks, Lord willing, left."



MADISON, Wisc. – No. 5 seed Baylor volleyball looks ahead to the Regional Semifinals against No. 12 Minnesota, with the match set for 2 p.m. CT Thursday, Dec. 9, in UW Field House.
 
The Bears (22-5) saw Minnesota (22-8) early on in the season for the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge, also at Wisconsin. The déjà vu brings some sense of normalcy for BU, but neither team is the same as they were at the end of August when they first met. At the time of the first match, Baylor was ranked 10^th while Minnesota was No. 7. It was BU's first match of the season, working through lineup configurations and finding the best fit for the squad. 
 
Both teams come back to the UW Field House court battle tested, with Baylor having gone 14-5 in the regular season against teams in the NCAA Tournament. Five of BU's wins and four of their losses were against teams ranked or receiving votes at the time they played. Six of the Golden Gophers' losses came against ranked teams this season as well, including twice against a No. 5-ranked Wisconsin team.
 
Baylor defeated Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Washington State en route to the Regional, with Minnesota advancing after defeating South Dakota and No. 18 Stanford in the Minneapolis First and Second Rounds.
 
With the First and Second Round wins, Baylor continues a now nine-match winning streak and six-straight sweeps of its opponents. The Bears are in their third-straight Regionals and sixth-straight NCAA Tournament, all under head coach Ryan McGuyre. 
 
Baylor's Yossiana Pressley, Hannah Sedwick and Avery Skinner were all named All-Region by the AVCA on Dec. 7, with Lauren Harrison being named Honorable Mention. 
 
BEAR BITES

• Baylor improved to 10-5 under McGuyre in NCAA Tournaments and 13-9 overall.
• This is the Bears' third-straight Regional Semifinal appearance, fourth overall.
• BU is making its sixth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance and has won 20 or more matches in each of the last six seasons.
• Baylor has had 19 of its 25 regular-season matches against teams that are now in the tournament, going 14-5. 

 
The match with No. 12 Minnesota will be broadcast on ESPNU, with Courtney Lyle and Karch Kiraly on the call from UW Field House.
 
Live stats and bracket updates for the NCAA Tournament can be found on NCAA.com. 
 
A full recap and final stats will be posted to BaylorBears.com after the conclusion of play.
 
The winner of Thursday's match will play the winner of No. 4 Wisconsin and No. 13 UCLA in the Regional Finals on Saturday, Dec. 11, at 7 p.m. CT on ESPNU.
 
To stay up to date throughout the season on all things Baylor volleyball, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @BaylorVball.