Thursday, September 16
Waco, Texas
5 PM
Baylor
vs
Rice
Photo by: Florida Athletics
No. 12 VB Finally Home, Set to Host Baylor Classic
9/15/2021 5:41:00 PM | Volleyball
Baylor hosts Rice for its home opener to kick off Baylor Classic.
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
After a challenging schedule that included five matchups against top-10 teams, all on the road, Baylor volleyball coach Ryan McGuyre is starting to see the pieces of the puzzle coming together.
"I think we've at least narrowed it down, these pieces are going to go in this corner of the puzzle," said McGuyre, whose 12th-ranked Bears (3-3) will host Rice (4-3) and McNeese State (5-3) in the Baylor Classic Thursday through Friday at the Ferrell Center. "Now, which piece, we're still working those out, but at least we know which half (of the puzzle) it's in."
All the pieces seemed to fit just right when the Bears beat then-No. 7 Florida twice, including a 3-0 sweep on Saturday.
"I don't think something necessarily clicked," said senior Marieke van der Mark, who has moved from right-side hitter to middle blocker. "We all started to serve a little tougher, and that meant that we could block more balls. Hannah (Sedwick) kept the speed pretty awesome . . . so that's where we got to where we needed to be."
On top of trying to figure out how to use All-American outside hitters Yossiana Pressley, Lauren Harrison and Kentucky transfer Avery Skinner, McGuyre is rotating van der Mark and former Cal transfer Preslie Anderson at middle blocker.
"Depending on opponents and how they're doing, we like them both at that M1 position," McGuyre said. "It could be someone's hot on Friday and then the next person plays all day on Saturday. So, we're a little bit zeroed in on that, but we're not all locked-in yet."
The interesting dynamic is that Anderson is actually helping train van der Mark at the position where they're sharing time on the court.
"The blocking is the one thing that's a little new, just going to both sides, which I don't normally do," said van der Mark, who had a career-high seven blocks in a season-opening win over Minnesota. "(Anderson) is the one that has helped me through it. It's so interesting, because we're both fighting for the same position. . . . I feel like a freshman again."
Anderson, who had a combined six blocks in the wins over Florida, said it "honestly just comes naturally to me, to help somebody like Marieke, who is willing to take in feedback and is so hungry to learn and grow."
"It's been awesome to see how her game in the middle has also helped her game on the right side," she said. "When she does get to play on the right side in practices or in matches, she's able to apply some things. But, I think she's taking it on headfirst. I'm super close with Marieke. If anything, this has just made us even closer off the court."
McGuyre said the combination of van der Mark and Anderson works because "they're best friends."
"Now that we kind of know what we're doing there, I think they're both going to build each other up," he said. "I think it helps both of them and helps us in the big scheme."
Playing their first home match of the season, the Bears will play Rice at 5 p.m. Thursday. Receiving votes in the coaches' poll, the Owls have strung together four-straight wins over SMU, Houston Baptist, LSU and Sam Houston after opening with losses to No. 4 Pitt, 13th-ranked Oregon and a South Carolina team that just dropped out of the rankings.
"To finally feel the excitement and the environment, all the fans, see other fellow student-athletes supporting us, when it all comes together like that, it's the best days," Anderson said.
After three straight weeks on the road, van der Mark said it's "so nice to not have to fly out somewhere else and get to go to your own locker room and just show out for the fans."
"We talk about being a family," McGuyre said, "so to multiply the joy with a bigger family is something we look forward to. . . . It will be fun to be at home. I love the atmosphere we have here."
Rice will face McNeese State at 5 p.m. Friday, then the Baylor Classic closes out with Baylor versus the Cowgirls at 2 p.m. Saturday.
"I've learned that this team never gets comfortable and never is complacent," Anderson said. "Even in our wins, I think we've always found some sort of lesson that we can take from it and apply it to the next match."
WACO, Texas. – No. 12 Baylor volleyball is set to host (RV) Rice and McNeese in the Baylor Classic tournament in the Ferrell Center on the Baylor campus on Thursday, Sept. 16 and Saturday, Sept. 18, respectively.
The Bears will take on Rice first, with a 5 p.m. match start time on Thursday. Rice is receiving votes in the AVCA polls. Baylor (3-3) will face Rice (4-3) after they faced them last in the spring season in 2021. BU has won the last eight matches against the Owls, but Rice leads the series narrowly at 23-21.
The Green & Gold has hosted the Baylor Classic in 16 seasons, with the 2021 installment being the 17th. Baylor did not host a tournament last season. Rice has competed in the Bears' tournament three other times, in 2008, 2015, and 2018. Baylor is 41-6 all-time in the tournament, and 91-18 when hosting a tournament on their home court.
This is the first home match of the season for the Bears, as they've been on the road for three-straight weekends. They first traveled to Wisconsin, then to Tennessee and then to Florida.
Baylor comes off a two-match winning streak against then-No. 7 Florida on the road. They defeated the Gators in the first match, 3-1. In the second match, the Bears downed the Gators in straight-sets, blanking them and holding them under 20 points in each set. It was the first time in the Florida program's history that they did not score at least 20 points in all three sets at home, and only the second time overall.
Lauren Harrison showed out against the Gators, boasting 14 kills in the second match. She and Yossiana Pressley shared the team-lead in points for the second match, and Kara McGhee had seven blocks in both matches, totaling 14 on the weekend.
Hannah Sedwick and Pressley continue to climb in their respective career categories, with Pressley heading toward being the career leader in kills. She needs only 221 to pass the current record holder, Elisha Polk. Sedwick is only 33 assists away from recording her 4,000th all-time. Once she reaches it, she will be the fifth Baylor Bear to hit that milestone.
Bear Bites
Fans who attend the match on Thursday will receive a free Baylor volleyball poster and 2021-22 team calendar.
The match will be streamed on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ with John Morris and Katie Smith on the call.
A full recap and final statistics can be found on www.BaylorBears.com after the conclusion of the match.
To stay up to date throughout the season on all things Baylor volleyball, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @BaylorVball.
Baylor Bear Insider
After a challenging schedule that included five matchups against top-10 teams, all on the road, Baylor volleyball coach Ryan McGuyre is starting to see the pieces of the puzzle coming together.
"I think we've at least narrowed it down, these pieces are going to go in this corner of the puzzle," said McGuyre, whose 12th-ranked Bears (3-3) will host Rice (4-3) and McNeese State (5-3) in the Baylor Classic Thursday through Friday at the Ferrell Center. "Now, which piece, we're still working those out, but at least we know which half (of the puzzle) it's in."
All the pieces seemed to fit just right when the Bears beat then-No. 7 Florida twice, including a 3-0 sweep on Saturday.
"I don't think something necessarily clicked," said senior Marieke van der Mark, who has moved from right-side hitter to middle blocker. "We all started to serve a little tougher, and that meant that we could block more balls. Hannah (Sedwick) kept the speed pretty awesome . . . so that's where we got to where we needed to be."
On top of trying to figure out how to use All-American outside hitters Yossiana Pressley, Lauren Harrison and Kentucky transfer Avery Skinner, McGuyre is rotating van der Mark and former Cal transfer Preslie Anderson at middle blocker.
"Depending on opponents and how they're doing, we like them both at that M1 position," McGuyre said. "It could be someone's hot on Friday and then the next person plays all day on Saturday. So, we're a little bit zeroed in on that, but we're not all locked-in yet."
The interesting dynamic is that Anderson is actually helping train van der Mark at the position where they're sharing time on the court.
"The blocking is the one thing that's a little new, just going to both sides, which I don't normally do," said van der Mark, who had a career-high seven blocks in a season-opening win over Minnesota. "(Anderson) is the one that has helped me through it. It's so interesting, because we're both fighting for the same position. . . . I feel like a freshman again."
Anderson, who had a combined six blocks in the wins over Florida, said it "honestly just comes naturally to me, to help somebody like Marieke, who is willing to take in feedback and is so hungry to learn and grow."
"It's been awesome to see how her game in the middle has also helped her game on the right side," she said. "When she does get to play on the right side in practices or in matches, she's able to apply some things. But, I think she's taking it on headfirst. I'm super close with Marieke. If anything, this has just made us even closer off the court."
McGuyre said the combination of van der Mark and Anderson works because "they're best friends."
"Now that we kind of know what we're doing there, I think they're both going to build each other up," he said. "I think it helps both of them and helps us in the big scheme."
Playing their first home match of the season, the Bears will play Rice at 5 p.m. Thursday. Receiving votes in the coaches' poll, the Owls have strung together four-straight wins over SMU, Houston Baptist, LSU and Sam Houston after opening with losses to No. 4 Pitt, 13th-ranked Oregon and a South Carolina team that just dropped out of the rankings.
"To finally feel the excitement and the environment, all the fans, see other fellow student-athletes supporting us, when it all comes together like that, it's the best days," Anderson said.
After three straight weeks on the road, van der Mark said it's "so nice to not have to fly out somewhere else and get to go to your own locker room and just show out for the fans."
"We talk about being a family," McGuyre said, "so to multiply the joy with a bigger family is something we look forward to. . . . It will be fun to be at home. I love the atmosphere we have here."
Rice will face McNeese State at 5 p.m. Friday, then the Baylor Classic closes out with Baylor versus the Cowgirls at 2 p.m. Saturday.
"I've learned that this team never gets comfortable and never is complacent," Anderson said. "Even in our wins, I think we've always found some sort of lesson that we can take from it and apply it to the next match."
WACO, Texas. – No. 12 Baylor volleyball is set to host (RV) Rice and McNeese in the Baylor Classic tournament in the Ferrell Center on the Baylor campus on Thursday, Sept. 16 and Saturday, Sept. 18, respectively.
The Bears will take on Rice first, with a 5 p.m. match start time on Thursday. Rice is receiving votes in the AVCA polls. Baylor (3-3) will face Rice (4-3) after they faced them last in the spring season in 2021. BU has won the last eight matches against the Owls, but Rice leads the series narrowly at 23-21.
The Green & Gold has hosted the Baylor Classic in 16 seasons, with the 2021 installment being the 17th. Baylor did not host a tournament last season. Rice has competed in the Bears' tournament three other times, in 2008, 2015, and 2018. Baylor is 41-6 all-time in the tournament, and 91-18 when hosting a tournament on their home court.
This is the first home match of the season for the Bears, as they've been on the road for three-straight weekends. They first traveled to Wisconsin, then to Tennessee and then to Florida.
Baylor comes off a two-match winning streak against then-No. 7 Florida on the road. They defeated the Gators in the first match, 3-1. In the second match, the Bears downed the Gators in straight-sets, blanking them and holding them under 20 points in each set. It was the first time in the Florida program's history that they did not score at least 20 points in all three sets at home, and only the second time overall.
Lauren Harrison showed out against the Gators, boasting 14 kills in the second match. She and Yossiana Pressley shared the team-lead in points for the second match, and Kara McGhee had seven blocks in both matches, totaling 14 on the weekend.
Hannah Sedwick and Pressley continue to climb in their respective career categories, with Pressley heading toward being the career leader in kills. She needs only 221 to pass the current record holder, Elisha Polk. Sedwick is only 33 assists away from recording her 4,000th all-time. Once she reaches it, she will be the fifth Baylor Bear to hit that milestone.
Bear Bites
- This is the 17th installment of the Baylor Classic and they are 41-6 all-time in the tournament.
- Baylor is 91-18 when hosting a home tournament. The Bears have previously hosted three other named tournaments.
- Hannah Sedwick is 33 assists away from her 4000th career assist. She will be the fifth Bear to hit that milestone in their career when she does.
- Yossiana Pressley is 221 kills away from being the school record-holder.
- Volunteer Assistant Coach Shelby Livingstone played for Rice as a collegian.
Fans who attend the match on Thursday will receive a free Baylor volleyball poster and 2021-22 team calendar.
The match will be streamed on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ with John Morris and Katie Smith on the call.
A full recap and final statistics can be found on www.BaylorBears.com after the conclusion of the match.
To stay up to date throughout the season on all things Baylor volleyball, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @BaylorVball.
-BaylorBears.com-
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/ VolleyballFlyin' High to 4️⃣-0️⃣ in Big 12 Conference play!
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