Saturday, September 25
Manhattan, Kan.
4 PM
Baylor
at
Kansas State
No. 10 VB Starts Conference Play at K-State
9/24/2021 8:50:00 AM | Volleyball
The Bears will face the Wildcats in back-to-back matches.
By D.A. Smith
Contributing Writer
Opening Big 12 Conference play for the second year in a row in the Sunflower State, the 10th-ranked Baylor volleyball team (5-3) hopes to get off to a better start when the Bears face the Kansas State Wildcats (9-2) this weekend in Manhattan, Kan.
Last year's conference-opening loss to Kansas had the Bears playing catch-up the rest of the season as they ended up finishing second to Texas.
"I feel we're playing much better, sharper and crisper. Still a long way to go. A difficult, challenging preseason, but we've got some good wins, definitely feel prepared for conference," head coach Ryan McGuyre said. "We're No. 2 (in the Big 12 preseason poll), K-State is picked No. 3."
Returning Big 12 Libero of the Year Shanel Bramschreiber said sharing the conference championship with Texas in 2019 was "great and all, but we definitely would like to take it for ourselves, having the No. 1 spot just for us, and making sure that we're the only ones getting a ring."
"We go into every game wanting to win and respecting our opponents by playing our best," she said, "and hoping that they're playing their best volleyball, too. It's exciting getting to see other Big 12 teams, but the mindset hasn't changed."
After winning back-to-back matches at then-No 7 Florida two weeks ago in Gainesville, the Bears have carried a great deal of confidence into each match and hope to continue that moving forward. They followed up that last road trip with a pair of 3-0 sweeps against Rice and McNeese State in the Baylor Classic.
"I think the confidence is just building daily," Bramschreiber said. "After our Florida weekend, everything has just been seeming to go a lot smoother. So, we're really trying to build off of that weekend."
With a veteran roster that includes fifth-year senior All-Americans Yossiana Pressley and Hannah Sedwick, "we have so much talent this year," said freshman libero Lauren Briseño.
"Everyone is so reliable, it just makes everyone around us feel super, super excited wherever the ball goes," she said, "because we know that someone is out there who's going to take care of it."
Against Rice, Sedwick became just the fifth player in program history to record 4,000 career assists. Bramschreiber had a team-leading 14 digs and two aces against the Owls.
Kansas State (9-2) comes into Saturday's 4 p.m. conference opener riding an eight-match winning streak, the Wildcats' longest in three years. Baylor is the third ranked opponent K-State has faced, with its only losses of the season coming against fifth-ranked Nebraska and No. 21 Pepperdine.
"(Aliyah) Carter on the outside was an all-conference player for them last year and can really go off, take over matches," McGuyre said. "The addition of Haley Warner, a lefty on the backside, makes them strong antennae to antennae. They're well-coached, not a one-dimensional team. You can't just focus in on one or two things."
K-State leads the all-time series, 29-23, but the Bears have won six in a row and 10 of the last 12 matchups against the Wildcats.
Saturday's 4 p.m. matchup and Sunday's 5 p.m. series finale will both be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with Brian Smoller and Liz Wegner-Busch calling the action. Wegner-Busch was a two-time volleyball All-American and was inducted into the Kansas State Athletics Hall of Fame last year.
MANHATTAN, Kan. – No. 10 Baylor volleyball travels to Kansas State for back-to-back matches on Saturday and Sunday to begin Big 12 Conference play.
Saturday's matchup is slated for 4 p.m. in Bramlage Coliseum and will be streamed on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
The Bears (5-3) are facing a K-State team that is on a roll at 9-2, winning eight in a row. But Baylor is on a streak of their own, winning four in a row, three being sweeps. BU is also on a nine-set streak holding their opponent to less than 20 points each set. Their most recent win against McNeese was their third match in a row with a team attack percentage over .300, and held the Cowgirls to a negative percentage.
Baylor enters the Conference portion of the schedule with a 66-30 Big 12 play record under seven-year head coach Ryan McGuyre.
In the preseason poll for the Big 12 Conference, Baylor was picked to finish second and the Wildcats were just behind the Bears, picked to finish third.
In the AVCA polls, the Bears have been ranked in all four weeks of the regular-season as well as the preseason poll. KSU was receiving votes in the preseason poll, but has not been featured since.
ABOUT THE WILDCATS
K-State has seven upperclassmen on their roster this season, but sophomore Preseason All-Big 12 outside hitter Aliyah Carter is making a splash. K-State's eight-match winning streak consists of, in order: UC Santa Barbara, San Diego State, Ohio, Loyola Chicago, Fresno State, Mizzou, Weber State and Omaha. Only two of those matches were 3-0 sweeps, against Ohio and Mizzou. They were defeated by No. 5 Nebraska and No. 21 Pepperdine.
BEAR BITES
Live stats will be available on Baylor volleyball's schedule page and the match will be streamed on Big 12 Now on ESPN+. Brian Smoller and Liz Wegner-Busch will be the broadcast team for Saturday with Katherine Bernhardt as the sideline reporter. A full recap and final stats will be available 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.
Up Next
After the two matches with K-State, the Bears face Texas Tech at home in back-to-back matches on October 1 and 2 to continue Big 12 play.
-BaylorBears.com-
Contributing Writer
Opening Big 12 Conference play for the second year in a row in the Sunflower State, the 10th-ranked Baylor volleyball team (5-3) hopes to get off to a better start when the Bears face the Kansas State Wildcats (9-2) this weekend in Manhattan, Kan.
Last year's conference-opening loss to Kansas had the Bears playing catch-up the rest of the season as they ended up finishing second to Texas.
"I feel we're playing much better, sharper and crisper. Still a long way to go. A difficult, challenging preseason, but we've got some good wins, definitely feel prepared for conference," head coach Ryan McGuyre said. "We're No. 2 (in the Big 12 preseason poll), K-State is picked No. 3."
Returning Big 12 Libero of the Year Shanel Bramschreiber said sharing the conference championship with Texas in 2019 was "great and all, but we definitely would like to take it for ourselves, having the No. 1 spot just for us, and making sure that we're the only ones getting a ring."
"We go into every game wanting to win and respecting our opponents by playing our best," she said, "and hoping that they're playing their best volleyball, too. It's exciting getting to see other Big 12 teams, but the mindset hasn't changed."
After winning back-to-back matches at then-No 7 Florida two weeks ago in Gainesville, the Bears have carried a great deal of confidence into each match and hope to continue that moving forward. They followed up that last road trip with a pair of 3-0 sweeps against Rice and McNeese State in the Baylor Classic.
"I think the confidence is just building daily," Bramschreiber said. "After our Florida weekend, everything has just been seeming to go a lot smoother. So, we're really trying to build off of that weekend."
With a veteran roster that includes fifth-year senior All-Americans Yossiana Pressley and Hannah Sedwick, "we have so much talent this year," said freshman libero Lauren Briseño.
"Everyone is so reliable, it just makes everyone around us feel super, super excited wherever the ball goes," she said, "because we know that someone is out there who's going to take care of it."
Against Rice, Sedwick became just the fifth player in program history to record 4,000 career assists. Bramschreiber had a team-leading 14 digs and two aces against the Owls.
Kansas State (9-2) comes into Saturday's 4 p.m. conference opener riding an eight-match winning streak, the Wildcats' longest in three years. Baylor is the third ranked opponent K-State has faced, with its only losses of the season coming against fifth-ranked Nebraska and No. 21 Pepperdine.
"(Aliyah) Carter on the outside was an all-conference player for them last year and can really go off, take over matches," McGuyre said. "The addition of Haley Warner, a lefty on the backside, makes them strong antennae to antennae. They're well-coached, not a one-dimensional team. You can't just focus in on one or two things."
K-State leads the all-time series, 29-23, but the Bears have won six in a row and 10 of the last 12 matchups against the Wildcats.
Saturday's 4 p.m. matchup and Sunday's 5 p.m. series finale will both be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with Brian Smoller and Liz Wegner-Busch calling the action. Wegner-Busch was a two-time volleyball All-American and was inducted into the Kansas State Athletics Hall of Fame last year.
MANHATTAN, Kan. – No. 10 Baylor volleyball travels to Kansas State for back-to-back matches on Saturday and Sunday to begin Big 12 Conference play.
Saturday's matchup is slated for 4 p.m. in Bramlage Coliseum and will be streamed on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
The Bears (5-3) are facing a K-State team that is on a roll at 9-2, winning eight in a row. But Baylor is on a streak of their own, winning four in a row, three being sweeps. BU is also on a nine-set streak holding their opponent to less than 20 points each set. Their most recent win against McNeese was their third match in a row with a team attack percentage over .300, and held the Cowgirls to a negative percentage.
Baylor enters the Conference portion of the schedule with a 66-30 Big 12 play record under seven-year head coach Ryan McGuyre.
In the preseason poll for the Big 12 Conference, Baylor was picked to finish second and the Wildcats were just behind the Bears, picked to finish third.
In the AVCA polls, the Bears have been ranked in all four weeks of the regular-season as well as the preseason poll. KSU was receiving votes in the preseason poll, but has not been featured since.
ABOUT THE WILDCATS
K-State has seven upperclassmen on their roster this season, but sophomore Preseason All-Big 12 outside hitter Aliyah Carter is making a splash. K-State's eight-match winning streak consists of, in order: UC Santa Barbara, San Diego State, Ohio, Loyola Chicago, Fresno State, Mizzou, Weber State and Omaha. Only two of those matches were 3-0 sweeps, against Ohio and Mizzou. They were defeated by No. 5 Nebraska and No. 21 Pepperdine.
BEAR BITES
- Baylor is 66-30 under Ryan McGuyre in Big 12 play.
- The Bears have now kept their opponent to under 20 points for nine-straight sets.
- Baylor has had an attack percentage above .300 for three-straight matches now.
- BU held McNeese to a negative attack percentage, the first time they've done that to an opponent this season.
- Baylor has won four-straight matches.
- Avery Skinner is nearing her 1,000th career kill with 103 to go to hit the milestone.
- The last time a Baylor volleyball team went nine-straight sets holding an opponent to less than 20 points in a set was in 2020 when they did it to Kansas, TCU, and TCU again.
Live stats will be available on Baylor volleyball's schedule page and the match will be streamed on Big 12 Now on ESPN+. Brian Smoller and Liz Wegner-Busch will be the broadcast team for Saturday with Katherine Bernhardt as the sideline reporter. A full recap and final stats will be available 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.
Up Next
After the two matches with K-State, the Bears face Texas Tech at home in back-to-back matches on October 1 and 2 to continue Big 12 play.
-BaylorBears.com-
Players Mentioned
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