A BRICK IN THE WALL

(This is the sixth part in a series profiling the 2020 and 2021 inductees for the Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame and Wall of Honor. The features will be posted at baylorbears.com in the weeks leading up to the Oct. 29 induction ceremony. Also, listen for Hall of Fame interviews with "Voice of the Bears" John Morris on ESPN Central Texas each Thursday afternoon from 2-3 p.m.)

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Watching with pride as the Baylor volleyball team won the Big 12 title and reached the Final Four in 2019, Anna Breyfogle Lyon couldn't help but think, "Oh, I played there. We were just like them."

            Before Yossiana Pressley, Shelly Stafford and Hannah Sedwick, Breyfogle and Taylor Barnes were the program's first All-Americans, earning honorable mention honors from the AVCA during a sweet senior season in 2009.

            "We watch Baylor on TV or in person, and we're like, 'Yeah, we started this.' Is that true? I don't know, we like to think it is," said Lyon, part of the 2020 class for the Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame. "I think it just takes a spark to light the flame, and it just took a little bit for the team to see that it's possible.

            "It takes great players, too. And not just talent, but the character it takes to be able to push forward. I think if the coaching staff hadn't recruited the right people and hadn't pushed in the right way, they wouldn't be where they are now. Oh my gosh, it's amazing, they're so fun to watch."

            An all-state and prep All-American at Buda (Texas) Hays High School, Lyon led her club team to the 18U National Division championship at the USA Junior Olympic Championships in Salt Lake City in 2005 and was named to the USA Volleyball Junior National Training Team.

            After making several recruiting visits, Lyon was "99 percent sure" she was going to North Carolina, "but I still hadn't visited Baylor."

            "I had been told before that when you visit schools, you'll just know," she said. "And I didn't really believe it until I got to Baylor. As we were driving away, I turned to my mom and said, 'I know this is where I want to be.' . . . It felt like home, which was different than what I'd seen anywhere else. I just didn't feel like I belonged like I did when I got to Baylor."

            Baylor was coming off four-consecutive losing seasons when then-head coach Jim Barnes brought in a top-20 recruiting class that included Lyons, Taylor Barnes and outside hitter Katie Sanders.

            "One of the reasons I really respected Baylor's program was the coaches didn't make any promises," Lyon said. "The only promise was, if you work hard, you'll see the results, but we have to see that in you first. They put us through the wringer in a good way. They didn't give an inch, and we had to earn our spots. We had to make some progress first, but we had the light here and there our freshman year and then slowly moved forward. But, I think that first year, having to earn our keep, was a game-changer for us."

            After the Bears recorded winning seasons in two of Lyon's first three years, Baylor started 2009 with a program-record 11-match winning streak and earned its first AVCA national ranking in eight years, moving up to No. 17 with a 17-1 start.

            "The spring before my senior year, pretty much everyone on the team had an ache and a pain," Lyon said, "and the coaches were probably thinking, 'OK, we've got to get healthy before the season. Let's do this!' You work so hard that it gets tougher and tougher, but we rested, we recouped, and once we got there it really did feel different. I don't want to say it felt easy, but maybe it felt more fluid and it didn't feel as difficult to earn each point. It's like we had been preparing for that season all three years."

            Highlighting a historic 24-10 season was a 3-1 upset of eighth-seeded UCLA, 25-23, 25-22, 29-31, 25-19, for Baylor's first-ever second-round victory in the NCAA Tournament. Lyon had 11 kills and four blocks while hitting an efficient .375 in helping the Bears reach the Sweet 16 for the first time.

            "Katie, Taylor and I had that bond, and we had little things we would do every time we were all on the front row," Lyon said. "Even when we played UCLA, it felt like we were watching ourselves from above. It was like, 'Oh, perfect, let me just get a kill now. Let's block this ball. Hey, somebody get a dig.' We walked off the court saying, 'OK, totally fine, who's next?' It wasn't just successful, it was really fun."

            The run and Lyon's collegiate career ended with a 3-0 loss to ninth-seeded California five days later at the NCAA region semifinals in Gainesville, Fla.

            One of the most decorated players in program history, Lyon was a two-time all-region and first-team All-Big 12 pick and was selected Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year by the league coaches as a senior. She recorded at least one block in 92-consecutive matches, broke the single-game record with 12 and set the career mark with 620 blocks while registering 1,165 kills.

            Considering a professional career overseas, Lyon "went as far as picturing myself there, finding the team I wanted to play for, talking to an agent."

            "At the last minute, I thought, 'This isn't what I see for my future or even for next year,''' she said. "I took about a year off, and then I went to grad school at TCU. I just want it known and noted that TCU was not in the Big 12 back then."

            Anna even married a TCU grad, Hayden Lyon, a managing consultant at Accenture. She is a business partner in IT and cyber security for Fort Worth-based GM Finances.

            On June 22, 2020, Anna and Hayden welcomed their first child, Audrey.

            "It's an incredible experience, but it's also incredibly surprising," she said. "I think a lot of people just give you information with rose-colored glasses. But then, when you get into the actual nitty-gritty of it, it's like, 'Wow, this is not what I expected.' I'm exhausted all the time, but we love being parents."

            This year's Hall of Fame banquet and induction ceremony will be held at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 29, in the Brazos Room at the Waco Convention Center and will honor the 2020 and 2021 classes.

Banquet tickets cost $50 per person, with table sponsorships also available for $600 (green) and $800 (gold), and can be purchased by contacting the "B" Association at 254-710-3045 or by email at Tammy_Hardin@baylor.edu.

NEXT UP
Thursday, Sept. 14: Todd Cooper, track & field (2020 Class)

A BRICK IN THE WALL

Players Mentioned

Yossiana Pressley

Hannah Sedwick

Footer