Home-Court Advantage Remains in Play for VB in NCAAs
12/5/2024 10:10:00 AM | Volleyball
By Jerry Hill, BaylorBears.com
WACO, Texas – Flooded with raw emotion, Baylor senior libero Lauren Briseño fought back tears as she tried to talk about the No. 15 national-seeded Bears' volleyball team potentially playing a couple more matches in the Ferrell Center.
One of 16 hosts for the NCAA Tournament, Baylor (22-7) is only guaranteed one more, a first-round matchup on Thursday against the Wofford Terriers (23-8) that's scheduled for a 7 p.m. first serve.
"Sorry, I'm getting emotional, because I'm just thinking about my last few matches at the Ferrell. This is so embarrassing," said Briseño, a second-team All-Big 12 who has a team-leading 438 digs to go with 120 assists and 22 service aces.
"I'm just really grateful to be at home, just going through these routines with these girls by my side. Just being able to battle with these girls is something I'm really grateful for, but it's something I never want to take for granted. Especially this coaching staff, they've poured so much into me. . . . Just thinking about these last few days, being in the Ferrell Center, the time flew by so fast."
Finishing tied for third in the expanded Big 12, behind only eighth-ranked Arizona State and No. 12 Kansas, the 16th-ranked Bears were on the bubble going into Sunday's NCAA Tournament selections with a No. 20 RPI.
But head coach Ryan McGuyre, making his ninth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance, said he wasn't surprised that fourth-seeded Baylor was selected as one of the 16 host sites for the fifth time in the last eight years.
"You don't know what the committee is going to side, like if they use the criteria," McGuyre said. "But we were really good in our last 10 matches (9-1), all our losses were to ranked teams. . . . And then, we also had the highest-ranked win against some of those bubble teams.
"At the end of the day, the committee can always justify one way or another. We saw this, or we saw that. Like I said, we were on the bubble. We kind of knew going into the Kansas match that that would have probably locked it in. And then, after that (a 3-0 loss at KU), it was in somebody else's hands."
Baylor draws a Wofford team that upset top-seeded Mercer, 3-2, in the Southern Conference Tournament championship, earning the Terriers' second-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament. Last year, they were in the same sub-regional with Baylor in Lexington, Ky., which was the first NCAA Tournament appearance for any female program in the school's history.
"They're really different," McGuyre said of Wofford, which is playing Baylor for the first time. "They run a fast tempo. We had a good practice. We kind of had to do things a little bit different. They've got three hitters plus that are hitting off one foot. Typically, you might see one middle go behind. (They have an) opposite with a live arm. Because they are so different, I think our girls will be dialed in when we review stuff."
Fifth-seeded Dayton (29-2) and South Carolina (16-11) meet in the other first-round matchup at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, with the two winners squaring off at 7 p.m. Friday for a spot in the region semifinals. The most likely destination for the Sweet 16 is Lincoln, Neb., where No. 2 national seed Nebraska is hosting eighth-seeded Miami, Florida A&M and South Dakota State.
Ranked 23rd in the latest AVCA poll with a No. 15 RPI, Dayton being upset by Loyola Chicago, 3-0, at home in the Atlantic 10 Championship final might have very well opened the door for Baylor to land a home site.
"They did stub their toe in the championship, so that might have been the difference, home and away," McGuyre said. "Dayton is really, really good. All the teams coming to this tournament are good. They're champions or winners."
McGuyre said he wouldn't be at Baylor if it weren't for Dayton head coach Tim Horsmon, who hired him as an assistant coach at Maryland in 2012 after a run of NAIA men's and women's national championships at Cal Baptist.
"He took a chance on me when I left California, when I went to Maryland, so there's a great friendship there," McGuyre said. "He texted me right away, because Baylor traveled to Dayton in 2015 (3-2 win by the Bears) to play them, and they've never returned. I've bugged hi about that ever since then. So, he said, 'Yeah, I told you I'd come back to Baylor.'''
Thursday's game will be streamed on ESPN+, with Dallas area broadcaster Mike Leslie and former Baylor volleyball All-American Hannah Lockin Sedwick calling the action. Sedwick was the setter on the Bears' 2019 Final Four team.
WACO, Texas – Flooded with raw emotion, Baylor senior libero Lauren Briseño fought back tears as she tried to talk about the No. 15 national-seeded Bears' volleyball team potentially playing a couple more matches in the Ferrell Center.
One of 16 hosts for the NCAA Tournament, Baylor (22-7) is only guaranteed one more, a first-round matchup on Thursday against the Wofford Terriers (23-8) that's scheduled for a 7 p.m. first serve.
"Sorry, I'm getting emotional, because I'm just thinking about my last few matches at the Ferrell. This is so embarrassing," said Briseño, a second-team All-Big 12 who has a team-leading 438 digs to go with 120 assists and 22 service aces.
"I'm just really grateful to be at home, just going through these routines with these girls by my side. Just being able to battle with these girls is something I'm really grateful for, but it's something I never want to take for granted. Especially this coaching staff, they've poured so much into me. . . . Just thinking about these last few days, being in the Ferrell Center, the time flew by so fast."
Finishing tied for third in the expanded Big 12, behind only eighth-ranked Arizona State and No. 12 Kansas, the 16th-ranked Bears were on the bubble going into Sunday's NCAA Tournament selections with a No. 20 RPI.
But head coach Ryan McGuyre, making his ninth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance, said he wasn't surprised that fourth-seeded Baylor was selected as one of the 16 host sites for the fifth time in the last eight years.
"You don't know what the committee is going to side, like if they use the criteria," McGuyre said. "But we were really good in our last 10 matches (9-1), all our losses were to ranked teams. . . . And then, we also had the highest-ranked win against some of those bubble teams.
"At the end of the day, the committee can always justify one way or another. We saw this, or we saw that. Like I said, we were on the bubble. We kind of knew going into the Kansas match that that would have probably locked it in. And then, after that (a 3-0 loss at KU), it was in somebody else's hands."
Baylor draws a Wofford team that upset top-seeded Mercer, 3-2, in the Southern Conference Tournament championship, earning the Terriers' second-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament. Last year, they were in the same sub-regional with Baylor in Lexington, Ky., which was the first NCAA Tournament appearance for any female program in the school's history.
"They're really different," McGuyre said of Wofford, which is playing Baylor for the first time. "They run a fast tempo. We had a good practice. We kind of had to do things a little bit different. They've got three hitters plus that are hitting off one foot. Typically, you might see one middle go behind. (They have an) opposite with a live arm. Because they are so different, I think our girls will be dialed in when we review stuff."
Fifth-seeded Dayton (29-2) and South Carolina (16-11) meet in the other first-round matchup at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, with the two winners squaring off at 7 p.m. Friday for a spot in the region semifinals. The most likely destination for the Sweet 16 is Lincoln, Neb., where No. 2 national seed Nebraska is hosting eighth-seeded Miami, Florida A&M and South Dakota State.
Ranked 23rd in the latest AVCA poll with a No. 15 RPI, Dayton being upset by Loyola Chicago, 3-0, at home in the Atlantic 10 Championship final might have very well opened the door for Baylor to land a home site.
"They did stub their toe in the championship, so that might have been the difference, home and away," McGuyre said. "Dayton is really, really good. All the teams coming to this tournament are good. They're champions or winners."
McGuyre said he wouldn't be at Baylor if it weren't for Dayton head coach Tim Horsmon, who hired him as an assistant coach at Maryland in 2012 after a run of NAIA men's and women's national championships at Cal Baptist.
"He took a chance on me when I left California, when I went to Maryland, so there's a great friendship there," McGuyre said. "He texted me right away, because Baylor traveled to Dayton in 2015 (3-2 win by the Bears) to play them, and they've never returned. I've bugged hi about that ever since then. So, he said, 'Yeah, I told you I'd come back to Baylor.'''
Thursday's game will be streamed on ESPN+, with Dallas area broadcaster Mike Leslie and former Baylor volleyball All-American Hannah Lockin Sedwick calling the action. Sedwick was the setter on the Bears' 2019 Final Four team.
Players Mentioned
L/DS
/ VolleyballWould go to battle with this crew anytime 🫶
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Elevate ⬆️ and celebrate 🎉
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