No. 21 VB Rolls by UCF 3-1 in Big 12 Home Opener

Friday, October 2

Waco, Texas

7 p.m.

Baylor

9-4,1-2Big 12

UCF

8-5,0-3Big 12

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
UCF	16	16	27	22	1
Baylor	25	25	25	25	3

Box Score (PDF)

Baylor Huddles Before Match with UCF in 2026

No. 21 VB Rolls by UCF 3-1 in Big 12 Home Opener

10/2/2026 10:40:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Match Book

BU boasted its highest student attendance since 2024 in conference-opening victory

WACO, Texas — Baylor volleyball opened conference play at home in style Friday night, taking down UCF 3-1 at the Ferrell Center.

Baylor controlled the first two sets before UCF extended the match with a dramatic third-set victory. The Bears responded in the fourth, hitting .325 and closing out the Knights to secure the victory. Baylor finished the night with 62 kills and a .376 hitting percentage while holding UCF to .263.

Ksenia Rakhmanchik powered the Bears with 21 kills and 24.5 points. Nadiya Johnson was outstanding on the attack, adding 15 kills on .323 hitting, while Isabela Haggard handed out 43 assists as Baylor picked up its first conference win of the season.

RUNDOWN
Baylor came out firing in the opening set, hitting .423 with 14 kills and taking an early 8-2 advantage. The Bears continued to apply pressure throughout the frame, pushing their lead to 17-11 before closing on a 6-2 run. Victoria Davis delivered the final kill as Baylor claimed the opener, 25-16.

The Bears carried the momentum into the second set, using a pair of Rakhmanchik service aces to build a 6-3 lead. Baylor maintained control from there, extending its advantage to 16-10 before pulling away late. The Bears hit .429 in the set and closed on a 5-1 run, with Rakhmanchik putting away the final point for a 25-16 win and a 2-0 match lead.

UCF answered in a tightly contested third set. The Bears held a 15-13 lead before the Knights rallied to take a 16-15 advantage. Baylor battled back to even the score at 22-22, then again at 23-23 and 25-25, but UCF scored the final two points to take the set, 27-25, and extend the match.

The fourth set featured another late push from the Knights after Baylor built an 18-13 lead. UCF pulled within 20-18, but the Bears answered with a Johnson kill and a Hernandez service ace to push the lead to 22-19. Rakhmanchik followed with a kill to give Baylor match point before Davis finished the victory with the deciding kill from Haggard, 25-22.

GAME NOTES

Baylor is now 9-4 (1-2) on the season and 1-0 in the Big 12 Midseason Challenge.
The Bears have won all eight meetings with the Knights, including 16 of the last 17 sets.
BU's six aces were one off its season high of seven.
Baylor improved to 9-3 in Big 12 home openers under Ryan McGuyre.
The Bears' .376 hitting percentage was their second-best mark this season, trailing only its .393 performance at BYU.
62 kills were BU's most in a 4-set match this season
Ksenia Rakhmanchik had her 22^nd-straight double-digit kill match, and she led the team in kills, attacks and points for the 12^th time in 13 matches this season.
Nadiya Johnson added 15 more kills tonight, giving her 45 in the first three matches of conference play.
Jules Hernandez finished with a season-high 11 digs.
Isabela Haggard led the team with 43 assists for the 12^th time in 13 matches this season.

QUOTABLE
Ryan McGuyre on the crowd and its impact on the match — "I thought it was huge. The fans were wild. The fans are crazy. UCF is supposed to be tops in aces, a tough-serving team, and I thought our fans really rattled them. At least for those first two sets when they're over on that side. They were missing a high percentage of serves. They had 11 missed serves, which really early on kept us way ahead of them. It's tough, you don't want to go four sets, but [the fans] stuck by us, and were just as powerful to help us push it over the top in that 4th."

Freshman Nadiya Johnson on her growth and bouncing back to get their first conference win — "I think it was definitely good to get this win coming off of a tough weekend. We worked really hard in the past week on serving as well as our offensive connections. For myself, even as a freshman, all of my upperclassmen have been really helpful in helping me grow as a player and as a hitter. I feel recently I've been able to express that in the game and use it more often."

Senior Tori Davis on feeding off each other's energy — "Yeah, when we see that energy from the back row, we want to do the same thing in the front row because we're playing for each other at all times. If we can make the jobs easier for the back row, that's what we're going to do, and that's what we did in that first set for sure."

WHAT'S NEXT
Up next, the Bears host No. 24 Colorado on Sunday, Oct. 4, at 2 p.m. in a nationally-televised contest on ESPN.Sam Gore and Holly McPeak will have the call for the Worldwide Leader, with stats available all season at BaylorBears.com/Stats.

Season and single-match tickets are on sale now for the 2026 season. You can find them at BaylorBears.com/tickets or by calling the Baylor Athletics Ticket Office at 254-710-1000.

To stay up to date with Baylor Volleyball all year long, follow the program on Instagram, Facebook, X and TikTok: @BaylorVBall. Want to support the team? You can do so by giving to the One Way Club.

—Baylorbears.com—