Jordan Smith | Sports Writer
The Baylor Bears volleyball team is looking to make a statement this weekend as they travel to Florida to participate in the Seminole Tournament. Their opponents will be Florida State University, University of Arkansas at Little Rock and Florida A&M University.
Head coach Ryan McGuyre is excited to head to Florida as he spent two seasons as the associate head coach at Florida State. This past weekend, the volleyball team competed in a tournament in California where he is from. McGuyre joked about it and admitted that he set up the schedule to happen like this on purpose.
“Yeah, I definitely set up the schedule. Two reasons why is we want to play a good team as we head into it. Santa Barbara, Colorado State — quality teams. We played Colorado State last year, Colorado State being a tournament team. I try to hit one of those in each of the tournaments. So with that, we have Florida State, you know they’re a top 15 program.”
Junior outside hitter Katie Staiger, who is now number two in the nation in kills per set, talked about the preparation heading into the tournament this weekend.
“Yeah, Florida State is a good team every year. I think the things we have been doing in practice have really been preparing us for this game, and coach has a big plan for what we are doing the rest of the week,” Staiger said. “So I think we are gonna be ready on Thursday.”
Junior middle hitter Camryn Freiberg said she is searching for a specific skill set that she hasn’t discovered in order to help her and the team be more effective in the long run.
“I think coming in I wasn’t sure how I was gonna match up to everyone else, and I knew that I wanted to do really well, and I think it’s been good so far. But I think I’ve definitely learned that you can’t just do whatever you want,” Freiberg said. “You have to see what is going on the other side of the court, and you have to just really be a student of the game, and I think for me that’s what I’ve been trying to improve on and not just do whatever I want.”
The Bears open play in the Seminole Tournament 6 p.m. tonight in Tallahassee, Fla.
