By Jackson Posey | Sports Writer
After dropping both ends of the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge doubleheader to Wisconsin and Minnesota, No. 16 Baylor volleyball is set to host No. 18 Rice University in its season opener Friday. It will be the Bears’ first home game since last season’s second-round NCAA tournament game against, ironically, Rice.
“It’s good to be at home,” head coach Ryan McGuyre said. “Feels like it’s been a long time.”
The Bears lost six of seven sets last week against Wisconsin and Minnesota, both of whom are now ranked in the top five. It’s the first time the team has started 0-2 under McGuyre — its second such finish since 2002. McGuyre said his team’s full response to those losses won’t become evident until the lights come up on Friday.
“The toughness comes out when things start becoming a challenge,” McGuyre said. “Our postgame meeting in Minnesota, I thought, was great. Spectacular leadership, and the right girls spoke up in the right ways. I think it’s been gritty in a good way — some ugly practices where we were really trying to work through some things. I think we have some more clarity in what we’re trying to do and accomplish, but the measuring stick is the match [on Friday]. We want to see that resolve.”
It wasn’t an easy weekend away — playing national title contenders back-to-back in hostile territory across the country never is. The team’s lack of seniors makes this season a unique challenge. But junior libero Lauren Briseño is confident the team can build on its early-season road trip.
“[We had] some really good conversations come out of this weekend,” Briseño said. “Obviously, we know that we have a lot of things that we can work on, and I think going into practices after the weekend, they have just been so much more intentional and dialed in than practices have been before. So it’s something that I’m really excited about.”
Briseño, along with sophomore opposite hitter Allie Sczech, stepped into a larger leadership role this season.
“I really do feel like Allie Sczech and I have been doing a really good job of not being afraid to tell people, ‘Hey, we need to refocus. We can get back in this game,’” Briseño said. “Allie and I have had those conversations … I’m really just trying to kind of go back on my freshman year when, you know, we had a team with 12 seniors … I think it’s really important for us to see what that leadership looks like and just copy right off of that.”
Among the new faces joining the team is Co-Big 12 Preseason Freshman of the Year Kyndal Stowers, who’s already leading the team in kills and service aces, not to mention being among the team’s dig leaders. Her all-around game is critical for the team’s scheme, and McGuyre praised her leadership following the losses.
“So excited about her, just the growth she’s going to have this season,” McGuyre said. “She’s one of the ones that I feel like we’re always going to be competitive and in a good place. She has that healthy balance of drive, skill, tenacity … She’s in a position where she’s asked to do every single skill of volleyball. Maybe others are focused on a couple areas, [but] she’s got that drive to try and be great in all those aspects.”
Sophomore defensive specialist Alexis Dacosta was also impressed by Stowers.
“You [couldn’t] tell she’s a freshman,” Dacosta said. “I think she does a good job of leading on the court and does a good job playing her role.”
Next up for the Bears is their home opener against Rice — a top-25 team whose season was ended by Baylor last year.
“I’m so hype,” Briseño said. “I think after this [past] weekend, we are very hungry to get after it and [are] just playing with a chip on our shoulders … And like, what a better way to do that than a top-25 matchup against Rice? So we’re really excited for sure.”
