By Jackson Posey | Sports Writer
It’s the most wonderful time of the year.
Leaves are changing colors, Christmas trees are beginning to peak around eager corners and Baylor volleyball is back in the tournament.
“It’s really fun,” head coach Ryan McGuyre said. “One, because it’s a lot to be thankful for. So many teams are done. Seasons are over, scrambling. Transfer portal’s going crazy. But we just get to focus on serving and passing today in practice, and defense.”
This isn’t a new phenomenon. McGuyre has led the Bears to the playoffs in eight straight seasons, including a run to the national semifinals in 2019. But this year featured more challenges, as a senior-less roster navigated a back-to-back heavy schedule and a midseason injury to standout freshman outside hitter Kyndal Stowers.
“We’ve had to be road warriors this year,” McGuyre said. “I’m always encouraged by — especially this year — how our girls get along and how resilient they’ve been. And so to extend the season means to be able to spend more quality time with them and watch them sharpen each other. So, excited about it. … You can’t take it for granted.”
The Bears are hitting their stride at the right time. After a three-game skid against TCU and Kansas earlier this month, they rattled off a dominant sweep of West Virginia and a four-set win over Houston to close out a 16-12 regular season. The team finished 10-8 in the Big 12, with seven of the losses coming to other tournament teams (BYU, Iowa State, Texas, TCU and Kansas).
The strength of the Big 12 paired with a tough nonconference slate, as the Bears have played 12 ranked teams and have the 13th-hardest strength of schedule in the nation. The difficult matchups have kept the Bears hanging around in the AVCA Top 25 poll. Baylor currently sits at No. 23, one spot above Houston and behind conference foes Texas (No. 5), Kansas (No. 15) and BYU (No. 16).
“As you go through [the] season, you expect to see growth no matter what,” junior outside hitter Elise McGhee, who leads the team with 381 kills, said. “I feel like we obviously turn it on at the right time, and I’m really excited that we’re obviously going to the tournament playing really great volleyball.”
Baylor’s first-round opponent, seventh-seeded James Madison (21-9, 12-4) is 1-3 against ranked teams and 4-6 on the road. The Dukes have mostly found success at home, going 13-1 at the JMU Convocation Center. Still, on paper, they’re the favorites to make it out of the first round.
“At the end of the day, you have to take what’s given to you, so to me, there’s no value in being disappointed, discouraged, whatever,” McGuyre said. “We welcome the challenge; we look forward to it. Still a ranked team, still doing well, probably should’ve been a seed, but we’re going to Kentucky, and I’m not losing sleep over that.”
The first-round match will get underway at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday in the Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky. The Bears will face the winner of Kentucky-Wofford at 6 p.m. on Friday. The Wildcats, who won the SEC this season, are riding a 16-game winning streak.
