By Foster Nicholas | Sports Editor
As part of its search for consistency and grounded confidence, No. 20 Baylor volleyball has an opportunity to showcase its growth against No. 8 Texas in the first non-conference battle between the two programs since 1979 at 8 p.m. Wednesday in the Ferrell Center.
Head coach Ryan McGuyre and the Bears (7-2) are 1-1 against ranked opponents this year and will clash with the back-to-back national champion Longhorns one week before the team is set to open Big 12 play.
“To be the best, we’ve got to beat the best. And right now, it’s their title until someone dethrones them. But we want to be a team that’s got some true grit this year,” McGuyre said. “No matter what, we get better. Weaknesses are exploited.”
Leading the green and gold with 102 kills, senior outside hitter Elise McGhee relishes the opportunity to test the Bears’ skills against a former Big 12 rival. The senior will play the Longhorns for the seventh time on Wednesday with a 1-5 record against them. With only one shot to clash with Texas in her final collegiate season, the stakes are higher than ever.
“I don’t think that pre-conference or conference really matters. At the end of the day, I think we all want to beat them. We all want to win,” McGhee said. “Knowing that this is our one and only opportunity to play them, versus, like, in conference where you might get two tries — I feel like it just makes it more amplified.”
Although the Longhorns’ 3-3 record signifies struggles, at least on paper, all their losses have come to teams currently ranked or receiving votes. The squad is coming off a sweep of Houston and a 3-0 loss to No. 2 Stanford on Sunday. For junior opposite hitter Allie Sczech, however, Texas’ record has no indication of how prepared and skilled the defending national champions are.
“I think they’re just like any other Texas team. They’re really successful, they have a lot of big people on their team, and they touch really high. So I think it’s just the same goal we’ve had in the past; just keep the ball high and we’ll be successful,” Sczech said.
Knowing that the Bears are coming off the heels of back-to-back home victories against LSU and Samford in the Baylor Invitational can lend fans hope for a possible win. On the other hand, McGuyre is 2-18 against Texas all-time, with the Bears only tallying four victories against the program in team history. The most recent win came at home on Nov. 6, 2021, against an undefeated Longhorns team that was No. 1 in the nation.
“We know, in our gym, what it feels like to play great volleyball. So, we’re just trying to make that happen all the time, more frequently. You just want to make sure that Baylor at its best can beat anybody at their best,” McGuyre said. “But also, us at our worst is still better than anyone else at their best.”
Baylor dropped each of its final Big 12 matchups against Texas in Austin a year ago but snagged the first two sets of the conference doubleheader, ultimately falling in five sets. Texas junior setter Averi Carlson will make her return to Waco on Wednesday after she transferred in December. Carlson was an All-Big 12 Second Teamer in 2023 and won 2022 Big 12 Freshman of the Year wearing the green and gold.
“I think it’s just business as usual,” Sczech said. “We have a lot of respect for her, and she has a lot of respect for us. We’re all still pretty good friends. I think it’s just going to be treated like a normal match that we have. We’re going to prepare for it the same way. We’re going to train the same way, we’re going to do the things we do before every match leading up, so I think we’ll be successful.”
First serve for the 98th meeting between the Bears and Longhorns is scheduled for 8 p.m. at the Ferrell Center.