By Jackson Posey | Sports Writer
Nine days after upsetting then-No. 14 Arizona State, No. 14 Baylor volleyball is set to play its fifth ranked opponent of the season, traveling to Fort Worth, Texas to take on No. 22 TCU Sunday afternoon on ESPN.
Baylor (10-3, 2-0) is back on a hot streak after overcoming early-season struggles to score in the opening set. Since losing to Texas on Sept. 18, the Bears are 3-0 in opening sets, including a 25-14 tidal wave against Hawaii.
A big part of that run has been Lauren Briseño. The senior libero and reigning All-Big 12 Second Team member just earned her second Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week award for her efforts against Arizona and now-No. 15 Arizona State last week. Briseño notched 17 digs against the Wildcats and recorded her second double-double of the season against the Sun Devils with 21 digs and 10 assists.
Early on, TCU (10-3, 2-1) has proven to be tough but beatable to its common opponents. The Horned Frogs lost their opening set to Rice, whom the Bears swept, and were swept by Arizona State before sweeping Arizona, both of whom Baylor beat in four. Like Baylor, they lost to Wisconsin and beat Minnesota in five sets during the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge.
Offensively, all eyes will be on TCU senior outside hitter Melanie Parra, who’s generating 5.2 kills per set at a .285 clip. The Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year’s volume scoring is the cornerstone of the Horned Frogs’ attack — only one other player on the team averages at least 2.5 kills per set, and Parra’s 296 points dwarf the rest of the Big 12. Only two other players in the conference have reached 200 points.
Baylor’s scoring attack continues to look a lot more balanced. Three hitters — junior opposite hitter Allie Sczech, senior outside hitter Elise McGhee and sophomore outside hitter Kendal Murphy — scored between 19-25 kills against the Arizona schools, while six Bears are averaging at least two points per set. A lot of that success is owed to the front line, where senior middle blocker Manuela Bibinbe (48 kills, 41 blocks) and redshirt junior middle blocker Alicia Andrew (79 kills, 32 blocks) give Baylor a consistently strong middle.
One notable coaching subplot will be sure to pervade this game: Baylor head coach Ryan McGuyre is 1-5 against his former assistants. One of these is TCU head coach Jason Williams, who has won three straight against the Bears, leaving McGuyre 1-3. With the green and gold riding their hot streak, they’ll have an opportunity to take down a rival Sunday at 2 p.m. on ESPN.
