By Jeffrey Cohen | Sports Writer
No. 22 Baylor volleyball was selected Sunday to play Arkansas State as the No. 6 seed in the lower left quadrant of the NCAA Tournament.
The Bears will play the Red Wolves at 3:30 p.m. Thursday in West Lafayette, Ind. The game marks the 10th consecutive tournament appearance for the Bears, all under head coach Ryan McGuyre.
“We’ve been able to be consistent … to be in 10 years in a row,” McGuyre said.
The streak began in 2016, when Baylor finished the regular season with a 21-11 record and made it to the second round before being eliminated by UCLA. The program has not missed the postseason since, including a Final Four appearance in 2019.
The emotions of making the tournament still stick with McGuyre, despite that being the Bears’ standard.
“I remember the first time we got in at Baylor, and just the joy on the faces of everyone,” McGuyre said. “It’s a cherished opportunity, not everybody has it.”
Baylor (17-9, 12-6 Big 12) is matched up against Arkansas State (22-8, 12-4 Sun Belt) in the first round. The Red Wolves are coming off a Sun Belt tournament championship, topping Southern Miss, Texas State and James Madison to reach their seventh conference title.
“I’m headed straight back to the office to do my homework,” McGuyre said. “We’ve looked at Arkansas State, and they got to go through their mini tournament to get there and crawl their way up to the top.”
The Bears’ first-round match will be hosted by No. 3 seed Purdue, with the winner advancing to face the winner of Purdue and Wright State. Their quadrant is also headlined by No. 1 seed Pittsburgh and No. 2 seed SMU, who beat Baylor 3-2 on Aug. 30.
“It’s always exciting being able to explore new places in the United States and also play a bunch of new teams,” junior middle blocker Victoria Davis said. “They all have great players, so we’re very excited to be there.”
The Bears are rolling into the field of 64 on a three-match winning streak. They secured 3-1 victories over Houston and Texas Tech and completed the season sweep over No. 20 TCU in the season finale.
“We have a ton of momentum, and we’re playing our best volleyball right now,” sophomore outside hitter MJ McCurdy said. “You don’t want to play your best volleyball in August, you want to play your best volleyball in November or December.”
This appearance is the 14th in program history. The 10-appearance streak follows the inaugural 1999 trip as well as berths in 2009 and 2011.
Baylor faces off against Arkansas State at 3:30 p.m. Thursday at Holloway Gymnasium in West Lafayette, Ind. The match will be streamed on ESPN+.
