By Bennett Parker | Sports Writer
In the transfer portal, rising sophomore setter Isabela Haggard had six visits set up. Baylor wasn’t one of them.
She committed to the Bears in December in an unexpected turn to her offseason. She is now leading No. 18 Baylor volleyball (7-2) in more ways than one.
Haggard already had a decorated career entering the transfer portal, starting back at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, where she won multiple district MVPs and notched over 3,000 assists, 1,300 digs and 950 kills.
“I would say any day of the week that I would go back and play high school volleyball,” Haggard said. “You learn so much about who you are as a player … and learn how to be a leader and get other people to fight around you and compete.”
Her impressive high school tenure earned her some attention from colleges like Indiana, Western Kentucky and Utah. But an impressive coaching staff is what lured Haggard up to Marquette, located in the heart of Milwaukee.
“I was really looking forward to play for those coaches,” Haggard said. “But they left. They’re the current Florida coaches now, so I thought whenever they left, like Marquette volleyball, it kind of took a toll.”
The coaches left a hole on the team, but Haggard and the Golden Eagles still put together a great season with an 18-11 record, and Haggard didn’t have her heart set on leaving.
“I was never going to transfer,” Haggard said. “Even the day before the transfer portal opened, I wasn’t sure if I was going to leave. … I had the Big East Freshman of the Year, and whenever that happened, I think that was my sign from God, honestly, to get into the portal.”
The transfer portal process was a quick one, and that was when Haggard’s belief in God began to inform her steps to Baylor.
“Coach [Ryan McGuyre] texted me on day two of the portal and was interested,” Haggard said. “Had a really good phone call, and he asked me my testimony. That was the first question. I was like, ‘What in the world?’ … I had never combined my faith in volleyball before.”
Haggard’s relationship with God was a big part of her decision and love for Baylor, but she didn’t hear back from McGuyre for a couple of days after the call.
“[Two days] is so long in the transfer portal,” Haggard said. “A lot can happen in a day, but my BYU visit got canceled on Wednesday, and I was supposed to be going on Thursday. And [McGuyre] texts me on Wednesday night … I said, ‘I can come tomorrow.’ And he was like, ‘Okay, we’ll make this happen.'”
Around midnight of that Wednesday, flights were booked, and Haggard was on a plane Thursday morning.
“Baylor was a huge opening, and [God] was there every single step of the way,” Haggard said. “I couldn’t have planned it the way it happened … Every single thing lined up so perfectly, and it was just so awesome; it was truly a calling from God to come here.”
Flash forward to now, and Haggard is still leading her team in assists while enjoying the benefits of a Christian university at Baylor.
“She’s competitive,” McGuyre said after the win over Incarnate Word, where Haggard had another impressive game. “She just really wants to win, so she’ll do whatever it takes. I thought she brought energy to finish, brought energy to start, and made some plays and executed those things well.”
While leading by example on the court, Haggard has also become a vocal leader, despite it just being her first season with the Bears.
“When I got here, I was super hesitant,” Haggard said. “I did not have a voice, but now, I would definitely say I’m one of the leaders … because of my position, I feel like I need to have that voice and need to be demanding on the court.”
Haggard’s leadership is clear, yelling encouragements between every point in the huddle. The value of a player who leads by both example and word is an invaluable asset for Baylor, but she attributes it all back to her teammates and her God.
“I feel like [the team] is just super close from praying and believing,” she said. “The fruits of the spirit are so much more pronounced at Baylor … it’s super easy to hold another person accountable because we all know that we love each other … at the end of the day I want the best for them.”
Baylor wasn’t on the radar for Haggard, but it seems there was a plan for her to be in Waco. She is set up for success with the Bears, where her faith, leadership and talent are of equal value in the equation of another impressive season.
