By Bennett Parker | Sports Writer
Talent can only push a team so far, and head coach Ryan McGuyre has helped foster a highly praised culture for No. 17 Baylor volleyball. His team is off to a strong start while hoping its best play ahead of it as they hit the road for their first Big 12 matchups.
Culture isn’t just brought about by the coaching staff. Players have played a key role in setting the tone for the 2026 season, where Baylor (8-2) expects to be an upper-echelon squad in the country.
“They’re competitive,” McGuyre said. “We’re really gritty. They want to win every ball; we got to continue to be aggressive as a team … But they play with the joy. They play with the love for each other.”
The joy spreads from player to player, position to position across the hardwood.
“[I] really love the tone that our defensive specialist group set,” McGuyre said. “It carries over into our setters, to our middles, to our attackers. … I could go through each player and how they bring both the competitiveness, but also how they bring a great love and joy for each other.”
Culture like that isn’t easy to build, especially with the youth of a team like Baylor. The Bears have six true freshmen who have all bought in, but outside hitter Nadiya Johnson has stuck out among them.
“Every single girl who came in … they all had a lot of skill,” senior middle blocker Victoria Davis said. “But it’s exciting to see them grow into their fullest potential. … Like, [Johnson] was a baller coming in. But her growth since the first day in spring that we got her has been immaculate.”
Johnson joined the Bears as the No. 38 high school player in the country and the highest ranked in Virginia, and she has lived up to those rankings. She has connected on 82 kills this season at a .229 hitting percentage.
Baylor seems to have found a middle ground of holding teammates to a high standard while still being gracious and loving.
“It’s super easy to hold another person accountable,” sophomore setter Isabela Haggard said. “Just because we all know that we love each other and care for each other. But at the end of the day, we want the best for them. I feel like if I’m holding you accountable, I love you because I want you to be your best. A lot of teams don’t really get that.”
The Bears will have to lean on their individual skill over the course of Big 12 play, but a selfless team comes at a premium. Their first conference test starts with a road trip out west to face No. 22 BYU and Utah, who are 8-1 and 8-3, respectively.
“We’re taking both teams very, very, very seriously,” McGuyre said. “It’s the Big 12, and we know we’re on the road. So this early on in the season, these are the matches that can tip the scale on how things come out at the end.”
Baylor’s next match is against BYU at 9 p.m. Friday at George Albert Smith Fieldhouse in Provo, Utah. The match will be broadcast on FS1.
