Baylor volleyball plays Rice University in Houston tonight in a matchup of two teams who entered the season with major expectations but are currently struggling. The Bears were expected to improve after coming within a game of the NCAA Tournament last season, and Rice was picked by the coaches to win Conference USA in the preseason polls. Both teams look to pull themselves back to .500 after poor starts.

No. 7 Baylor soccer toppled Cal Poly 4-0 on Friday for its 14th straight home win and then faced McNeese State in a 0-0 draw on Sunday to keep their 29 game unbeaten streak alive. The Bears have not lost a match in the last 387 days.

The Bears got off to an early start against Cal Poly with a header by senior midfielder Kat Ludlow, who scored off a long free kick, which senior defender Taylor Heatherly took. Baylor had trouble finishing on Sunday, getting shut out despite taking 32 shots.

The Bears went 2-1 over the weekend with two wins against Appalachian State and Northwestern State before falling in the Baylor Invitational final against Colorado in straight sets.

Baylor won their first match of the weekend against Northwestern State 3-1 on Friday. The sets were 25-19, 25-17, 21-25 and 25-23.

Despite taking 32 shots, No. 7 Baylor soccer could not put one in the net, resulting in a 0-0 draw with the McNeese State Cowgirls on Sunday. The draw ends Baylor’s (6-0-2) 14-game home winning streak, but the Bears keep their current 29-game unbeaten streak alive.

“It was very frustrating, senior midfielder Kat Ludlow said. “It was very frustrating to be on the field and have them outfight us. They really did. They outfought us and that’s a learning lesson right there for the rest of the season.”

Baylor’s equestrian team scrimmaged Saturday with an exhibition meet against Southern Methodist University. Baylor won Western 6-4 but lost Hunterseat 7-5 and the overall competition after a tiebreaker was enforced.

Baylor’s head coach Ellen White remained upbeat after the meet.

“It was exactly what we wanted to do,” said White.

It was an opportunity to see which players were going to step up and to work out the kinks of hosting an event, White said.

Baylor volleyball ended the three match Baylor Invitational tournament with a loss to Colorado. The Bears lost the match in straight sets, losing 25-21, 25-23 and 25-11.

After the match, Colorado improved to 8-1 while Baylor fell to 4-7. For the tournament, Baylor finished with a record of 2-1.

Baylor could not get consistent performance offensively, finishing with 25 total kills for the match. The Bears hit .035 over the three sets, including a -.156 in the deciding third set.

Senior outside hitter Zoe Adom led the team with seven kills while sophomore outside hitter Laura Jones added six. No other player finished with more than four. A night after limiting themselves to 19 total errors, Baylor had 34 total errors.

The Bears played two matches in the Baylor Invitational on Friday, winning against both Northwestern State and Appalachian State.

The second match against Appalachian State on Friday night, winning in straight sets. They won sets 29-27, 25-20 and 25-15.

The win was their second win of the day, after beating Northwestern State University in their first match. The Bears record improved to 4-6 after Friday’s matches, while Appalachian State falls to 6-3.

No. 7 Baylor posted another shutout en route to its 14th straight home win with a 4-0 victory over Cal Poly on Friday at Betty Lou Mays Field.

Baylor (6-0-1) handed Cal Poly (4-1-0) it’s first loss of the season by shutting down one of the best scorers in the nation in sophomore forward Elise Krieghoff, who came into this game having scored 10 goals.