Preview: No. 16 Volleyball Opens Season with Baylor Invitational

WACO, Texas -- The Baylor volleyball team will open its 2018 campaign by hosting the Hampton Inn & Suites Waco North Baylor Invitational Friday and Saturday at the Ferrell Center.

BU opens its season against (RV) LSU on Friday at 7 p.m. CT on Fox Sports Southwest Plus. On Saturday, the Bears play Texas State at 10:30 a.m. CT and then wrap up tournament play with a 7 p.m. match against (RV) Marquette.

Friday’s match against LSU will be the team’s #PackTheHouse Night where all tickets are $1. Saturday’s tickets will be $5 for general admission and $3 for groups of 12 or more.

The first 200 students to Friday’s match will receive a front-row wristband to next week’s Traditions Rally.

BAYLOR IN SEASON OPENERS
• Baylor volleyball will open its season at home for the 12th time, including for the third straight year.
• The Baylor volleyball program is 20-20 all-time in season openers, and 6-5 in season openers at home.
• Fourth-year head coach Ryan McGuyre is looking for his first victory to open a season at Baylor. He is currently 0-3 in season openers.
• Last season, BU dropped a four-set match to No. 15 Florida State at the Baylor Invitational in front of a record-breaking crowd of 3,617. In 2016, the Bears dropped a four-set decision to UTRGV. In McGuyre’s first season, the Bears dropped a three-set match to No. 12 Colorado State in Fort Collins to open the 2015 season.

BEARS VS. BAYLOR INVITATIONAL OPPONENTS
• Baylor is a combined 18-26-1 all-time against LSU, Texas State and Marquette.
• The Bears will look for the program’s first victory over the Golden Eagles this weekend.
• BU faced LSU and Texas State last season, prevailing in four sets at the Ferrell Center.
• Baylor is 2-0 against LSU and 3-0 against Texas State under head coach Ryan McGuyre.

BEARS GARNER PROGRAM-BEST NO. 16 PRESEASON RANKING
• No. 16 Baylor volleyball will open its season with its best AVCA preseason ranking in program history.
• Three of the four teams at this weekend’s tournament are either ranked or receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches Preseason Poll: No. 16 Baylor, RV Marquette and RV Colorado.
• Baylor earned a preseason ranking for only the second time in program history and first since its No. 21 ranking in 2000. 
• Baylor has 11 matches slated against ranked opponents or teams receiving votes, including: No. 3 Texas, No. 9 Wisconsin, No. 11 UCLA, No. 14 San Diego, No. 21 Iowa State, LSU, Marquette and Kansas.
• Dating back to last season, the Bears are playing in their 13th consecutive match as a ranked team.
• Baylor is the second-highest ranked Big 12 team behind No.3 Texas.

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
• With an 13-4 home record, Baylor matched its highest home win mark in program history during the 2017 season. Baylor went 13-1 during the 1999 campaign. 
• The Bears did not play a five-set match at the Ferrell Center last season, defeating seven opponents in straight sets and six in four sets.
• BU’s four home losses came to ranked teams or teams receiving votes last season (then-No. 15 Florida St., then-No. 11 Kansas, No. 2 Texas, RV Colorado).
• Baylor is 34-13 in home matches under fourth-year head coach Ryan McGuyre.

BAYLOR RECENTLY
• Baylor volleyball opened its preseason schedule with a five-set win in Denver, defeating the Pioneers 15-8 in the fifth set after being down 2-0 in the match and 20-15 in the third set.
• Yossiana Pressley led all players with 21 kills on 60 swings.
• Baylor outblocked the Pioneers, 13.0-8.5, and piled on six service aces.

LAST SEASON VS. LSU
• Down 17-12 in the fourth set, Baylor volleyball stormed back and secured a four-set win over LSU Sept. 13 at the Ferrell Center, 25-17, 23-25, 25-14, 26-24.
• Although the Tigers (8-2) outblocked the Bears 14.0-5.0, senior Katie Staiger’s seventh double-double of the season (15 kills, 13 digs) propelled the Bears to their second-straight victory over LSU.
• For the second-straight match, junior Aniah Philo set a career-high in digs, notching 21 vs. the Tigers along with senior Jana Brusek.

LAST SEASON VS. TEXAS STATE
• Baylor volleyball (8-3) continued its winning ways over Texas State (8-4) with a four-set triumph Sept. 15 at the Ferrell Center as part of the Jason’s Deli Baylor Classic, 25-27, 25-10, 25-13, 25-21.
• Katie Staiger led all players with 24 kills on an emphatic .412 hitting efficiency (3 errors, 51 swings). Shelly Fanning also contributed 12 kills while adding eight blocks at the net.
• Aniah Philo had another impressive night in the back row, notching 19 digs against Texas State and holding the Bobcats to a .042 attack effort.

MCGUYRE COMING UP ON CAREER WIN NO. 400
• Head coach Ryan McGuyre is two victories away from his 400th career win, currently sitting at 3987 career wins.
• He can capture his 400th career win as early as Saturday morning against Texas State.