Volleyball primed for 3rd straight NCAA tournament appearance

Before Baylor volleyball head coach Ryan McGuyre came to Waco in 2015, the program’s best Big 12 finish was a tie for fourth place in 2009, and the team had made the NCAA tournament just four times in 34 seasons.

In four years under McGuyre, Baylor has now finished as Big 12 runner-ups twice and has made the NCAA tournament three times in four seasons.

After claiming second place in the Big 12 again this fall, the 25th-ranked Bears are headed to Oregon to open the NCAA tournament, where they’ll begin their postseason run Thursday evening against Hawaii. The winner of that match will face either the host team, 15th-ranked Oregon, or New Mexico State in the second round on Friday.

[WATCH highlights of Baylor’s unique selection show gathering]

This marks Baylor’s third straight NCAA tournament appearance — the longest streak in program history. It’s also a next step for a team that ministered in Mexico over the summer and acknowledged they were “dreaming big” heading into the season, working to build a program culture of service off the court and excellence on it.

Baylor enters the tournament with momentum, having won seven of their last eight matches to climb back in the top 25. This year’s squad was led by a pair of unanimous first-team All-Big 12 selections in sophomore outside hitter Yossiana Pressley, who topped the Big 12 in kills, and junior middle blocker Shelly Fanning, who led the conference with a .401 hitting percentage and finished in the top five in blocks.

Sic ’em, Baylor volleyball!