No. 16 Baylor VB Heads West for Two-Match Road Swing in Arizona

[Roberts, Matt]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – Oct. 7, 2025

No. 16 Baylor VB Heads West for Two-Match Road Swing in Arizona
BU opens the trip against No. 8 Arizona State on Wednesday
For more information, contact: Matt Roberts, 254-227-2280, WM_Roberts at Baylor.edu<mailto:WM_Roberts at Baylor.edu>
Volleyball Media Materials: https://baylorbea.rs/vbmedia


TEMPE, Ariz. – No. 16 Baylor volleyball readies for its fifth ranked matchup in its last seven contests when it faces off against No. 8 Arizona State on Wednesday night at Desert Financial Arena.

The Bears enter on the heels of their first conference loss of the season against No. 18 Kansas. But in a meeting of two of the top three teams in the Big 12 standings, head coach Ryan McGuyre and his Baylor team know that Wednesday is another big opportunity as they strive towards their ultimate goal.

"The Big 12 is really, really deep,” he said. “Every match is going to have an impact on how the final standings shake out. We want to be able to win these two to put ourselves back in the driver’s seat for the Big 12 Championship, but Arizona State and Arizona both play well at home, so we are going to need to be at our best.”

Arizona State and Colorado are the only teams without a conference loss this season, as the Sun Devils enter on a 19-game conference winning streak. Its only Big 12 loss since joining the conference was against the Bears in Waco last September. Redshirt sophomore Harley Kreck knows that is a feather in the cap of the green and gold, but also a motivating factor for the No. 8 team in the country.

“We definitely have a good track record against them, and they're a good team,” she said. “With us beating them last year, in a close game, I know they're also going to be extra motivated to get us this year. It's going to be a fist fight from start to finish, no matter how many sets it takes. Neither team can take any plays off, because we are both going to be super motivated, because this one could be for all the marbles when all is said and done. There’s a lot to prove here, so there will be an emphasis on not sitting down and not being content until the game is over.”

As Kreck enters 12 assists shy of 500 for her career, senior Manuela Bibinbe enters Wednesday a block shy of 200 and continues to close in on 500 kills, but the only number she cares about is getting two wins this week.

"When I compete and I'm on the court, I don't think about those things," she said. "When I step on the floor, my thought is, how can I help this team? How can I get Baylor to the standard that has been set? Those records are great, but I truly don't care about those numbers. I just want to win, and I want this team to win."

A win for Baylor would be the Bears’ first in the state of Arizona since 2005, and they get a chance to get it on Wednesday night as Braiden Bell and Kelly Burke will have the call on ESPN+<https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/443b4ff2-fb92-46fa-a351-a84423789762> from Tempe, beginning at 9 p.m. CT. Live stats are available at BaylorBears.com/stats.<https://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statmonitr.php?gid=bay>
Single-game tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at Baylorbears.com.<https://baylorbears.evenue.net/list/VB> Follow @BaylorVball on X, Instagram and Facebook for additional updates.

—Baylorbears.com—


Matt Roberts | Director of Athletic Communications
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
C: 254-227-2280
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