No. 21 Baylor VB Set for Top-25 Tussle at No. 2 Texas

[Roberts, Matt]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – Sept. 18, 2025

No. 21 Baylor VB Set for Top-25 Tussle at No. 2 Texas
BU is facing its second ranked opponent in five days
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


AUSTIN, Texas – No. 21 Baylor volleyball (6-2) travels to Austin on Friday night for its final non-conference showdown against No. 2 Texas (7-0) at 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network.

The matchup marks the 97th all-time meeting between the Bears and Longhorns, the most against any opponent in Baylor program history. Meeting every season since 1982, Texas leads the series 92-4, with Baylor seeking its fifth all-time victory in the series and its first win in Austin in 48 previous tries.

Head coach Ryan McGuyre has liked the way his team has competed against elite competition this season, pushing No. 10 SMU and No. 11 Florida to five-sets each, and knows getting off to a good start will be key in a tough road environment.

“A fast start is going to be big for us,” he said. “We did a good job of doing that last match, but you certainly don’t want to get in a hole early and feel like you are fighting the whole entire night to get back in it. We’re going to have to fight, we’re going to have to weather some storms, but we want to compete the way we know how right out of the gate.”

Baylor enters Friday’s match on the heels of a commanding 3-0 sweep at UCF to open conference play. The Bears delivered 11 service aces in the win—their most in a three-set match since 2023—behind a career-high five from setter Harley Kreck and a season-best four from outside hitter MJ McCurdy. Freshman Bailey Warren recorded her first-career double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs, while freshman Ksenia Rakhmanchik tallied eight in the sweep.

The Bears are averaging 13.56 kills per set on .255 hitting this season, paced by Bibinbe (2.97 k/s) and Warren (2.40 k/s). Defensively, graduate transfer Gabrielle Essix is seventh in the Big 12, averaging 1.34 blocks per set, and freshman libero Morgan Madison is eighth in the league at 3.50 digs per set.

Alex Loeb and Shelby Coppedge will have the call from the state capital on the SEC Network,<https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/1a7a8871-f0ac-42f1-8fc6-998c88452ff5> beginning at 6 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—
2025 Season Honors
Victoria Davis
Preseason All-Big 12 (8/6)

Gabbi Essix
Preseason All-Big 12 (8/6)

Morgan Madison
Big 12 Rookie of the Week (9/2)



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