BAYLOR BEARS (16-4, 13-3 Big 12) Location: Waco, Texas   Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Ryan McGuyre (Biola, 1998) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF)
	HOUSTON COUGARS (12-2, 8-0 American) Location: Houston, Texas Conference: American Athletic Conference Head Coach: David Rehr (South Florida, 1997)  Roster | Stats
	RICE OWLS (13-3, 12-0 C-USA) Location: Houston, Texas  Conference: Conference USA Head Coach: Genny Volpe (Texas A&M, 1995) Roster | Stats

 
BAYLOR (16-4) at HOUSTON (12-2)
Thursday, March 18, 2021 • 6 p.m. CT
Houston, Texas • Fertitta Center
Live Stats: baylorstats.com
WATCH: ESPN+

BAYLOR (16-4) at RICE (13-3)
Friday, March 19, 2021 • 6 p.m. CT
Houston, Texas • Tudor Fieldhouse
Live Stats: baylorstats.com
WATCH: C-USA TV

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By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            With the finish line now in sight, the sixth-ranked Baylor volleyball team (16-4) will face Houston (12-2) and Rice (13-3) in their final road trip of the season. 
            The Bears, coming off a 3-0 sweep of Texas State, will face Houston at 6 p.m. Thursday at the University of Houston's Fertitta Center and then travel across town to face Rice at 6 p.m. Friday at the Tudor Fieldhouse. 
            "Obviously, (Houston is) a great team," said senior setter Hannah Sedwick, who was named the Sports Impacts/AVCA National Player of the Week and Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week. "We just have to go play Baylor volleyball to win, and it's going to take our 100%. We don't want to dip down to 99 (%). We just need to keep our standard."
            Sedwick has shared setter duties for most of the season with fourth-year junior Callie Williams, but went solo against Texas State and had 45 assists in the three-set sweep at Texas State. 
For the first time in the Ryan McGuyre era, the Bears had four players record double-digit kills in a three-set match, with All-American Yossiana Pressley peppering the court with a match-high 14 kills, Lauren Harrison and Marieke van der Mark 11 apiece and Kara McGhee 10. 
            "We were kind of struggling with rhythm, so we went with one (setter) and the night flowed," McGuyre said. "We do a lot of setter compare stuff, and they both bring a lot of great qualities. Just look at the Pepperdine match, where we hit the fifth set and Callie gets the win. She brings a great wager and toughness to her. if anything, she was fired up about it. Sometimes, you need rhythm, and sometimes you need fire."
            Houston, which did not play a fall schedule, clinched the American Athletic Conference West Division title with Saturday's 3-0 sweep of Memphis. Rice, playing a spring-only schedule as well, finished off its first-ever undefeated conference slate (12-0) with a 3-0 win over UTEP on Monday and comes into Friday's match with the nation's fifth-longest active winning streak. 
            Baylor will close out the regular season with home matches against No. 2 Texas (20-0) on March 26 and Texas State (27-7) on April 1. The NCAA Championship selections will be announced on Sunday, April 4, with the 48-team tournament beginning April 14 in Omaha, Neb. 
            "It probably takes a couple of months to get into good volleyball shape," said McGuyre, whose team was 13-3 in the fall. "I can't just go from not jumping for a month or two and then go jump 120 times or 140 times and have my leg recover and feel explosive. I think trying to rebuild that foundation has meant a lot of light practices, slower-paced practices, while the team probably feels like it's been three-hour, back-to-back practices. I think we're doing the best with what we have."
 
 
 STORYLINES

WHAT'S POPPIN'

• No. 6 Baylor heads to H-Town for a pair of road matches against Houston and Rice this week.
• This will be BU's final road trip of the regular-season, with just two home matches remaining on the calendar before the NCAA Tournament.
• Baylor bounced back from its loss at No. 2 Texas with a dominating 3-0 sweep at Texas State last week with eye-popping offensive numbers.
• For the first time in the Ryan McGuyre era, four players eclipsed double-digit kills in a 3-0 sweep.
• The Bears hit .398 as a team in the victory, as Hannah Sedwick spread the ball around with 45 total assists in just the three sets.

AGAINST THE COUGARS

• Baylor is riding a five-match winning streak against Houston, dating back to 2003.
• However, U of H leads the all-time series 30-6, having won each of the first 24 meetings.
• Since 1993, the Bears and Cougars have split the series with six wins apiece.
• Under sixth-year head coach Ryan McGuyre, the Bears have won their only meeting against the Cougars, a 3-1 decision in Waco last season.

AGAINST THE OWLS

• BU has won seven in a row against Rice, dating back to 1998.
• Under McGuyre, the Bears are 2-0 vs the Owls.
• Most recently, Baylor won a 3-1 match in Waco in 2018.
• This will be BU's first match at Rice since 2013.

HANNAH SET-WICK

• After an outstanding 45-assist performance in which she averaged 15 assists per set at Texas State last week, senior setter Hannah Sedwick was named the Sports Impacts/AVCA National Player of the Week.
• She was also honored as the Big 12's Offensive Player of the Week.
• The Des Moines, Iowa, native was electric in the Bears' only match last week, spreading the ball around as four teammates tallied at least 10 kills, a program first under McGuyre in three-set matches.
• Sedwick also added three kills and five digs.
• Sedwick becomes Baylor's fifth AVCA National Player of the Week recipient in program history and the first since Yossiana Pressley earned the title on Sept. 10, 2019.
• Sedwick picked up her fifth career Big 12 weekly award, third as offensive player of the week and first of the 2020-21 campaign.
• Baylor leads the conference with nine Big 12 weekly honors this season.