Colorado Buffs vs Baylor Lady Bears, NCAA Volleyball Tournament, 8:00 PM CT, Preview & Game Thread

The 12th seeded Baylor Lady Bears take on the Colorado Buffs in the Second Round of the 2017 NCAA Volleyball Championship Tournament being hosted by Baylor tonight at 8:00 PM CT inside the Ferrell Center.

The winner of tonight’s match moves on to face either 5th seeded Nebraska or Washington State in the NCAA Sweet 16.

Live NCAA video streaming of tonight’s match is available via Baylor/CBS CollegeSportsLive.

Live Stats during tonight’s match are provided at the NCAA GameCenter.

Baylor swept Miami (Ohio) 19-25, 16-25 and 21-25 last night in the first round of the 2017 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournament at the Ferrell Center.

Miami pushed Baylor through the entirety of the match and took a substantial lead to start the 3rd set.

Yossiana Pressley led the Lady Bears with 18 points (17 kills) followed by Shelly Fanning with 14 points (11 kills) and Aniah Philo with 11 points (8 kills).

Jana Brusek had 19 digs for the Lady Bears, followed by Aniah Philo with 13 digs, Yossiana Pressley with 9 digs and Hannah Lockin with 7 digs.

Baylor had four different players record a service ace against the Redhawks (Fanning, Philo, Pressley and Brusek).

"It was a battle, for sure," Baylor Coach Ryan McGuyre said. "I'm not sure it was our sharpest or cleanest match, but the effort was there. For us, it always starts with great effort, and then we've got to be a little bit more technical with some of the things we're doing. Our defense, Jana, 19 digs, awesome, awesome job. She's just been passing lights-out. So, it opened the door for us to continue to do some great things."

• BU matched its most wins at home in program history (13). Baylor's 1999 squad finished 13-1 at home.
• Yossiana Pressley's 17 kills were a program-best in a postseason three-set match.
• Jana Brusek's 19 digs is the most digs in a three-set match in postseason history.
• BU has advanced to the NCAA Second Round for the second consecutive year under McGuyre.

Baylor Official Athletic Site

Buffs To Square off Against #18 Baylor In 2nd Round of NCAA Tournament - CUBuffs.com, Colorado improved to 23-9 after defeating James Madison in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, December 1. This is the first time since 1994 that the Buffs have recorded 23 wins in a single season.

Junior Alexa Smith leads the Buffs and ranks seventh in the Pac-12 with 3.97 kills per set, while junior Frankie Shebby is eighth in the conference with 3.51 kills per set. Junior Naghede Abu has the sixth best hitting percentage in the league (.354) and senior Anna Pfefferle is 10th (.316). Colorado's offense is directed by freshman setter Brynna DeLuzio. She ranks third in the Pac-12 with 11.07 assists per set average and has guided the Buffs to a .250 hitting efficiency.

Defensively the Buffs are led by Abu who has recorded 1.19 blocks per set (seventh in the Pac-12). Junior Gabby Carta-Samuels ranks eighth in the conference with a 3.50 digs per set mark.

Colorado and Baylor Sweep Their Way Into NCAA Round Two, VolleyMob, Colorado defeated JMU and Baylor took down Miami (OH) on Friday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in the Ferrell Center at Baylor. The Colorado Buffs have now won four first-round NCAA matches in a row and Baylor’s win helped them match their most home wins in program history. The two teams will face each other Saturday night at 8 p.m. as the Bears host Colorado.

Baylor volleyball cruises past Miami, Ohio in NCAA Tournament opener | The Baylor Lariat, Hosting its first NCAA tournament game in program history, Baylor volleyball refused to let the moment get the best of it.

Bouncing Bears elevate over Miami, 3-0, in NCAA volleyball tourney | Baylor Volleyball | wacotrib.com, One of Ryan McGuyre’s deepest desires is to give his players “the greatest volleyball experience of their lives.”

BACK IN THE SWING OF IT, Baylor Official Athletic Site, Shelly Fanning has never had to look too far to find the silver lining in the darkest of clouds. She sees God’s blessings in even the toughest of times.

Just a year ago, Baylor’s 6-foot-2 middle blocker was sidelined with a stress reaction in her left shin and arthritis in her left foot. After earning Big 12 All-Freshman and second-team all-conference honors the year before, the sophomore from Cypress, Texas, had to sit out the entire 2016 season, including the Bears’ first NCAA tournament appearance in five years.

Still, Fanning said it was “just as special last year watching my teammates play the game they love. Being able to be a part of that in either role is pretty awesome.”