One side arrives with the country’s leading blocker. The other just put 50 kills on the floor in a three-set match.
That is a worthy way to open Big 12 play.
No. 22 BYU hosts No. 17 Baylor on Friday at the Smith Fieldhouse in the first conference match for both teams. The Cougars are 8-1 and have won five straight. Baylor is 8-2 with three straight wins. FS1 has the national broadcast, and the result will give one ranked team an immediate place at the front of the conference race.
BYU-Baylor watch information
| Match detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Match | No. 22 BYU vs. No. 17 Baylor |
| Date | Friday, Sept. 25, 2026 |
| Broadcast window | 8 p.m. MDT on FS1 |
| First serve | Approximately 8:05 p.m. MDT |
| Venue | Smith Fieldhouse, Provo, Utah |
| TV/stream | FS1 live page with participating TV-provider access |
| Live stats | BYU StatBroadcast hub |
| Tickets | BYU women’s volleyball tickets |
| Radio | No official radio listing published |
| Permanent event page | BYU volleyball schedule |
BYU’s official event record lists 2026-09-26 at 02:00 UTC, which converts to 8 p.m. MDT Friday in Provo. The event is not marked TBA. BYU’s match preview says first serve will come at 8:05 p.m., while the schedule and FS1 window begin at 8.
Fans streaming FS1 may need a participating television provider or an eligible FOX service. Neither school lists a radio broadcast. StatBroadcast is the verified second-screen option, and the permanent BYU schedule page will retain the event after the live links change.
BYU’s block has to solve more than one hitter
Kelli Jo Burgess is the obvious starting point. The BYU middle enters conference play at 1.87 blocks per set, first in the nation according to BYU’s official preview. Her 56 total blocks also lead the Big 12. She earned the conference’s Defensive Player of the Week award in consecutive weeks, the latest after 14 blocks across BYU’s wins over Utah Valley and Weber State.
Baylor will not make her job simple by feeding one predictable pin.
In last Friday’s 25-20, 25-21, 25-22 sweep of UTEP, the Bears finished with 50 kills on .336 hitting. Ksenia Rakhmanchik had 15 kills, Bailey Warren had 11, and setter Isabela Haggard handed out 45 assists. Baylor produced 19 kills in the first set alone.
The more revealing number was two. Baylor recorded only two team blocks and still won in straight sets. Its offense carried the night.
That makes BYU’s first contact important before Burgess ever jumps. If the Cougar serve pushes Baylor off the net, Haggard has fewer quick options and BYU’s block can close toward the pins. If Baylor passes cleanly, Haggard can make Burgess and Brooke Hardy read across the full width of the net.
Haggard is coming off the Big 12 Setter of the Week award. Baylor credits her with 82 assists over seven sets in wins against Incarnate Word and UTEP. She also contributed five blocks, three aces and 10 digs during the two-match Baylor Classic. Those secondary numbers matter because BYU cannot treat her as a stationary distributor.
Baylor’s comeback habit is a warning
UTEP led Baylor 18-11 in the third set last Friday. The Bears answered with an 11-2 run and finished the sweep.
That stretch was not one player bailing out a broken rotation. MJ McCurdy entered late and supplied two kills during the rally. Rakhmanchik and Nadiya Johnson added consecutive kills to move Baylor in front, and Victoria Davis joined the closing block. Baylor found another answer after its starting rhythm had stalled.
The Baylor Lariat’s account of the match reaches the same useful conclusion from courtside: McCurdy’s limited action changed the set, while Haggard still had several attackers she trusted.
BYU cannot assume a five-point run has ended a set. The Cougars need to close cleanly, especially when the Fieldhouse crowd gives them a chance to stretch a lead. Baylor has already shown that a rough first half of a set does not force it into one desperate attack lane.
BYU has its own depth answer. During last week’s three sweeps, Claire Little Chambers led the Cougars with 32 kills on .386 hitting. Elli Mortensen added 24 kills at .422, while Sophia Callahan, Anna Blamires, Kate Prior and Burgess also reached double figures for the week. Setters Kaylie Kofe and Alex Bower kept both pins and the middle involved.
That distribution is more than pleasant box-score symmetry. Baylor’s block cannot camp on Little Chambers if Mortensen is scoring efficiently and Burgess is available on the quick set. BYU’s offense is hardest to defend when Kofe and Bower make the opponent honor all three front-row zones.
The number to watch is transition quality
BYU hit .417 across nine sets last week and held its three in-state opponents to .125. The Cougars averaged 3.11 blocks per set during that run. Over the full season, BYU enters Friday at .304 hitting, 10th nationally, with 2.8 blocks per set.
Those are strong numbers, but the opponent quality changes Friday. Baylor’s two losses came against No. 1 Nebraska and then-No. 17 Florida. The Bears were swept by Nebraska, yet reached at least 20 points in every set: 25-20, 25-22 and 26-24. This is not a team whose record was built without seeing a serious block.
The match should turn on what happens after the first dig or block touch. A soft BYU block that rises cleanly to the setter can become a quick middle attack before Baylor resets. A touch that flies into the stands counts the same in the block column’s neighborhood, but it does nothing for the next swing. The Cougars need playable touches, not a hunt for spectacular stuff blocks.
Baylor has the same challenge in reverse. The Bears allowed UTEP to hit .245 and were outblocked 8-2. They escaped because their offense produced 16 more kills. That exchange becomes harder to sustain against a BYU team holding opponents to .125 over its last three matches.
Three early checks should reveal which side has control:
- Is BYU’s serve moving Haggard away from the middle of the net?
- Are Burgess and Hardy turning block touches into playable transition balls?
- Can Baylor keep Rakhmanchik efficient without forcing every high-pressure swing to her?
The ace total may look dramatic, but those three questions will say more about the match.
A tied series and an immediate conference test
The all-time series is tied 2-2. BYU swept Baylor in Provo in 2023 and 2024. Baylor won last year’s meeting in Waco in five sets. Friday is only the Bears’ third visit to the Smith Fieldhouse, and it is BYU’s second ranked home match of the season after the four-set loss to then-No. 2 Pittsburgh.
There is no soft opening week behind this one. BYU leaves next week for consecutive road matches at Kansas State on Thursday, Oct. 1, and No. 19 Kansas on Friday, Oct. 2. A win Friday would send the Cougars into that trip with a ranked conference result and their home floor protected. A loss would make the Sunflower State swing an early recovery assignment.
The BYU volleyball hub has the current roster and season links. The results page will keep the final and set score after FS1 signs off. For now, the matchup is clean: BYU’s block against a Baylor offense that has enough answers to survive when its first one fails.
Sources and further reading
- BYU Athletics: official event record 25234 for the stable event ID, UTC start, Smith Fieldhouse venue, home/conference designation and scheduled status.
- BYU Athletics: No. 22 BYU hosts No. 17 Baylor on FS1 for the 8:05 p.m. first serve, FS1 and live-stats access, rankings, records, five-match streak, last week’s team and player production, national rankings, series history and next matches.
- Baylor Athletics: UTEP sweep and official box score for the set scores, .336 hitting, 50 kills, two blocks, 11-2 comeback run and individual lines.
- Baylor Athletics: Isabela Haggard earns Big 12 Setter of the Week for her 82 assists, five blocks, three aces and 10 digs over seven sets.
- The Baylor Lariat: Baylor surges past UTEP for independent courtside context on the third-set comeback and McCurdy’s role.
- Baylor University Brand Guide: official colors for Baylor Green
#154734and University Gold#FFB81Cused in the original matchup art. - BYU Sport Nuts: volleyball schedule, volleyball results, volleyball roster and the Utah State sweep recap.
