Baylor soccer’s 2026 season ended with a hardware haul unlike anything the program has seen before.
The No. 8 Bears landed a program-record nine All-Big 12 selections Sunday, according to the conference office, with two players on the First Team, five on the Second Team and two more on the All-Freshman Team.
Azul Alvarez and Aryanna Jimison led the way for Baylor on the First Team. Alvarez picked up her second straight All-Big 12 First Team honor after another strong year in goal, finishing with 69 saves and matching a season high of seven stops twice, once against TCU and again on the road at Texas Tech.
She was also named Big 12 Goalkeeper of the Week twice, on Sept. 16 and Oct. 21.
Jimison joined her there after a standout regular season up front. The forward finished with a team-best eight goals and four assists and earned Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week honors on Oct. 7 after her brace against Kansas.
Baylor’s Second Team group was just as deep. Olivia Hess, Theresa McCullough, Lauren Omholt, Noelle Sather and Natalie Vatter all earned the nod, giving the Bears five more selections in the league’s top two teams.
Hess collected her second straight All-Big 12 honor after previously making the Freshman Team in 2025. This season, she finished with one goal and a team-high eight assists. Vatter’s recognition came after a steady year on the back line, where she added one assist on Callie Conrad’s goal against Arkansas and helped anchor a Baylor defense that lost only once at home in 2026.
McCullough, Omholt and Sather rounded out the Bears’ Second Team representation from the upperclassmen side. McCullough posted four goals and seven assists, while Omholt finished with seven goals and two assists.
Sather made her presence felt in her first season with Baylor despite missing seven games while playing for Team Canada at the U-20 World Cup in Poland. She scored five goals and was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week after scoring in each of her first two games back from the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
The Bears also had two freshmen recognized after strong debut seasons. Brynnlee Bohannon and Grace White both earned spots on the All-Freshman Team.
Bohannon closed the regular season with two goals and six assists and was named Big 12 Freshman of the Week after delivering two game-winning assists in Baylor’s wins over Arizona State and Arizona. White finished with five goals and picked up Big 12 Freshman of the Week honors after scoring her second career game-winner against LSU.
The nine selections capped a 2026 campaign that saw Baylor finish tied for second in the Big 12 and reach the conference tournament field for a second straight year, something the program had not done in back-to-back seasons since 2018 and 2019.
The full 2026 All-Big 12 awards list also included Taylor Zdrojewski of Texas Tech as Forward of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Reagan Kotschau of Colorado as Midfielder of the Year, Faith Leyba of Colorado as Defender of the Year, Addie Todd of Texas Tech as Goalkeeper of the Year, Brooke Goerish of Colorado as Freshman of the Year and Jennifer Rockwood of BYU as Coach of the Year.
In Other News...
Baylors Transfer Rebuild Is Raising One Big Question Late In Season
Baylors offseason overhaul was built around volume and urgency, with 30 transfer additions meant to patch holes and give the roster more immediate answers, especially around quarterback DJ Lagway. The results have been mixed, as Lagways season has swung between injury setbacks and uneven play, but there has been a recent uptick that at least gives the Bears something to build on as the year winds down.
The bigger story, though, is how much of the transfer class has already mattered in different ways. Freeman has been the most dependable offensive piece, Jordan has emerged as a key playmaker in the secondary, and Ponder has helped steady the pass rush. Even with those contributions, Baylor is still left with one central question late in the season: whether this transfer-heavy rebuild has done enough to give the program a clearer answer at quarterback. [Read more 🡒]
Baylor Bowl Picture Suddenly Includes One Reunion Fans Will Notice
Baylors win over Iowa State did more than get the Bears to bowl eligibility at 6-3. It also pushed the conversation toward where this team might land in the postseason, with three games still left to shape the final destination and a number of analysts already mapping out possible matchups. The projections have ranged from Missouri to Oklahoma, Auburn, Nebraska and Oregon State, a reminder that the Bears bowl picture is still fluid and tied closely to how they finish.
Among the possibilities, one potential opponent stands out for a different reason: a reunion fans would immediately recognize. The various projections are being driven by player impact and team performance as much as record, and Baylor still has time to improve its standing before any official assignment is made. For now, the Bears have earned the right to think beyond eligibility, even if the exact postseason stage remains unsettled. [Read more 🡒]
Baylor Just Got The Big Night It Desperately Needed
Baylor volleyball walked into Morgan Family Arena needing a reset, and it found one in a four-set win over Kansas State that could hardly have come at a better time. No. 24 Baylor leaned on Ksenia Rakhmanchik for a huge night at the net, and she answered with 32 kills and 10 digs while helping the Bears stop a three-match skid and steady a season that had started to wobble.
The performance stood out beyond just the result, too, because Rakhmanchik's 32 kills were the most by any Big 12 player this season and matched her career high. Baylor is now 14-8 overall and 6-6 in league play, and while there is still work to do, this was the kind of road win that can change the feel around a team heading deeper into conference play. [Read more 🡒]