No. 20 Baylor is back in the Ferrell Center on Saturday for a heavyweight nonconference test, with No. 17 Florida coming to Waco for the Bears’ Gold Rush Match.
It’s another chance for Baylor to measure itself against a ranked opponent on its home floor, where the Bears have built a strong recent track record. Since 2019, Baylor has gone 21-8 against ranked teams at home, though Florida will be a new visitor to the Banks of the Brazos.
The series history has tilted slightly toward the Gators, who lead 5-2 all-time. Florida took the most recent meeting in five sets in Gainesville last season.
Junior Grace Carroll, fresh off a strong performance against North Texas, said she’s hoping the home crowd can make a difference.
"I'm excited to play this game at home," she said. "I think with this being a Saturday match, hopefully we'll have a good crowd.
I'm really excited to continue advertising our games and push to fill the Ferrell; that's truly something we dream of, and talk about all the time. To be able to possibly have that opportunity and be able to live that out this weekend, I think is something super important to all of us."
Baylor enters the match 4-0, its second 4-0 start in the last three seasons, and is chasing a fifth straight win for the first time since the end of the 2024 season.
The Bears’ offense has been powered by Ksenia Rakhmanchik, who leads the team with 63 kills and is riding a run of 13 straight matches with at least 10 kills. Morgan Madison has been Baylor’s top digger with 57, Victoria Davis has rejected 21 shots at the net, and sophomore setter Isabela Haggard has produced two double-doubles to go with a team-high 110 assists.
Lincoln Rose and Faith Lynch will have the call on ESPN+, with stats available all season at
Season and single-match tickets are on sale now for the 2026 season. You can find them at BaylorBears.com/tickets or by calling the Baylor Athletics Ticket Office at 254-710-1000.
One Way Club.
In Other News...
Baylors Deep Receiver Battle Puts Louis Brown In A Crucial Spot
Louis Brown IV spent last season in redshirt mode, but he sounded very much like a player ready to make that year count when Baylors offense opens the door this fall. The Bears have real competition in their receiver room, and Brown is pitching himself as the kind of flexible piece every coaching staff wants, someone who can line up in different spots and help in ways that go beyond just catching passes.
Brown also made clear he understands the value of doing the little things that keep an offense moving, including blocking, while pointing to the mental growth he picked up with help from Josh Cameron. He spoke highly of Dre'lon Miller and Gavin Freeman as well, a reminder that Baylors receiver battle is as much about depth and trust as it is about raw talent, with Brown trying to turn his preparation into a bigger role. [Read more 🡒]
DJ Lagway Faces An Early Baylor Test With Plenty Riding On It
The first weekend of the 2026 college football season already has a little extra bite for Baylor, with the Big 12 slate offering a handful of early measuring sticks and DJ Lagway landing in one of the spotlight games against Auburn. In a league that feels unusually open, the Bears are part of a larger group trying to establish an identity right away, and Lagways performance will be one of the first things people around the conference use to start sorting contenders from the pack.
Around the Big 12, the opening weekend also brings a familiar-coach setup for Houstons Makhi Hughes, a fresh offensive weapon in Arizona States Omarion Miller, Texas Tech leaning on Adam Trick to steady the defense and BYU counting on Faletau Satuala to set the tone on that side of the ball. For Baylor, though, the focus stays squarely on Lagway and how he handles an early test that carries more weight than a typical nonconference game, especially with so much riding on how the conference race begins to take shape. [Read more 🡒]
Baylor Faces An Early Test That Could Define Its Opener With Auburn
Baylor opens against Auburn with a matchup that already feels like more than a season opener. The Bears are trying to steady a defense that had real trouble a year ago, and the focus has shifted toward making that side of the ball more reliable right away. New defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman has been brought in to help drive that reset, while the offense will also be leaning on familiar pieces to set the tone in a game that should be tight from the start.
Dawson Pendergrass is part of that equation too, giving Baylor another name to watch as it tries to answer an early challenge from a physical Auburn team. The setup points to a game that could swing on a handful of plays rather than broad separation, which is exactly why this opener carries so much weight for the Bears. If Baylor can show real progress on defense and hold up in a close finish, it would say plenty about where this team is headed. [Read more 🡒]