Trio Of Seniors Leading Volleyball To Historic Heights

Back in November 2005, when head volleyball coach Jim Barnes announced the signing of his first recruiting class at Baylor, he described the class as "tremendously talented as players," but added that "it is their character and competitive spirit that make them really special. They will help us continue to climb to the top of the Big 12, become a consistent top-25 program and build toward a national championship."
It sounds like typical coach-speak, but things have unfolded exactly according to plan. The three student-athletes at the core of that class--Taylor Barnes (no relation), Anna Breyfogle and Katie Sanders--are now seniors, and together have led the Bears back into the top 25 this fall.
"Certainly we knew at the time that bringing them in was the first step to building this program toward being a top-25 program," says Jim Barnes today. "They've come in and started basically every match of their career, and that's pretty rare. But as they've improved and we've added other recruiting classes behind them, we've built the program now into a top-25 program. They're a big part of those steps."
Prior to Barnes' arrival as coach, the best era of Baylor volleyball came between 1999-2001, as the Bears made two NCAA tournament appearances and broke into the top 25 each season. But injuries and other problems led to a drop-off in subsequent years, and both Breyfogle and Sanders admit that they hadn't even considered Baylor before Barnes and his staff began recruiting them.
"Honestly, Baylor wasn't really in my choice of schools," recalls Breyfogle. "In fact, the reason I visited Baylor was because my mom was pressuring me. But I had a Saturday free, so we came here, and I just loved it. The Christian atmosphere, the beautiful campus... The coaches were great, and the girls were super nice."
All three quickly moved into Baylor's starting lineup as freshmen, and though Baylor's record didn't immediately show improvement, the experience the trio gained would pay off later.
"I think it matured us really quickly," says Sanders. "To go from playing high school and club to playing for a DI college, it's a huge change. It definitely helped us grow as players, and as teammates it showed us what we needed to be."
With experience came improvement, and in 2008 the Bears fell just shy of their first NCAA tournament selection since 2001. But high school players and coaches recognized the improvement, and Baylor's recruiting classes continued to improve.
"That's how the recruiting world works--word of mouth among coaches," explains Jim Barnes. "They see a program moving forward, and you're going to get good recommendations from club coaches. Each year our classes have gotten better; this last class we had was ranked 14th in the country. That's the lifeblood of your program, and it started with [this year's seniors] coming in."
Indeed, Baylor's current freshman class was the second-highest signing class in program history. The group is headlined by 2008 Texas Gatorade Player of the Year Torri Campbell, and the fresh blood appears to be just what was needed to give Baylor that final boost into the national spotlight.
At press time, this year's squad was on pace for the most successful season in program history. Already this fall, the Bears have earned the highest ranking in team history (17th) and spent more time in the top 25 (10 straight weeks as of Nov. 16) than any other Baylor volleyball team to date. 
The squad's senior trio--Barnes, Breyfogle and Sanders--are also leaving their marks individually on the Baylor recordbook. 
Barnes, the team's setter, now holds the program record for career service aces and career assists. The Arlington, Texas, native is one of only two Bears ever to record 4,000 career assists and 1,000 career digs.
"We're all three very different," explains Sanders. "We play different positions; we're different people who come from different places. Taylor is the leader on the court. As the setter, she's the quarterback of the team."
Breyfogle, a middle blocker from Buda, Texas, ranks among the career blocks leaders not only at Baylor but for the entire Big 12 Conference; at press time, she was second all-time at Baylor and fifth in league history in career blocks. She's also just the third Bear ever to tally 1,000 kills and 500 blocks.
"Anna leads by example," says Taylor Barnes. "She's the kind of person who you look at and see smiling, and everyone's like, 'It's gonna be okay--Anna's smiling.'"
An outside hitter from Katy, Texas, Sanders leads all Bears in career kills during the rally scoring era (since 2001), and is one of only seven Baylor players ever to notch 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs.
"Katie has probably had to carry the most weight as far as having to anchor our serve-receive, hit the most balls, dig the most balls, all the things that are the hard part of the game, being an outside hitter," says Jim Barnes. "She's done a great job of anchoring those things."
After beginning this fall with a 17-1 record, the Bears have an excellent shot at returning to the postseason.
"Everything we've been working on this year has been toward going to the NCAA tournament and going as far as possible in that," says Sanders. "That's definitely one of the things I want to leave behind [as a legacy]."
"We've already broken so many records. It's awesome, because it's our senior year," adds Taylor Barnes. "We were here at a pretty low spot, and just to see how it's progressed, to be able to say that we brought back the top-25 program and we brought back hopefully going to the NCAA tournament this year... That hasn't happened in several years. I hope to be able to say that this is the year we go to the tournament, and from then on it's a continuation of every year going to the tournament."
"They certainly have been through everything together," says Jim Barnes of his seniors. "I'm sure they've loved, hated, cried, laughed, and gone through the whole gamut of emotions, and I really hope this season can end the way we hope it can, especially for those three, because of everything they've put into it."
 

As this issue went to press, Baylor volleyball still had two weeks left in the season. For more information and to see if the Bears earned that NCAA Tournament selection, 
visit BaylorBears.com.