Baylor
Sports Writing
Assistant AD for Character Formation
Welcome to my collection of work from Baylor University's Sports Writing course. This section includes a few of my assignments from my Sportswritng class where I covered games, media availabilities, and learned a great deal of the sports journalism world. This experience sharpened my ability to write with accuracy, clarity, and creativity under deadline pressure — skills I continue to apply in every assignment.
Baylor vs. Texas Volleyball Story
The No. 20 Baylor Bears volleyball team fell to the No. 8 Texas Longhorns, 3-0, in a Wednesday night match that was the first time the two schools played in a non-conference matchup outside of spring scrimmages.
Texas won in three straight sets, taking the first easily 25-17, winning a tightly contested second set 25-23, then rallying down late to come back and win 26-24 in the final set. After the second and third sets, the Bears have now had eight sets either won or lost by two points.
After dropping the first set to the Longhorns, the Bears had opportunities to win in the last two sets but struggled to close out games. Coach Ryan McGuyre understands his team’s struggles playing with a lead and says it’s an area for improvement.
“We’ve had those opportunities, and we’ve let ones slip away. I’ve just got to force it out of them. We’ve got to play with an edge a little bit more. We know that,” McGuyre said in a post-match press conference. “But we’ve got to make sure we’re taking bigger swings or scoring swings there at the end. Yeah, of sets and matches we’ve lost this year, it’s not the punch we want to throw at the end of the set.”
Coach McGuyre said that one of his hopes for the team is that a loss like this stings enough for his team to make some improvements.
“I mean there’s always learning. Win or lose, every match there’s always learning,” McGuyre said. “That’s my job as a coach is, can I communicate, motivate in a way that creates the positive change, change that we want to see?”
Baylor’s Alicia Andrew, a redshirt junior who finished with three blocks in the match, said that one of her takeaways from this match was that defense needed to improve. Andrew did say that there are positives and things the team can take from the match to build on.
“It showed a lot about areas we need to work on, and I think blocking is one of them,” Andrew said. “I think just making sure we’re up and over early, that’s a big area, and just overall defense”
The match Wednesday night was the eighth-largest crowd in Baylor volleyball program history, with a match attendance of 3,126. The large atmosphere and high energy played a big factor in the match. Although the crowd was a large mix of both Bears and Longhorn fans, Andrew said that the big environment makes an impact on the team.
“Honestly, it really means the world to our team,” Andrew said. “And it is so huge, and it makes such a big impact on us. It makes playing volleyball so fun.”
Baylor freshman Grace Carroll said that she was excited rather than nervous for the matchup and didn’t let the crowd get to her. She said that there were essentially no freshman nerves for the match but instead a lot of excitement and anticipation.
“Yeah, no, I was excited,” Carroll said. “I couldn’t sleep last night because I was so excited. I was ready to go.”
The Bears drop to a record of 7-3 and look forward to bouncing back in a match against Hawaii at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Ferrell Center.
Feature Story on Classmate
Amid an East Coast college tour, one Baylor student chose to randomly come to Texas for a visit, which she said ended up being the best decision of her life.
McKenzie Williams, a Baylor University senior from DeLand, Florida, who is majoring in Communications and minoring in Journalism with a Public Relations focus, said she and her family went on a mini road trip during the Thanksgiving break of her senior year and toured some colleges.
After stopping in Tallahassee to visit Florida State University, Williams said she was scheduled to make a visit to the University of North Carolina when her friend asked if she wanted to come to Texas and visit Baylor, knowing that it was probably a long shot.
“We’re in Tallahassee in our hotel room during my visit, and my dad’s like ‘Well, would you rather go to North Carolina or go to Texas?’ and I was like I guess let’s go,” Williams said in an interview. “So, we kind of just spontaneously and spur of the moment drove from Tallahassee to Texas. And being my first time in Texas, I walked on campus and fell in love with it.”
Williams said that after her visit of the Baylor University campus, she knew where she wanted to spend her next four years, so she got home and immediately applied and got in a few weeks later. She said she knew from that point on that Baylor is where she wanted to go and where she needed to be.
“I think my favorite part has been the people I’ve met here at Baylor,” Williams said. “I’ve met some of the best people in my life here at Baylor, and that goes for both friends and professors as well. My professors have been some great people who’ve helped me figure out what I want to do after school”
After graduation, Williams hopes to work with a sports team as a graduate assistant, while getting her master’s degree at the same time. Her ideal team to work with would be the Orlando Magic due to her love of basketball and how unique the team is from a social media and public relations standpoint.
“I love [the Magic’s] social media style, I think it’s super different than what anyone in the NBA is doing right now,” Williams said. “I just think what they’re doing is really cutting edge, they’re always coming up with new stuff, and I’d really like to be part of a culture like that.”
Having courage in the world is a key learning point that Williams said really helped her throughout her four years at Baylor. Drive and desire for what she wants was something that drove her to her success that she has today.
“Honestly, not being afraid to go for what you want I think is one of the biggest things Baylor has taught me,” Williams said. “Even my decision to come to Baylor taught me a lot about just taking a leap of faith and seeing where it goes. I knew one person coming to Baylor, and now I’m leaving with so many people I’m going to know for the rest of my life and so many lessons that I’ve learned.”
Baylor vs. Iowa State Football
AMES, Iowa – In a thrilling comeback, No. 16 Iowa State turned a shaky start into a statement win, routing Baylor 43-21 to maintain its perfect season and deliver its most explosive offensive showing of the year.
Cyclone running back Jaylon “Action” Jackson led the charge with 107 yards from the ground and a pair of scores, while a blocked punt return further ignited the Cyclones’ momentum, transforming a shaky opening into a dominant finish.
Jackson’s 107 yards totaled more than the Baylor rushing offense as a whole, which only posted a measly 79 yards from the ground.
Baylor came out of the gates strong, building an early 14-3 lead behind quarterback Sawyer Robertson’s sharp passing and a disciplined red-zone defense. However, despite a promising start, the Bears couldn’t sustain momentum, ultimately falling behind as the Cyclones finished the game on a 40-7 run over the last three quarters.
The Bears’ opening drives saw two Robertson touchdowns, with one to junior receiver Josh Cameron and one to junior Ole Miss transfer Michael Trigg. These offensive drives, combined with what looked to be a disciplined defense, allowed the Bears to build to a quick 14-6 lead.
This lead would prove to vanish quickly as Iowa State quickly stormed back and scored a pair of touchdowns in the final 10 minutes of the first half. Rocco Becht connected with sophomore tight end Benjamin Brahmer for a 10-yard score, while sophomore defensive back Caden Matson returned a blocked punt 25 yards for the Cyclones’ second touchdown of the quarter to make the score 19-14 going into halftime.
Coming out of the halftime break, Baylor took the lead back on a 25-yard pass from Robertson to senior receiver Ketron Jackson Jr. to go back up 21-19. Unfortunately, this score would be Baylor’s final score of the game as Iowa State would score the remainder of the game’s points.
(change As Iowa State dominated the games to, With Iowa State dominating the game’s)
With Iowa State dominating the game’s remaining 22 minutes, Baylor head coach Dave Aranda said that as the game went on, the game seemed to be like swimming in the ocean.
“I thought defensively, you know, the amount of motions and shifts it would be as if there was someone swimming in shallow water,” Aranda said. “They’d swim on out into the deep dark ocean, and the deeper water really sank us.”
Aranda acknowledged that his team again has not played a full four quarters as he wishes they would, and he also acknowledged that the coaches and players alike are feeling the effects of it and says the main emotion is disheartening.
Baylor’s Robertson finished 25-for-44 with 258 yards, three scores and an interception. On the ground, Bryson Washington led the Bears with eight rushes for 28 yards.
Baylor (2-4, 0-3) heads into a bye week, while Iowa State heads to Morgantown for a battle with West Virginia.
Baylor MBB Preview vs. Tarleton
WACO – No. 12 ranked Baylor looks to build off a 100-point performance as it hosts former Baylor assistant coach Billy Gillispie and the Tarleton State Texans at 7 p.m. Sunday at the Foster Pavilion.
Baylor (2-1) scored 104 points last game vs. Sam Houston and looks to follow that performance with another offensive showcase.
Versus the Bearkats, Baylor guard Jayden Nunn posted a game-high 19 points, which was his seventh game in double-figures over his last 14. Nunn enters this game with 999 career points and is looking to become the fourth player on the Bears’ roster with 1,000 career points, joining teammates Davidson Hubbard, Norchad Omier, and Jeremy Roach who all transferred in this offseason.
Baylor is 7-2 all-time against Tarleton State and 3-6 against Gillispie, having won three straight. Baylor enters the game with an 85-25 record against other Texas teams since the start of the 2011-2012 season, and is one of two teams from the state with a national championship (Texas Western/UTEP, 1966).
Baylor coach Scott Drew said that each game is a learning experience and that his hopes is just a win.
“You try to get better at things that you’re working on in practice,” Drew said. “For us, I think we’ve taken a step forward in the last week.”
Drew emphasized that he wants his team to continue in growth into something they can take with them when they play in the Baha Mar Hoops tournament in Nassau, Bahamas.
Norchad Omier and VJ Edgecomb look to follow up last games performance where they each posted a double-double, which was the second time in the last six games that Baylor had multiple players reach a double-double in the same game.
Omier is also the NCAA’s active leader in career double-doubles, with 70.
Baylor freshman Jason Asemota said that his first game at Foster was a culture shock.
“The atmosphere was crazy. From the bench to on the court, you could just feel it in your chest. It’s just a different culture definitely,” Asemota said. “It’s just a different atmosphere.”
Over the last five-plus seasons, Baylor holds a 70-8 home record which includes a 9-2 record at Foster Pavilion last year.
Drew also praised standout freshman Robert Wright III for being a great player and a great teammate.
“He’s a winner, he’s a great teammate, a great floor general,” Drew said. “He’s gotten better on the defensive end, and [I’m] really proud of his progression.”