Tulsa Volleyball Begins Season at Baylor Classic

TULSA, Okla. — The Golden Hurricane volleyball team is set for its 49th season in 2024 and second under Head Coach Lauren Ramatowski. The first action of the year will be played in Waco, Texas, at the Baylor Classic, where TU will face Campbell, the 23rd-ranked and hosting Baylor Bears and Abilene Christian in the Ferrell Center.

Tulsa will face Campbell and Baylor in a doubleheader on Friday at 1 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., respectively. Then, TU will wrap up the event against Abilene Christian on Sunday, Sept. 1, at 1 p.m.

The Hurricane's showdown with Baylor will stream on ESPN+. Fans unable to attend the action in person can subscribe to ESPN+ to watch select Golden Hurricane volleyball, soccer, football, tennis, soccer, softball and basketball games. ESPN+ is offered at $10.99/month or $109.99/year. To subscribe, go to plus.espn.com. Fans will be able to access ESPN+ content only after they have subscribed.

Tulsa is 22-26 in season openers. In last year's curtain-raiser, Tulsa took down Michigan State 3-1 at Arkansas's Razorback Classic, which was the first career win for Coach Ramatowski.

TU and Campbell met once in a neutral setting in 2007, resulting in a 3-0 sweep for Tulsa. Last year, the Fighting Camels went 17-13 and 13-5 in Coastal Athletic Association action after starting the season 0-5. They reached the CAA semifinal and won five of their last six contests of the season.

Picked fourth in the CAA preseason poll, the Camels sponsor two returning juniors who were tabbed preseason all-CAA – Gwen Wolkow (first team) and Aley Clent (honorable mention). Wolkow is the top returning scorer with 308 kills (2.68 K/S) and 270 digs (2.35 D/S) a year ago, while Clent led the team with 110 blocks.

This will be the 10th meeting between Tulsa and Baylor. The Bears lead the series 2-7. The pair of teams first met in 1978 and played each other as recently as 2022, which was a 3-0 sweep for the then-ranked Bears. Tulsa's last win came in 2013 when the Hurricane grabbed a 3-0 in Waco.

Ranked No. 23 in the nation heading into Friday's contest, Baylor finished last season 17-13 in the NCAA second round.

Returning for the Bears are libero Lauren Briseño and outside hitter Elise McGhee ... Briseño is the second-best receiving libero among the Power 4 conferences according to VolleyMetrics, while McGhee was First Team All-Big 12 last season as well as AVCA All-Region Honorable Mention.

This is the third meeting between TU and Abilene Christian in a series that Tulsa leads 2-0 with one win at home and one victory at a neutral site. Tulsa escaped the first match 3-2 at home in 2018 and came away with a 3-1 decision in 2022.

Last year, the Wildcats went 11-18 and ended the season with a first-round exit in the Western Athletic Conference Championship.

Bryley Steinhilber and Ashli Edmiston both return to play outside for the Wildcats, with the two of them holding the top two spots in most kills and points last year. Madeline Guffy also returns after leading the Wildcats with 916 assists. Libero Sara Carrizales had 400 digs in 2023.

Tulsa Volleyball Begins Season at Baylor Classic

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