The Wayland Baptist volleyball team picked up its 19th win of the season on Friday with a three-set sweep of Oklahoma City University. The Pioneers defeated the Stars by scores of 25-18, 25-17 and 25-21 to improve their record to 19-13 overall and 8-5 in conference play.
OCU held an 8-3 lead early in the first set, helped in part by four WBU hitting errors. Wayland didn't gain the advantage until a Tatiana Gonzalez kill made it 14-13. The Stars tied it back up at 14, but the Pioneers finished the set with an 11-4 run.
In the second set, Wayland took control almost from the beginning, scoring six straight after surrendering a point on a service error to open the set.
The Stars came back in the third after falling behind 16-11 to knot things up at 16. A kill by Kimberli Harger, a service ace by Natasha Giacomazzi and an OCU attack error gave the Pioneers some cushion, and the match finally ended on a block by Giacomazzi, Ashley Duff and Kate Trejos.
Gonzalez recorded a career-high 17 kills in the match. Trejos added 10 and Harger put down eight.
Harger led the way defensively for WBU with 13 digs and three block assists. Junior libero Jaharys Archilla added 12 digs, and Giacomazzi got the double-double with 35 assists and ten digs. The sophomore setter also was in on two of the team's 11 block assists and had two service aces.
The Pioneers conclude the regular season on Saturday at 1 pm against Southern Nazarene University. Prior to the start of that match, the five WBU seniors – Whitney Bryant, Alissa Mitchell, Trejos, Gonzalez, and Harger – will be honored.
