In a match that featured an abundance of extended volleys between two teams known for their defense, No. 20 Oklahoma Baptist ultimately came out on top of Wayland Baptist in three sets – 25-18, 25-23, 25-18.
Neither team hit particularly well, but they may be due in large part to the aggressive, hustling defensive efforts of both squads. The Lady Bison had 45 kills in 149 attempts (.141), while the Pioneers got points on just 28 of their 143 attacks (.063). All those swings led to a combined 159 digs with OBU having the advantage there as well, 89 to 70.
Oklahoma Baptist took control in the first set, jumping out to a 21-11 lead. The second set was much closer with nine ties and four lead changes. A crowd of just over 400 people, the majority of which were students wearing pink "Spike for the Cure" t-shirts, started making noise in the middle set and it seemed to put some life into the WBU players.
After getting down 12-8, the Pioneers came back to eventually take a 16-15 lead on a kill by freshman Ashley Duff. It was a see-saw affair over the next 13 rallies until three straight errors by OBU gave Wayland a 23-21 advantage.
The Lady Bison tied it back up after a timeout and then took the set on a service ace and a kill by Skyler Strahm.
There were six ties and two lead changes in the final set of the match, but unfortunately it was all early on and after a Tatiana Gonzalez kill tied it at ten, OBU went on an 8-3 run to gain control.
WBU head coach Jim Giacomazzi said after the match that his team's problems with serve receive and ball control made the difference in the outcome of the game.
"If we improve our ball control, we make better passes to our hitters. If we get better passes, we can get better chances on the attack outside and up the middle. It's that simple."
Gonzalez was the lone Pioneer to post at least ten kills. Sophomore Natasha Giacomazzi handed out 22 assists and had 15 digs to record her team-leading 11th double-double of the season.
Wayland had three other players to reach double digits in digs. Seniors Kate Trejos and Gonzalez tallied 14 each, and senior Whitney Bryant came up with 12. Oklahoma Baptist senior Cami Weimer led all players with 29 digs.
Sophomore Kristin Pressley led the Lady Bison with 17 kills and 13 digs. OBU improved its season record to 17-9 and are undefeated in SAC play with a 4-0 mark.
WBU, which plays host to St. Gregory's University on Saturday morning at 11:00, falls to 12-6 overall and 1-3 in conference action.
