CANYON, Texas --- The Wayland Baptist volleyball team dropped both of their Friday matches during the first day of competition at the Lady Buffs Classic, hosted by West Texas A&M University. The Pioneers were beaten in straight sets by the host Lady Buffs, 25-22,25-15, 25-14 in their first match of the day, and then fell in four to New Mexico Highlands University, 26-24, 13-25, 25-21, 25-22, a few hours later.
Kate Trejos had 13 kills and Kimberli Harger added ten against WTA&MU, but the WBU women hit just .100 in the three-set match. Harger got the double-double with a team-high ten digs, and Natasha Giacomazzi posted 32 assists.
Wayland had the early lead in both the first and second sets. The Pioneers were in front 12-10 before West Texas A&M went on a 6-0 run to grab its first lead. A Trejos kill and an attack error by the Lady Buffs evened the score at 19 a piece, but that was as close as it would get.
WBU Coach Jim Giacomazzi's squad had a 13-11 advantage in the second set before their highly-regarded opponent rattled off 14 of the next 16 points to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
The Lady Buffs, who hit .357 in the match, had just one attack error in the final set, knocking down 15 of their 33 attack attempts. They remain unbeaten on the season with a record of 6-0.
Against New Mexico Highlands, Trejos put down 17 kills, but once again the Wayland women made too many errors. They out-hit the Cowgirls .183 to .170, but had just 46 kills to 52 by the opponent, and posted seven service errors and seven reception errors.
Tatiana Gonazalez joined Trejos in double figures with 12 kills. Natasha Giacomazzi handed out 38 assists and had 11 digs, while Harger tallied 13 digs. Catherine Harger posted four blocks, while freshman Ashley Duff rejected three.
The Pioneers were down 21-14 in the fourth set, but came roaring back to pull to within one at 23-22 on a kill by Harger. The Cowgirls took the final two points, however, on a kill and a service ace to take the match.
Wayland, which is now 5-3 on the season, returns to action on Saturday with matches against Eastern New Mexico at 12:30 p.m. and against Oklahoma Panhandle State at 4 p.m.
