Box Score SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. – The power of a promised day off did wonders for the Wayland Baptist volleyball team here Friday night.
After head coach
Jim Giacomazzi vowed to give them a day off Monday if they swept John Brown University, the Pioneers delivered by winning the Sooner Athletic Conference match, 26-24, 25-23, 25-18.
It took a little reminder of the day off, however, to get the job done.
With the second set knotted at 22, Giacomazzi huddled his team and referenced his day off vow. The Pioneers (13-13 overall, 5-3 SAC), who had already recovered from an 18-13 deficit, went out and won three of the next four points – the last on a kill by
Shahala Hawkins – to keep their sweep hopes alive.
The third set was all Wayland as the Pioneers went up by as many as 11 points before taking it, 25-18, on a joust victory by
Chelsey Driskill that, thanks to another incentive by Giacomzzi, earned the team dessert.
“It was a good night,” Giacomazzi said. “Overall we're getting better all of the time.”
The coach wanted to make short work of the Golden Eagles (18-11, 1-6) because Siloam Springs is one of the tougher places in the conference to play.
“It's always a challenge coming here because, one, we (travel) a long way (a nine-hour drive), and two, they're usually a solid team,” he said. “They might have won only one conference match, but it's a challenge to come this far, and they have some solid players.”
But so do the Pioneers, specifically on this night Hawkins and
Grecia Rivera. Hawkins ended with 18 kills while Rivera followed with 16 to lead Wayland, which hit .301 compared to .217 for JBU.
“Shahala and Grecia tore it up,” said Giacomazzi, who also complimented
Abby Welch and her three kills and .357 hitting percentage. The coach used a baseball analogy to compare Hawkins' hitting style (a fast ball) to Welch's (a change-up). “That's what I want from somebody coming off the bench. Abby did a wonderful job.”
Giacomazzi said the Pioneers turned in one of their best showings of the season in the third set when they recorded 17 kills and hit .417.
“That was really a lot of fun,” he said.
He also liked how his team stayed focused.
“We did a lot better job mentally getting tougher and concentrating,” he said. “The focus and concentration are lasting a little longer, and we cut down on mistakes and took care of business.”
After their long trip home, the Pioneers can afford to take Monday off because they have a five-day break before a three-match homestand starting Thursday against University of the Southwest, a team WBU already has beaten twice this season, 3-0 and 3-1. Wayland returns to SAC play the next night against Oklahoma City before hosting Mid-America Christian on Saturday morning.
“We have a couple of teams coming up in the bottom half (of the SAC standings),” Giacomazzi said. “We'll continue to work on our concentration but without having to stress too much about going against an LCU or an OBU. That should help us so when we do have to play those guys we'll hopefully be better prepared.”
