Box Score SHAWNEE, Okla. – The third time wasn't the charm for the Wayland Baptist volleyball team.
Looking for their first win in their third meeting against 10th-ranked Oklahoma Baptist University and playing their third match of the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament, the Pioneers fell in the tourney championship match here Saturday night, 25-20, 25-20, 25-15.
Wayland coach
Jim Giacomazzi said it appeared the host Lady Bison "were on a mission" while his Pioneers were a little off.
"I know we can do better than we did," he said. "We may have caught them a little flat last week (when Wayland lost to OBU in five). Tonight we just weren't as sharp as we have been, and that's disappointing."
While OBU (32-4) – as a result of extending its SAC record with its 32
nd consecutive conference victory – advances to the NAIA National Tournament, the young Pioneers – unlikely to be awarded an at-large bid to the national tourney – end their season with a very respectable 19-14 record.
"Our girls were motivated, we just didn't have our best performance," said Giacomazzi, whose club defeated St. Gregory's and Lubbock Christian on Friday when top-seeded OBU played just one match after getting a first-round bye. "I don't know if it's because we have (mostly) freshmen. There were some nerves out there, although we played a lot better in the first set than we did in the third."
Wayland led only a couple of times the entire match, both times early in the first and second sets and never by more than a point or two.
In the opener, OBU was up 14-8 before Wayland rallied to pull to within two at 15-13. The Lady Bison dug in and scored the next three points, however, and the Pioneers never got closer than three after that. The last time was at 21-18, and OBU proceeded to score three straight points to get to match point. It was over two points later.
In the second set, the Pioneers fell behind 2-0 then scored three straight for a brief lead. The score was knotted at 9 when OBU ran off four straight to begin taking control again. WBU managed to get within 14-12 when the Lady Bison, who began successfully tipping over WBU blockers, put up three more unanswered. The Lady Bison won it on a Wayland service error.
As Giacomazzi put it, the Lady Bison "smelled blood" in the third set and quickly put the match away. After jumping out to a 7-3 lead, Wayland fought to pull to within one, but OBU tallied five points in a row and it was all but over after that. The Lady Bison stepped up their blocking and kept the Pioneers at a distance the rest of the way before winning it on another service error.
Wayland, which hit .097 with 28 kills, was led by
Shahala Hawkins' nine kills and .250 hitting percentage.
Grecia Rivera added seven kills,
Chelsey Driskill six,
Claire Jacobsma four and
Tania Gomez two.
Cat Wiechmann's 11 digs led the team, followed by 10 by Rivera and
Natasha Giacomazzi, who also posted 24 assists and two of the team's three aces. Hawkins had two of WBU's four blocks.
OBU ended with 39 kills and hit .203. Skyler Strahm led the Lady Bison with 10 kills followed by Kristin Pressley with nine. OBU wound up with 68 digs, eight aces and five blocks.
Hawkins, a freshman, and junior setter
Natasha Giacomazzi were named to the all-tournament team. OBU's Sabra Clark was voted the tourney MVP. Others on the all-tournament squad were Audrey Dearien of John Brown University, Caitlin Kender of Lubbock Christian and Tarah Derden of OBU.
While disappointed the season is over, Coach Giacomazzi said he was happy with how his young team -- with only one senior (
Jaharys Archilla) and six freshmen – grew up this season.
"I'm really pleased with the girls...the hard work they went through all this year and putting up with me. It's disappointing they lost tonight, but they did a fine job."
