Box Score SHAWNEE, Okla. -- For the third time this season, the Wayland Baptist volleyball team defeated St. Gregory's in three sets, but the victory Friday morning in the opening round of the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament was probably just a bit sweeter. With the 25-18, 25-15, 25-21 win, the No. 3-seed Pioneers will move on take on second-seeded Lubbock Christian at 4 p.m. this afternoon in the semifinals.
“We had two goals today,” head coach
Jim Giacomazzi said. “One was to win in three…to eliminate the errors and be as efficient as we could be. The other was to play in less than an hour. This match was more strenuous than our usual pre-match warm-up, but I still think we'll have fresh legs for our match this afternoon (against No. 2 seed LCU).”
The Pioneers (18-14) quickly jumped on the No. 6 seed-Lady Cavaliers (12-15) in the first set, taking a 5-0 lead before St. Greg's slowly fought its way back into the contest, pulling to within two several times. Wayland was able to capitalize on several SGU errors, as well as a balanced offensive attack, including kills from
Tania Gomez,
Claire Jacobsma,
Grecia Rivera,
Shahala Hawkins and
Chelsey Driskill.
The Pioneers took the 25-18 win in the first set, but allowed the Lady Cavaliers to go up 7-3 in the second before Giacomazzi took a timeout to settle his team. After battling back to tie the score at 7-7, Wayland traded points with SGU until the 13-13 mark when the Pioneers went on a 12-2 run to close out the set, 25-15.
St. Greg's gave Wayland the most trouble in the final set in a last-ditch effort to stymie the Pioneers' tournament hopes. The teams went back and forth all set long and were tied at 17 before Wayland started to slowly pull away. At match point, Driskill put down a kill to give the Pioneers the set, 25-21, and the match, 3-0.
“Everybody played well today and everybody scored points,” Giacomazzi said. “We were able to put the ball where we wanted and did well at the net with those 10 blocks. I feel like everybody had a great match. When we run on all cylinders, we do well.”
Rivera led the team at the net, putting down nine kills, followed by Hawkins with eight, Driskill with seven, Jacobsma with six and Gomez with five.
Natasha Giacomazzi set up her team for success, contributing 29 assists in the winning effort. Rivera had two service aces, while Driskill and
Emily Welch had one each.
Defensively,
Cat Wiechmann had a team-high 10 digs, with Welch tallying eight. The team also did a fine job at the net, taking credit for four solo blocks – two from Jacobsma and one each from Hawkins and Driskill – and 12 block assists.
The Pioneers will square off against longtime rival LCU (23-8) at 4 p.m. The Lady Chaps have bested Wayland twice this season so far, both times in four sets.
“With the match tonight, our goal is to hit the line a lot,” Giacomazzi said. “We need to hit over the setter and make her beat us. We're ready and we think we can beat them.”
The winner advances to the championship at 7 p.m. Saturday. The tournament champion moves on to the NAIA National Tournament.
