Box Score LUBBOCK – The Wayland Baptist volleyball team is on a roll. The Pioneers have won their last four matches, with the latest coming Saturday afternoon at Lubbock Christian University's Lady Chap Classic. The Pioneers defeated University of the Southwest of Hobbs, N.M., in four sets, 25-19, 21-25, 25-14, 25-19.
Wayland outperformed the Mustangs in every category, turning in 56 kills and 144 total attacks.
Shahala Hawkins led the team with 17 kills, followed by
Grecia Rivera with 14 and
Claire Jacobsma with 12. Setter
Natasha Giacomazzi contributed 48 assists, while four Pioneers –
Tania Gomez, Hawkins, Rivera and Giacomazzi – recorded two service aces each.
Rivera led defensively with a team-high 17 digs, followed by Jacobsma with 15,
Cat Wiechmann with 12 and Giacomazzi with 10.
Chelsey Driskill made her presence felt at the net, coming up with two solo blocks and one block assist.
Head coach
Jim Giacomazzi said the win will help his team as they face their first home and first conference game against LCU at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Hutcherson Center.
"We did some things in our match today to prepare to play LCU, and so I was pleased with that," he said. "The girls made some adjustments that were really good and are working to take positive steps forward. Hopefully our preparation will pay out well and we'll have a good match (against LCU)."
Giacomazzi said he was disappointed to drop a game to the Mustangs (2-5), a team they defeated in three sets in Hobbs earlier in the week.
"We won in three at their place but we just got sloppy at the beginning of that second set," he said. "We cleaned it up, but by that point we'd already dug a ditch and couldn't recover that late in the game. We did show improvement in our hitting zones and I was glad to see Claire and Grecia (WBU's new additions to the roster) get more touches."
One thing is for sure. With four consecutive wins under their belts, the Pioneers (5-7) are going to be looking to make it five in a row Tuesday night against conference rival LCU.
"The girls are really looking forward to playing Tuesday night," Giacomazzi said. "It's our first home game and the girls want to show our fans the improvements we've made in the last month since our scrimmage back in August. They're really anxious to play here at home."
