The Wayland Baptist volleyball team overcame an early hiccup on the first day of a two-day road trip to Oklahoma City to escape with the win. The Pioneers took on Sooner Athletic Conference foe Mid-America Christian University (12-5, 1-2) Friday evening, winning in four sets, 25-15, 13-25, 25-21, 25-12 to give them their second conference victory.
Wayland (7-10, 2-1) won the first set 25-15 in convincing fashion, but turned around and gave up the second set 13-25 after struggling with their timing and hitting. The Pioneers came back strong in the third, capturing the game 25-21 before completely dominating in the final set to put the match away with the 25-23 win.
The Pioneers finished the match with a .239 hitting percentage and 44 kills, 15 of which came from team leader Shahala Hawkins, who also came up with two solo blocks, three block assists and a service ace. Chelsey Driskill followed her teammate up with nine kills, one solo block and four block assists, while Claire Jacobsma put in seven kills, two block assists and three service aces.
Grecia Rivera took the setting role for the Pioneers in the first two sets and contributed 16 assists, as well as five kills, 10 digs, one block assist and one ace. Natasha Giacomazzi set for the second two sets and was credited with 24 assists, 12 digs, one solo block and one ace.
Wayland head coach Jim Giacomazzi tried shaking up the rotation early in the match, but said after his team dropped the second set, they reverted back to their normal positions.
"We were trying to protect Grecia because she has a pulled stomach muscle and it hurts every time she hits," he said. "It was strange for the girls having people on either side of them that they weren't used to being there. We just got out of sync too much in that second set and couldn't make the adjustments we needed to. The girls' heads were spinning so we had to switch things back."
Giacomazzi said he continues to be encouraged by the girls' progress at the net, which led to a special privilege for the team.
"We're continuing to improve on our blocking and we worked on it a lot in practice this week," he said. "We wound up with 10 blocks in the match so that's good. We have a standing deal that if anybody besides Natasha wins a 'joust' at the net, the team gets dessert.
"Shahala did it so that's why the girls were all cheering after that point. I hope the other team didn't think we were cheering because Shahala knocked their girl down on the floor."
The Pioneers square off against Oklahoma City University (9-14, 1-2) at 1 p.m. Saturday and will attempt to string together their third consecutive conference victory.
Giacomazzi said he doesn't think he'll mind playing the Stars as much as he did last year.
"We have a little bit of a rivalry with them because our graduate assistant Sarah (Ma) was there last year (as an assistant coach)," he said. "I don't like them but I like them now a lot more because we have Sarah on our side. They have always been a thorn in our side, but especially when she was there."
Having already passed the season midpoint, the young Pioneers are starting to come together and show more maturity on the floor.
"Learning to anticipate what's coming and reading your opponents are things that are hard to do, but we're working on it," Giacomazzi said. "We've also been working hard on our roll shots and tips to the corners. The girls are definitely starting to see the court more."
Fans can watch the game online and check out live stats at: http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/okcu.portal. As always, super-parents Matt and Genene Driskill will provide audio streaming at: https://www.network1sports.com/station/mindseye.
