Pioneers have plenty of cause for celebration

Box Score
Friday night saw lots of reason for celebration in Hutcherson Center, not the least of which was the 17^th-ranked Wayland Baptist volleyball team notching another victory.
 
On an evening that featured seniors Natasha Giacomazzi, Claire Jacobsma and Grecia Rivera being honored and the volleyball team spearheading a $720 donation to the Susan G. Komen Foundation through their Block for the Cure promotion, the final cause for celebration was the Pioneers' 25-11, 23-25, 25-16, 25-22 Sooner Athletic Conference triumph over Texas Wesleyan University.
 
"It was a good night all around," WBU coach Jim Giacomazzi said.
 
Wayland improved to 26-5 overall and 11-2 in the SAC, while the Lady Rams fell to 16-17, 8-6.
 
The only drawback to the evening was the Pioneers' perfect record against conference competition – outside of No. 7 Oklahoma Baptist – coming to an end. In Wayland's first 10 SAC wins, the Pioneers hadn't lost a set, posting a sparkling 30-0 ledger.
 
After WBU allowed Texas Wesleyan only 11 points in the first set on Friday, it looked as though the streak would continue.
 
"We had an excellent first set…and a less-than-mediocre second set," Giacomazzi said.
 
With Wayland substituting freely from the onset, the Lady Rams tallied eight of the first nine points to take a commanding lead.
 
Giacomazzi said it was "ridiculous" that Texas Wesleyan was able to take such a lopsided lead out of the gates. "I don't care who's out there," he said.
 
The Pioneers made some adjustments and slowly worked their way back into the set, pulling to within 12-9 and later closing to within a point at 16-15. The Pioneers were never able to tie it, however, and after Wayland fought off two set points and closed to within 24-23, the Lady Rams – following a timely timeout – recorded the final point on a Pioneer hitting error that went wide…and burned Giacomazzi.
 
"Hitting the ball wide is like hitting the ball into the net. The other team doesn't even have to make a decision," he said.
 
In the big picture, though, Giacomazzi said dropping their first set to a SAC team that wasn't OBU was no major deal.
 
"We got more people playing time," he explained. "And we overcame a big deficit, but we still should have won the set."
 
The Pioneers flexed their muscles in the third set and never trailed. They trailed only once, at 1-0, in the fourth set, which saw a crowd of about 300 begin to really get behind the team and make some noise. The score was tied at 8 when Wayland ran off five straight to take the lead for good. The Lady Rams made one final push and got to within 20-19, but Wayland took it from there, getting the final point of the evening on a kill by Jacobsma.
 
Giacomazzi said the Pioneers accomplished several statistical goals for individuals, including getting more touches for Jacobsma and Chelsey Driskill in the middle. The coach explained that Driskill and Jacobsma don't have enough attacks to be considered among the top hitters in the conference.
 
"We wanted Chelsey to get 15 kills and she got 18," Giacomazzi said. That's seven more than her previous best this season as the sophomore hit .368, same as Shahala Hawkins who had nine kills. Rivera ended with 12 while Jacobsma produced five. Wayland hit .246 as a team, compared to .034 for the Lady Rams.
 
Another "game-within-a-game," as Giacomazzi called it, was juicing Ashlyn Westerman's setting stats.
 
"In the last set we wanted Ashlyn to have seven more assists, which she did. She only had seven in the first three, so she doubled her production in the last set."
 
The Pioneers ended with 18 block assists, including five by Driskill and four by Hawkins. Rivera and Natasha Giacomazzi had two aces apiece, and Giacomazzi ended with a team-high 27 assists and 15 digs, two more than Rivera and Mercades Torres.
 
Wayland plays its final home match of the season at 11 a.m. Saturday against Southwestern Assemblies of God University, a team the Pioneers defeated, 25-18, 25-21, 25-20, on Oct. 5 in Waxahachie. The Lady Lions (15-13, 8-6) are locked in a battle for third place with Texas Wesleyan, John Brown University and Oklahoma City.
 
"They're coming in wanting to win some matches," Coach Giacomazzi said. "We're looking forward to a good contest tomorrow against SAGU."