Pioneers pumped for first national championship match

It's the thing they've worked for all season. For that matter, it's what all Wayland Baptist University volleyball teams have strived for since the program began almost a quarter-of-a-century ago: the NAIA Volleyball National Championships.
 
Now, it's here.
 
"We're really tickled to death that we get to host the first round of the national championship," Pioneers coach Jim Giacomazzi said. "This is the first (national) championship event Wayland has gotten to host. The girls and their parents, the university, the students, everybody's excited about it. It's a great exclamation point for our team and the hard work they've put in."
 
The 19^th-ranked Pioneers (30-6) take the floor at Hutcherson Center against the Ottawa University (Kan.) Lady Braves (20-13) at 2 p.m. Saturday in one of 12 opening-round matches being played that day across the country. The dozen winners advance to the final national championship site in Sioux City, Iowa, where they will be joined by 12 other teams that earned first-round byes for play Dec. 3-7.
 
Giacomazzi and the Pioneers want to make the most of their home-court advantage on Saturday against Ottawa, but they need all of their fans' help.
 
"We're in a position we've never been before. Now we want to put out a great product of hard-working gals and we want to reward our community – whether it's the students, the faculty, the staff, the Plainview citizens. We'd love to see everybody show up and cheer us on.
 
"We've worked really hard to get to this point and this is a great reward for our players to go out there and perform in front of the home team."
 
Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for students. WBU students will be admitted free with proper ID. No special passes will be accepted.
 
While Wayland is making its first appearance in the volleyball national championships, it's the second showing for Ottawa as the Lady Braves also qualified last year. Both times, Ottawa qualified as a result of winning the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament championship.
 
The Lady Braves lost in the opening round last year to No. 23 Bellevue (Neb.) in four, 25-17, 22-25, 25-18, 25-15. That ended Ottawa's season at 30-6.
 
Wayland and Ottawa have played three common opponents – Tabor College, College of the Ozarks and Kansas Wesleyan – this season, thanks to the Pioneers' participation in a tournament at Kansas Wesleyan in mid-September just before the start of Sooner Athletic Conference play. Wayland won all three of its matches by a combined 9-1 set count, while Ottawa won two of six outings against the trio.
 
"We're taking them very seriously, just like any match we play," Giacomazzi said. "In order for us to go on, this is the most important match we play…"
 
Ottawa is led in kills by Nicole Gingery, a 5-foot-10 senior middle blocker who averages 3.22 kills and is hitting .338. Three other Lady Braves average more than 2.0 kills, including Allie Arnold, a 5-9 junior middle blocker who leads the team in blocks per game at 1.08. The Lady Braves' digs leader, averaging 3.25, is senior Mohsani Hoveyda.
 
"They have some real big girls who are strong and powerful," Giacomazzi said. "They run a nice slide that we're going to try to stop a little bit. She's 6-foot and going against two of our shorter players on the front row, so we're a little concerned with that. We'll have to make some adjustments and try to stop her.
 
"More importantly, if we score more points than they do, and she's going to score her 10, 12 or 20, as long as we score 75 points we win."
 
As for his own team, Giacomazzi hopes the Pioneers will be at full strength, although a handful of players' statuses remain uncertain, including Cat Wiechmann with an injured arm and Mackenzie Clark, who did not see action in last weekend's SAC Tournament, with a concussion.
 
"Overall we're feeling fairly well," Giacomazzi said. "We have enough depth that we can make up for some of the inequities we have with health."
 
Wayland and Ottawa have met at least once in the past, the last time in 2008 when Plainview native Lorrie (Hammit) Beelby – a former WBU volleyball player (2000-02) and daughter-in-law of former WBU track and field coach Rick Beelby – served as the Lady Braves' head coach. That match, in Giacomazzi's second season as Wayland coach, took place at a tournament hosted by Lubbock Christian University. Wayland won, 3-1.
 
That, of course, means nothing to the outcome of Saturday's match. What will matter is how players react to playing in a national championship event.
 
Giacomazzi figures there will be some nerves on the court for both teams.
 
"Of course we're always going to have jitters…it's the opening round of the national tournament. None of us have been there before, as far as the players go, and they're going to want to put their best foot forward."
 
Ultimately, the coach feels his team will overcome any nervousness they have, and being in the "friendly confines" of the Hutch will "take away a little bit of the edge.
 
"I think the girls will be just fine because we've worked so hard at certain things and we're going to continue to do a lot of the same things that have gotten us where we are."