Box Score SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. – The Wayland Baptist volleyball team had some sweet incentive to take care of business against John Brown University on Friday night, and they did.
With a promise of extra dessert if they sweep John Brown, the 15
th-ranked Pioneers came through with a 25-18, 25-22, 25-17 victory in Sooner Athletic Conference play.
"It was a good defensive battle," WBU coach
Jim Giacomazzi said.
Which was to be followed by a sweet, late-night feast by the Pioneers, who earlier in the day talked a restaurant manager into providing to-go boxes filled with the players' favorite desserts. Giacomazzi, however, teased his team that unless they defeated John Brown in three, they would never see the desserts again.
"They were kind of anxious to get out to the bus," said Giacomazzi, who added that senior
Grecia Rivera filled her dessert box to the brim. "They did a very good job. They deserve it."
The Pioneers (28-5, 13-2 SAC), though, didn't play their best volleyball, but managed to get past John Brown (15-18, 9-7) with relative ease.
"We haven't been on our 'A' game for about two weeks now," Giacomazzi said.
Wayland started somewhat slowly, which the coach said affected the team's play the rest of the match.
"We had 12 errors in the first set…too many blocking errors," he said. "How you start a match influences you the rest of the match. We need to go back and work a little harder on that part."
John Brown never led in the first set, but it was tied as late as 18-18 when Wayland ran off seven unanswered points to finish it off strong.
The Pioneers struggled with their usually potent blocking in the second set, which saw Wayland jump out to a 6-1 lead before John Brown rallied. The Golden Eagles pulled to within 22-21, but the Pioneers were able to close it on a kill by
Chelsey Driskill and a couple of JBU errors.
"We didn't have a block in the second set, which was very frustrating," Giacomazzi said. "We had some good touches, but we were too sloppy."
The final set saw the teams tied at 9 when the Pioneers began distancing themselves, initially with five straight points. Wayland was up 18-15 and then recorded seven of the next nine points to close out the match on a kill by
Mackenzie Clark.
Wayland, which hit .250 as a team compared to .067 for John Brown, got a dozen kills from Rivera. The Pioneers recorded 65 digs.
"I was very pleased with that part of it," Giacomazzi said.
Other statistics were not immediately available.
The coach said the Pioneers have to get back on their "A" game back before the SAC Tournament next weekend in Shawnee, Okla., where Wayland will be the No. 2 seed.
"It's a little disconcerting," he said. "Hopefully that will come in the match tomorrow."
The Pioneers will spend the night again in Tulsa, Okla., before traveling to Shawnee on Saturday when they will end the regular-season against St. Gregory's at 1 p.m. Wayland defeated the Lady Cavaliers (6-22, 3-12), 25-10, 25-8, 25-14, in the first half of district.
"We need to take care of business tomorrow," Giacomazzi said.
