Box Score FORT WORTH – It didn't always look like the way they drew it up, but the 22
nd-ranked Wayland Baptist volleyball team still managed to secure its sixth straight win, defeating Texas Wesleyan in Sooner Athletic Conference play here Saturday afternoon, 25-20, 27-29, 25-14, 25-16.
"It wasn't pretty at times," WBU coach
Jim Giacomazzi said. "That second set was something to remember."
Or forget, as Wayland (15-9 overall, 8-2 SAC) found itself trailing by as many as 10 points, 15-5.
"I told the girls that this is where the emotional rollercoaster is," Giacomazzi said. "You work hard in the first set, and if you don't come out working hard in the second set and the other team gets a spark, you don't know what's going to happen."
The Pioneers actually fought their way all the way back in the set, tying it at 19 and serving for the set a couple of times. But the Lady Rams (10-15, 6-4) fought off both of those before getting a couple of set points of their own, and they capitalized on the last one to make sure the Pioneers wouldn't go home with their third straight sweep, winning it 29-27.
"I applauded them for getting back in the match and serving for set point, but the little mental errors at the end were a big deal," Giacomazzi said of Wayland's play toward the end of the marathon second set.
From then on, the Pioneers were mostly on point. Texas Wesleyan held a 10-7 lead in the third but due to serving out of rotation had to give up a couple of points. That allowed Wayland to regain the momentum during an extended break in the action while officials sorted out the scoring, and the Pioneers cruised to a 25-14 victory with the deciding point coming on a kill by
Katie Inman.
A series of blocks and several aces – including a pair by
T-Keeyah Hall – fueled Wayland in the fourth set, which Wayland took 25-14, before a hitting error on match point gave the Pioneers the match win, 25-16.
Giacomazzi praised his team's offensive balance as four players posted double-digit kills, led by
Chelsey Driskill with 14 and a .387 hitting percentage.
Shahala Hawkins added 13 kills,
Cindy Horn 11 and
Morgan Seaton 10.
Led by Hawkins' seven and
Ashlyn Westerman's three, Wayland produced 18 block assists, which also made Giacomazzi happy.
"We had some well-placed blocks," he said. "It was ka-boom, bang; over in a heartbeat."
The coach also liked the looks of the Pioneers' 82 digs, with
Emily Welch and
Cat Wiechmann pacing the team with 23 and 20, respectively. Westerman added a dozen digs, and she also had 46 of Wayland's 50 assists.
"Just over 20 digs a set for the team and Emily getting almost six and Cat five is awesome, and Ashlyn, too," he said. "I'm pleased with the way the defense is coming around. That's what I'm expecting out of the right-side people. (Opponents are) attacking the right side and we have to have people over there digging it.
"We're getting better in a lot of things."
Wayland takes a break from conference play and will host an exhibition match at 7 p.m. Wednesday against China's No. 2 national team, Zhejiang. Then it's back to SAC action as Wayland hosts St. Gregory's at 7 p.m. Friday and John Brown at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 25.
