Volleyballers take out UTPB for back-to-back wins

Box Score

Here lately, it's been one step forward, one step back for the Wayland Baptist volleyball team. On Tuesday night, however, the Pioneers were able to complete a couple of steps in a positive direction.

"We climbed a rung today rather than descended," WBU coach Jim Giacomazzi said after the Pioneers recorded their first back-to-back wins in almost a month, defeating Texas-Permian Basin in a non-conference match in Hutcherson Center, 25-15, 25-18, 20-25, 25-15.

Wayland (11-9), which earlier in the day fell one spot in the NAIA Poll to No. 25, mostly was dominant during the match against the Falcons (6-9), who had defeated the Pioneers the last three times they met.

"We played very well," Giacomazzi said.

WBU's only hiccup came in the third set when the Pioneers allowed the Falcons to gain a foothold.

"The third set we had a few mental errors. We had nine hitting errors in that set alone" compared to nine total the rest of the match, Giacomazzi said. "We came out happy and giddy (after winning the first two sets) and I told the girls, 'It's time to pick up the lunch buckets and clock in.'"

The Pioneers did just that in the fourth set as the Falcons suddenly began making all of the mistakes. With Emily Welch starting the set with the serve, Wayland was able to score the first four points and never look back.

"Once we made some adjustments" the Pioneers got it back together, Giacomazzi said.

UTPB was able to close the gap to 11-9, but Wayland ran off six straight points – including an ace by Cat Wiechmann and a pair of kills by Morgan Seaton – to take a 17-9 lead and all but seal the win. A kill by Cindy Horn and an ace by T-Keeyah Hall took it to match point, and a kill by Driskill ended it.

Shahala Hawkins paced the Pioneers with 21 kills while hitting .240 while the freshman Seaton almost doubled her previous career-best and produced 11 kills while hitting .333. Driskill also hit that number with nine kills, and Horn had seven smashes and hit a team-high .400. Wayland hit .269 as a team compared to UTPB's .097.

Both teams had 50 digs, with Welch's 11 leading WBU. Wiechmann added nine and Mercades Torres eight. The Pioneers had 11 blocks, led by Seaton with one solo and four block-assists. Hawkins had five block-assists while Ashlyn Westerman, who had 47 assists, had three block-assists.

Giacomazzi was pleased with the defensive job Katie Inman did, helping to contain UTPB kills leader Ryley Carman who still managed a team-high 16 kills and hit .275.

"We wanted to slow her done some, and I thought we did pretty much," Giacomazzi said. "I was pleased with Katie and the challenge she had in front of her because (Carman) is a good player.

"I have to keep reminding myself to be patient and know that we're taking steps to get better," he added. "That's the good thing."

The Pioneers return to Sooner Athletic Conference play this weekend as they head to Oklahoma take on No. 14 Oklahoma Baptist at 7 p.m. Friday in Shawnee followed by Southwestern Christian at 1 p.m. Saturday. The Bison (17-6 overall, 7-0 SAC), who swept Southwestern Assemblies of God in Waxahachie on Tuesday, 27-25, 25-15, 25-20, lead the league while Southwestern Christian (8-12, 1-6), a 3-2 winner over Mid-America Christian, is near the bottom.

"We're wanting to win the next two, but the main one we want to win is (against) the one that has green," Giacomazzi said in reference to OBU's team color.

The Bison, who have won the SAC the last four years, have beaten Wayland the last 12 meetings dating back to 2009 after the Pioneers won the first five.
 

RANK	LAST WEEK	SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES)	2014 Record	TOTAL POINTS
1	1	Rocky Mountain (Mont.) (21)	18-2	591
2	2	Texas at Brownsville	18-1	572
3	3	Concordia (Calif.)	20-1	553
4	4	Park (Mo.)	23-0	534
5	5	Biola (Calif.)	16-4	512
6	6	Northwestern (Iowa)	20-2	496
7	8	Viterbo (Wis.)	20-3	480
8	10	Midland (Neb.)	16-4	437
9	11	Lindsey Wilson (Ky.)	20-2	428
10	12	Eastern Oregon	18-2	424
11	13	Southern Oregon	14-3	399
12	17	Missouri Baptist	18-1	392
13	7	Columbia (Mo.)	20-3	356
14	15	Oklahoma Baptist	16-6	329
15	25	Davenport (Mich.)	15-4	305
16	17	Evangel (Mo.)	16-5	297
17	18	Vanguard (Calif.)	17-6	280
18	9	Madonna (Mich.)	21-4	266
19	14	Georgetown (Ky.)	14-6	251
20	22	Jamestown (N.D.)	13-4	217
21	16	Dordt (Iowa)	11-8	216
22	21	Grand View (Iowa)	13-10	200
23	23	Ashford (Iowa)	18-4	185
24	20	Coastal Georgia	17-1	145
25	24	Wayland Baptist (Texas)	10-9	97

Others receiving votes: Cal State San Marcos 59; Bryan (Tenn.) 52; Embry-Riddle (Fla.) 49; Trinity Christian (Ill.) 46; Carroll (Mont.) 45; St. Catharine (Ky.) 44; College of Idaho 42; St. Thomas (Fla.) 39; Indiana Wesleyan 31; Briar Cliff (Iowa) 18; MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 18; Concordia (Ore.) 12; Point Park (Pa.) 3; Baker (Kan.) 3.