Pioneers wrap regular season with 12th straight win

Box Score Less than 24 hours after an emotional conference-clinching victory over rival Oklahoma Baptist, Wayland Baptist volleyball coach Jim Giacomazzi called Saturday morning's regular-season finale against Southwestern Christian "relaxing."
 
And why shouldn't the Pioneers have been relaxed? No. 20 Wayland rolled to a dominating 25-12, 25-9, 25-9 Sooner Athletic Conference victory over the Lady Eagles, picking up their 12^th consecutive win and sixth straight sweep.
 
Giacomazzi, who ordered playing time for all of his players against the Lady Eagles (11-21 overall, 2-14 SAC), said the Pioneers (21-9, 14-2) have made great strides this season, with everything culminating with Friday night's SAC regular-season outright championship, the first for Wayland since 1996.
 
"A couple of them just got it this week. We saw some nice improvement there," the coach said. "Where they were back in August and where they are now is night and day. They've worked hard and it's been great to see that improvement.
 
"The biggest improvement we've made in the last three weeks is the mental side of the game. You're not always going to play your best, so how do you get past the frustration of being off a little bit? That's the mental part. We tell the girls, 'Don't doubt yourself. Just go out there and expect to win.' That's the attitude you walk around with. Just have a quiet confidence to know you're going to win."
 
The Pioneers didn't have any doubt about Saturday's win, which took right at 60 minutes to complete.
 
Although Wayland came out of the blocks a bit slow, the Pioneers eventually chewed up points in chunks against Southwestern Christian. For example, WBU went on a 9-1 run to end the second set, then ran out to a 12-2 lead to start the third set as Wayland outscored the Lady Eagles 21-3 over that stretch.
 
Giacomazzi said Southwestern Christian is in "a transition period.
 
"They have a good coach (Kristen Wilson). She knows her X's and O's," he said. "It's just a matter of her finding some players that want to go to that school and she will be able to put together a program."
 
With just nine hitting errors on 75 swings, Wayland hit .307 as a team compared to the Lady Eagles' -.204. Shahala Hawkins put down 15 kills and hit .406, while Chelsey Driskill added nine kills and hit .571.
 
"There were a lot of mistakes. (Southwestern Christian) had 34 hitting errors, so that takes away a lot of opportunities," Giacomazzi said. "But we had opportunities to pick up at least 20 more digs and just didn't do the job there."
 
Emily Welch dug 13 balls and Cat Wiechmann seven; Wayland had 38 total. The Pioneers also tallied seven aces by six different players, with Mercades Torres getting two.
 
The Pioneers totaled 10 blocks with Hawkins getting one solo and six block-assists. Morgan Seaton added five block-assists.
 
One interesting statistic involved Wiechmann playing on the front row as a result of a substitution error.
"She had a stat you're not going to see too often: a blocking error," Giacomazzi said.
 
Now, Wayland prepares to host the SAC Tournament on Nov. 14 and 15.
 
Six teams will qualify, with top-seed Wayland and No. 2 seed OBU getting first-round byes. Tentatively, the two quarterfinal matches will be played at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Friday, followed by semifinals at 4:30 and 7 p.m. The championship match will be at 6:30 p.m. Saturday with the winner automatically qualifying for the NAIA National Championships.
 
The Pioneers figure to at least get an at-large bid to nationals, but they would rather lock it down by winning the conference tournament , which they last did in 2008.
 
"That's the best way to do it," Giacomazzi said.