Box Score They may not have pulled off the upset, but the Wayland Baptist Pioneers sure got the attention of the defending national champions…again.
In a rematch of last year's national semifinals, Wayland gave second-ranked University of Texas-Brownsville all it wanted on Friday night during the first day of the Coca-Cola Classic. Urged on by a lively crowd of some 350 in Hutcherson Center and powered by a record-setting performance by junior
Shahala Hawkins, the No. 11 Pioneers made a rousing come-from-behind effort to take the first set then played right with the champs the rest of the way.
In the end, UT-Brownsville came away on top, 24-26, 25-19, 25-23, 25-23.
"It was a very strong effort. I was very pleased," Wayland coach
Jim Giacomazzi said. "I hate losing (and the team) hates losing, but I'm pleased with the effort. They did a strong job."
The loss drops Wayland to 6-5 on the season while the Ocelots, who ran the table last year over 37 matches, improve to 10-1.
The Pioneers, who earlier in the day defeated Our Lady of the Lake in three, return to the floor at 10:30 a.m. Saturday to take on Huston-Tillotson. Then at 3 p.m., Wayland has another showdown with unbeaten and seventh-ranked Columbia, Mo. (11-0), which defeated Southwestern Assemblies of God in four before sweeping No. 15 Oklahoma Baptist.
Against UT-Brownsville, the Pioneers treated their fans to quite a show.
Down 23-17 in the opener, Wayland staged a rally that saw the Pioneers notch six of the next seven points to steal the set. The memorable run started innocently with a kill by
Chelsey Driskill and a UTB hitting error before the Ocelots came up with game point, 24-19.
The match then turned into the
Shahala Hawkins show.
The All-American put down a kill before back-to-back attack errors by Brownsville. That pulled Wayland to within 24-22, at which point Hawkins notched three straight kills, all assisted by
Ashlyn Westerman.
The Pioneers now led by one, and an ace by
Emily Welch – on a serve that hit the net and delicately rolled over the net – gave the point and the dramatic victory to Wayland, 26-24.
WBU maintained the momentum to start set two, scoring the first four points. Brownsville quickly caught up at 8-8, and it was still tied at 16 until the Ocelots pulled away by tallying nine of the next 12 points for a 25-19 victory.
Brownsville pocketed the momentum when the teams switched sides, starting set three with seven straight points. The Pioneers slowly worked their way back into it, pulling to within 23-22. The teams traded points before a kill by UTB's Bojana Mitrovic finished it off, 25-23.
The fourth set was close throughout, with neither team able to establish any footing. It was tied at 22 when the Ocelets' Annelies Dokter recorded back-to-back kills. A service error on the first match point made it 24-23, but Dokter struck again for the deciding kill of the match.
"We just couldn't run some plays there at the end," Giacomazzi said. "Against a team like that they're going to find a hole…if they don't just knock a hole themselves. They can really bring it."
Despite the loss, Hawkins established a new school record for kills in a match with 33, which breaks by one the old mark she tied in Wayland's second match this season against Taylor, Ind., at a tournament in Daytona Beach, Fla. On 67 swings, Hawkins wound up hitting .373. She also recorded double-digits in digs with 10 plus had one solo and six block assists.
Driskill added 17 kills while
Cindy Horn got nine in addition to a team-high 17 digs. Westerman, who had 54 assists, tacked on 14 digs, as did Welch.
Mercades Torres dug a dozen balls, and Horn had five block assists.
Four Ocelots tallied double-digit kills, led by Mitrovic with 24. Brownsville ended with 69 kills and hit .271 compared to Wayland's 60 and .227.
"We outblocked them that last set and we outhit them. We just need to execute a little bit better on serve receive," Giacomazzi said.
The coach said the experience alone of playing that kind of intense match this early in the season will do his team wonders.
"We didn't get to play a match like this last year until late November," he said. "Hopefully we come back (Saturday) and add another layer of success so we can keep moving forward in a positive way.
"We're disappointed with the loss, but the girls are getting it. It's difficult right now because I want to see where we're going to be in October, but with more experience we'll no doubt get there."
