Box Score SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. – Wayland Baptist couldn't overcome a slow start as the 22
nd-ranked Pioneer volleyball team – unable to force a fifth set despite seven set points – dropped a rollercoaster of a match to much-improved John Brown University in Sooner Athletic Conference action here Friday night, 25-16, 25-12, 17-25, 26-24.
While the Pioneers weren't their usual selves, Wayland coach
Jim Giacomazzi credited first-year John Brown coach Ken Carver for turning around the Golden Eagles.
"He's doing a fantastic job with almost the same team as they had last year," Giacomazzi said.
The loss leaves Wayland (8-8 overall, 2-2 SAC) with .500 records both on the season and in conference play as the Pioneers get ready to take on St. Gregory's (5-11, 1-2) at 1 p.m. Saturday in Shawnee, Okla. John Brown, coming off a four-set loss to Oklahoma City on Tuesday, improved to 12-5, 3-1.
Wayland – which had beaten John Brown their last six meetings, all sweeps – came out slow out of the gates after making the long drive from Plainview on Thursday.
"It was a very slow start for us," Giacomazzi said. "I counted 20 errors for us in the first set. You can't give any team that many points."
The score was knotted at 11 when the Golden Eagles put it into gear, lifted by several aces.
"They did a fine job of serving, but they weren't serving that hard. We were just psyching ourselves out," Giacomazzi said.
After dropping the opener 25-16, it got worse for Wayland in the second set as the Pioneers managed just 12 points, their second-lowest total in a set all season behind the 11 scored against No. 7 Columbia, Mo. WBU actually led 5-2 before John Brown ran off seven straight to take control. The Pioneers still were within striking distance trailing 15-10, but the Golden Eagles – taking advantage of every WBU miscue – scored 10 of the next 12 points to take it, 25-12.
JBU was successful in its game plan to double- and triple-team WBU middles
Shahala Hawkins and
Chelsey Driskill.
"(John Brown) saw (that) we were vulnerable and went with it," Giacomazzi said.
The Pioneers didn't have an answer until the third set when Wayland finally found its rhythm. The Pioneers jumped out to a 7-1 advantage and cruised from there, winning it 25-17.
The fourth set saw Wayland take a comfortable lead early and sustain it all the way to set point as the Pioneers' outside hitters began contributing. The match appeared headed for a fifth set with Wayland up 24-17, but the Golden Eagles had different plans.
John Brown fought off seven set points to tie it at 24-all on an ace that touched the back line. Giacomazzi called timeouts on both sides of that point to calm his troops, but to no avail.
John Brown took the lead on a Wayland attack error then won it on a well-placed kill that found the back corner.
Giacomazzi called the match "an emotional rollercoaster.
"I think every set we jumped out to a lead, then we went into cruise control," he said. "We have to learn to sustain that mental edge, that sharpness, for more than three points. That's the hardest thing to teach. We need some warriors out there to get it going."
The coach said too many of his players are playing passively.
"We wanted someone else to be the hero," he said. "We have too many passive players on our team. The aggressive ones (graduated) and nobody has stepped up.
"I told them, 'You guys aren't as good as you think you are, which upset them quite a bit, which is good because they need to get out there and work.
"Those are some of the things we have to change. It's a mental outlook in being aggressive. I spoke less this match than I have all year to allow them to work through it. They have to work on the mental side. They have to rise up."
He said the Pioneers are starting to figure it out, but it's a process.
"We've worked on some things in practice, but it's not a habit yet. Some of them are making the change, but it's just not fast enough."
Statistics were not immediately available.
