Box Score The good thing about Wayland Baptist's three-set loss to West Texas A&M on Tuesday night in Hutcherson Center is that it wasn't a conference match, and that the lessons learned should pay dividends when the Pioneers return to conference play this weekend.
"Playing teams like WT where it doesn't hurt us (in conference standings), and Texas-Permian Basin next week, will give some opportunities for some people to get some court time and make some transitions on the court during competition, so from that point of view today was a positive experience provided as individuals we see the mistakes we made and start getting them corrected," Wayland coach
Jim Giacomazzi said after the Lady Buffs, ranked No. 20 in NCAA Division II, defeated Wayland, 25-18, 25-11, 25-12.
Wayland (9-9), which dropped from No. 22 to No. 24 in the NAIA Top 25 released earlier in the day, went into Tuesday's match looking for its first victory over WTAMU (13-3) in what was their 11
th meeting. That will have to wait, as will the Pioneers improving their set count against the Lady Buffs, now at 33-to-1.
"It's about learning to compete and being accountable for your mistakes," Giacomazzi said.
Unfortunately, there were plenty of those as Wayland struggled with its offense, hitting just .100 while committing 18 errors to go with 27 kills in 90 attempts. WTAMU (13-3), led by Lauren Bevan with 13 kills, hit .442 and made seven hitting errors, although the Lady Buffs had four service errors.
"They kept us in the first game with some of their mistakes," said Giacomazzi, who pointed out both teams struggled on defense with Wayland getting just 29 digs – eight the first set – and WT ending with 35.
Shahala Hawkins was held to 12 kills, her second-lowest total of the season behind a nine-kill, two-set match vs. Huston-Tillotson, and hit .147.
Mercades Torres,
Cat Wiechmann and
T-Keeyah Hall all had six digs.
Wayland ended with just one block compared to 11 for the Lady Buffs.
"Give WT credit. They had a good athlete who has experience in every position," Giacomazzi said. "We have athletes on our team and we're still gaining experience.
"If we learn from the mistakes we made today and continue to improve upon how to compete, then we will have a successful season. The challenge is nobody wants to be pointed out where they made a mistake. There are some intangibles out there where they're getting instant feedback now because they're not seeing it on video. When you're able to do that you learn a lot faster."
Wayland is next in action at 7 p.m. Friday against OCU (12-7, 4-1), which swept winless-in-SAC Southwestern Christian on Tuesday, 25-15, 25-22, 25-23. The Stars are a game ahead of Wayland in the conference standings.
"I'm looking forward to OCU," Giacomazzi said. "The mistakes we made tonight will be corrected over practice the next couple of days in hopes of having a better end result."
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Tachikara-NAIA Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 Poll – Sept. 30
| RANK | LAST WEEK^ | SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) | 2014 Record | TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Rocky Mountain (Mont.) (22) | 17-2 | 622 |
| 2 | 2 | Texas-Brownsville | 16-1 | 602 |
| 3 | 3 | Concordia (Calif.) | 16-1 | 616 |
| 4 | 4 | Park (Mo.) | 20-0 | 561 |
| 5 | 5 | Biola (Calif.) | 14-4 | 535 |
| 6 | 6 | Northwestern (Iowa) | 18-2 | 516 |
| 7 | 7 | Columbia (Mo.) | 19-2 | 493 |
| 8 | 8 | Viterbo (Wisc.) | 19-3 | 481 |
| 9 | 9 | Madonna (Mich.) | 20-2 | 463 |
| 10 | 10 | Midland (Neb.) | 15-3 | 455 |
| 11 | 12 | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | 17-2 | 401 |
| 12 | 11 | Eastern Oregon | 16-2 | 399 |
| 13 | 14 | Southern Oregon | 12-3 | 386 |
| 14 | 16 | Georgetown (Ky.) | 12-4 | 343 |
| 15 | 15 | Oklahoma Baptist | 14-6 | 342 |
| 16 | 13 | Dordt (Iowa) | 10-7 | 339 |
| 17 | 20 | Evangel (Mo.) | 15-5 | 282 |
| 18 | 19 | Missouri Baptist | 16-1 | 250 |
| 18 | 21 | Vanguard (Calif.) | 15-6 | 250 |
| 20 | 23 | Coastal Georgia | 17-0 | 223 |
| 21 | 17 | Grand View (Iowa) | 11-10 | 213 |
| 22 | 24 | Jamestown (N.D.) | 12-4 | 170 |
| 23 | 24 | Ashford (Iowa) | 18-4 | 159 |
| 24 | 22 | Wayland Baptist (Texas) | 9-8 | 140 |
| 25 | RV | Davenport (Mich.) | 12-4 | 132 |
Others receiving votes: Concordia (Neb.) 87; Trinity Christian (Ill.) 83; Cal State San Marcos 72; Bryan (Tenn.) 55; Westmont (Calif.) 52; St. Catharine (Ky.) 44; Concordia (Ore.) 43; Hastings (Neb.) 43; St Thomas (Fla.) 22; Carroll (Mont.) 17; Indiana Wesleyan (12); Baker (Kan.) 11; Embry-Riddle (Fla.) 9; College of Idaho 8; MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 3.
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