Box Score HASTINGS, Neb. – After some marathon matches last weekend in Florida, the Wayland Baptist volleyball team may have been a bit shocked to get off the floor in the opener of the Five Points Bank Invitational here Friday afternoon in just three sets. The Pioneers likely weren't as shocked as Embry-Riddle, however, as third-ranked Wayland blew past the Eagles, 25-23, 25-22, 25-12.
"This was like a warm-up for a match for us," WBU coach
Jim Giacomazzi said of the relatively quick 3-set win for his team that played three five-set matches and one four-set match last weekend.
"We came here to improve upon what we did last week," Giacomazzi said. "The goal in the back of my mind is to get out of here 4-0, and to do that we had to win our first one."
After Wayland (3-2) and Embry-Riddle (1-3) closely battled it out the first two sets, the Pioneers put on an impressive performance in set No. 3. Spurring Wayland's showing was
Cindy Horn, who served on eight straight points – including a pair of aces – to put the Pioneers in control.
Back-to-back kills by
Shahala Hawkins closed out the match, but WBU's all-American got lots of support this match. While Hawkins ended with a match-high 14 kills,
Chelsey Driskill added 10 while freshman
Amanda Dietz added eight as Wayland hit .290 compared to just .122 for the Eagles.
"We knew they were going to have some hitting errors and they had quite a few," Giacomazzi said. "That's what kept us in the second set. We had to claw and dig ourselves out of a hole and finally tied it up about 17. Then we were able to sneak ahead."
The Pioneers compiled 10 blocks, including two solo blocks by both Hawkins and Dietz and three block assists by Driskill, while Embry-Riddle managed only one block. Wayland ended with 36 digs.
"I was concerned about Embry-Riddle because they have a lot of good athletes, but we had a couple of real good practices the last couple of days," said Giacomazzi, explaining that he raised the net during workouts to encourage the Pioneers to hit higher.
"We had a lot better set distribution, and Amanda did a really good job," the coach said.
The Pioneers are back on the court at 5 p.m. today against Montana Western, the only team Wayland will face this weekend that didn't receive votes in the NAIA Top 25 Preseason Poll. On Saturday, the Pioneers will face No. 7 Midland, Neb., at 9 a.m. and host Hastings, which received poll votes, at 3 p.m.
"They're a tough team, very tall," Giacomazzi said of Montana Western, adding that the Grizzlies took a set off Oklahoma Baptist earlier today.
"We're still young, so we need a lot of court time right now with a lot of different faces," Giacomazzi said.
