Box Score HASTINGS, Neb. –
Jim Giacomazzi said his Wayland Baptist volleyball team was "up and down" in its Friday night match against Montana Western at the Five Points Bank Invitational.
The good news is the Pioneers definitely finished "up."
No. 3 Wayland ran off the final five points to secure their third straight victory, defeating Montana Western, 25-19, 20-25, 25-18, 21-25, 15-10.
"We have a streak going," Giacomazzi said, somewhat in jest, of his team's relatively modest three-victory run, which included a three-set triumph over No. 21 Embry-Riddle, Fla., earlier in the day.
The Pioneers (4-2) will try to make it four and five straight on Saturday when they take on No. 7 Midland, Neb., at 9 a.m. followed by host Hastings at 3 p.m.
"I don't see any easy match here," Giacomazzi said.
The Montana Western match certainly wasn't.
Against the unranked Bulldogs (3-4), who fell to Oklahoma Baptist in four earlier Friday, Wayland seemed to be about to take control of the match after winning the first set rather handily, 25-19, and then bouncing back from an early deficit in the second set to take a 16-13 lead. But the Bulldogs managed a 12-4 run to end the set and, with a 25-20 victory, tie the match.
"We made too many mental mistakes," Giacomazzi said. "We gave them too many opportunities to hit balls back at us. Our concentration and focus weren't always there."
The Pioneers regained the momentum and won the third set going away, 25-18, ending it on an ace by
Shahala Hawkins and a kill by
Chelsey Driskill.
Wayland held a comfortable seven-point lead in set No. 4, only to see the Bulldogs, behind some excellent blocking, rally and pull to within one. An ace by
Cindy Horn gave Wayland a 20-17 lead, but from then on it was almost all Montana Western. The Bulldogs outscored the Pioneers 5-1 the rest of the way to claim the fourth set, 25-20.
"Again, we made some poor choices," Giacomazzi said. "We had a four- or five-point lead in the fourth set then shot ourselves in the foot by not being in the right position, hitting errors and service errors. When you do that (the other team) starts believing they can win."
The Pioneers led most of the way in the final set, but Montana Western made a run to tie it at 10-all. That's when Wayland really turned it on.
Hawkins put down back-to-back kills to force the Bulldogs to call a timeout. Wayland came out of the brief break and Ashlyn Western and Hawkins immediately teamed for a block before Hawkins got a tip for match point. Hawkins and
Cindy Horn then ended it with a block assist.
"We should have won it in three, but because we didn't stay focused long enough we didn't," Giacomazzi said. "That will come. We just need to make better choices under stressful situations.
"The girls have to understand how one point does matter in the middle of a set. They're starting to see that."
The Pioneers hit .235 compared to .191 for the Bulldogs. Hawkins wound up with 30 kills and hit .330 while Driskill got 19 kills (.350) and Horn 13 (.222).
"They had Shahala and Chelsey's number at the beginning," Giacomazzi said.
Wayland's 10 blocks were one fewer than Montana Western and included six assists and one solo for Hawkins. The Pioneers dug 67 balls, one fewer than Montana Western, with
Mercades Torres digging a team-high 18 for WBU.
Giacomazzi said the Pioneers have to work on reducing their service errors.
"I don't mind missing some if they miss deep, but when we miss in the net…," he said. "We're trying to work past that."
