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Box Score 2 SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. – Compared to last season, the Wayland Baptist volleyball team will enjoy a much nicer ride home from Arkansas on Saturday after the Pioneers completed a weekend sweep, taking out John Brown University, 26-24, 25-23, 25-18, in Sooner Athletic Conference play before downing College of the Ozarks (Mo.) in non-conference action, 25-12, 23-25, 25-20, 25-19. Those victories followed a sweep of Bacone College on Friday night in Muskogee, Okla.
"Three wins help make that trip home a little bit shorter," Wayland coach
Jim Giacomazzi said.
A year ago, the Pioneers suffered a five-set loss to JBU in Siloam Springs, then last month in Plainview Wayland had to rally to pull out a five-set victory over the third-place team in the SAC, just behind WBU.
That Wayland (21-5 overall, 10-1 SAC), ranked the equivalent of 33
rd in the NAIA, downed JBU (16-9, 6-4) in three on Saturday was a big deal, according to Giacomazzi.
"We're trying to focus on set wins and minimize (losses) as much as we can," said Giacomazzi, explaining that the top-seed in the conference could come down to a tie-breaker, the first of which is set losses. "We want to take care of business; we want to host" the SAC Tournament championship match.
The back-and-forth first set saw Wayland take a 20-16 lead, rallying from two points down thanks to back-to-back aces by
Shahala Hawkins. However, the Golden Eagles won eight of the next 10 points and assumed a 24-22 lead. The Pioneers then dug down deep, getting consecutive kills by
Chelsey Driskill and
Cindy Horn to tie it up. After a hitting error by JBU, an ace by Wayland's
Tyler Gasaloga gave Wayland the early advantage.
The Pioneers jumped out to an 11-3 lead in the second set, but John Brown slowly worked its way back in it and owned a 17-16 lead. It was tied at 23 when a service error by the Golden Eagles and a kill by
Shahala Hawkins gave Wayland a 2-0 lead.
The Pioneers again broke fast in the third set, up 14-4, and this time they didn't let John Brown back in it. Trailing 20-8, the Golden Eagles did manage to score five in a row, but a kill by Hawkins ended the match.
"They did the job they needed to do," Giacomazzi said.
Hawkins, who pulled off an impressive set from her knees, ended with 13 kills and hit .375, followed by a dozen kills by Horn and nine by
Mallorie Ellis. Horn was able to take advantage of her power hitting. "Against an average blocker (Cindy) wins every time," Giacomazzi said. "She got good enough passes and good enough sets to be able to do some things."
Wayland ended with six blocks, most of them at key times during the match.
"We've worked a lot on our blocks," Giacomazzi said.
Rossanna Ramos' 23 digs and 18 by
Emily Welch helped Wayland produce 80 total. Welch had 17 assists and Gasaloga 14.
After a short break, the Pioneers took the floor against College of the Ozarks (14-13), and the Pioneers showed no immediate signs of fatigue, winning the first set with ease, 25-12. The Pioneers were close to taking control of the match, up 11-6 in the second set, when the Bobcats won eight of the next nine points to take a 14-12 lead. Ozarks then went on to win it, 25-23.
After not trailing in the third set and winning it, 25-20, the Pioneers fell behind 3-0 in the fourth, only to tally six straight points on their way to a 12-5 lead. Ozarks never recovered.
"It was a little rough (playing) back-to-back, but they got the job done," Giacomazzi said. "It was good to see us make some good decisions when we were tired. You can't simulate that in practice."
Hawkins wound up with a season-high 30 kills and hit .443, while also getting six digs, two blocks and two block assists.
Chelsey Driskill added 17 kills (.385), followed by Horn with nine as Wayland ended with 60 kills, its third-highest total of the season.
"It was a nice offensive output as far as the kills," Giacomazzi said. "We need to eliminate some of those errors."
Ramos posted 25 digs, Horn 12 and
Cat Wiechmann 10. Gasaloga dished out 32 assists while Welch had 21 assists and two aces. Inman got two solo blocks and two block assists.
Wayland plays another non-conference match against West Texas A&M at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Canyon before returning to Hutcherson Center to face Mid-America Christian (12-9, 3-8) at 7 p.m. Friday prior to a showdown against league-leading Oklahoma City (15-5, 10-0) at 11 a.m. Saturday. Wayland lost to OCU, now ranked No. 23, on the road on Sept. 26, 16-25, 25-18, 25-17, 25-20.
"We want to get some people healthy for next week," Giacomazzi said. "We're starting some matches that are really important the next couple of weeks."
