Box Score In a gutty performance by the entire Wayland Baptist volleyball team, especially its three-time all-American, the Pioneers knocked off No. 24 Oklahoma City University in a battle of top Sooner Athletic Conference teams Saturday afternoon in Hutcherson Center, 18-25, 25-20, 25-21, 21-25, 15-11.
"The girls did a good job implementing the game plan, more so than any other time this year," Wayland coach
Jim Giacomazzi said. "They stayed focused and intense, and we had some great leadership from the upperclassmen. They kept pulling people up."
The win propelled Wayland (23-6, 12-1 SAC) atop the SAC standings, a half-match ahead of the Stars (16-6, 11-1). If both teams win their remaining conference matches as expected, WBU and OCU would be SAC co-champions.
The defending conference champion Pioneers, a day after receiving their 2014 conference championship rings before a three-set win over Mid-America Christian, were looking to avenge a four-set loss to the Stars last month in Oklahoma City. It took five sets to do it, but Wayland got the job done.
Things looked a bit shaky for Wayland, ranked the equivalent of 34
th in the NAIA, after losing the first set, 25-18. On top of having to come from behind, standout middle
Shahala Hawkins suffered an ankle injury – on top of an already injured knee – late in the first set and spent the rest of the match playing a bit hobbled and in obvious pain.
"It's tough to see the ball when your eyes are all watery from the pain she was in," Giacomazzi said of Hawkins.
But Hawkins answered her personal gut-check, not only finishing the match but, like she always does, excelling. She finished with 19 kills while hitting .410 and also picked up seven block assists.
"I thought it was the most courageous thing she's done in her career," Giacomazzi said. "Knowing the pain she was in, I wasn't going to play her in the second set, but she insisted she was OK. And Shahala at 80 percent is still pretty good."
Hawkins stayed strong the entire way, recording five sets in the decisive fifth set, in which Wayland never trailed.
The rest of the Pioneers showed they had Hawkins' back, too.
"They did a good job rallying around Shahala and picking up the slack for her," Giacomazzi said.
Chelsey Driskill hit .395 and matched Hawkins' 19 kills, a season-high for her that tied her career-best.
Cindy Horn contributed a dozen kills.
"Chelsey did a great job, and Cindy got some more kills that we had to have," Giacomazzi said. "We had a good pass (and) a good set."
The Pioneers also stepped up their blocking…big time. Wayland produced 16 blocks, three more than its previous best. Besides Hawkins' seven block assists,
Katie Inman had five assists, Driskill had two solo and three assists, Horn had three assists and
Mallorie Ellis finished with two solo and two block assists.
"Mallorie did a super job blocking, and Cindy and Mallorie did a lot better job setting blocks outside," Giacomazzi said.
Wayland's defense helped slow down OCU's big hitters.
"Part of it was stopping both Tori Leisure and Manon Soraru. We had to get some blocks on them and pick up a block here and there from the outside hitters to score some points," Giacomazzi said.
"We were getting a lot more hands on the block and slowing down their attack. Those were kills when we played in Oklahoma City, so we took those kills away."
The coach also said his team's serves were more accurate and effective.
Cat Wiechmann and
Tyler Gasaloga had two aces apiece.
"Our serve location was much better, and that was one of the other things we had to do – put the ball in the right spot. We did a good job of putting them in position where it was harder for them to take full swings."
He said serving in certain spots helped Wayland know which play OCU would run.
"It helped us predict some things. Having that information up front, we know we're going to have a good block. That really helped out a lot."
It was only the Pioneers' second five-set match all season. Wayland also won its other, at home, over John Brown five weeks earlier.
Emily Welch and Gasaloga ended with 28 and 24 assist, respectively, while
Rossanna Ramos' 24 digs led the way in that department, where Wayland ended with 64 compared to 78 for OCU.
Giacomazzi would have liked to have seen a few more digs by the Pioneers, along with fewer hitting errors (19).
"But out of those 19, nine were on set plays where we beat the blockers but hit it out of bounds. Those are the things we need to eliminate."
Wayland takes a final break from conference play at Lubbock Christian at 7 p.m. Tuesday. All military personnel will be admitted free to that match at the Rip Griffin Center. LCU defeated the Pioneers when they met Sept. 29 in the Hutch, 26-24, 23-25, 26-24, 25-20.
After that, Wayland plays at Southwestern Assemblies of God on Oct. 30 and at Texas Wesleyan on Oct. 31 before winding up the regular-season Nov. 5 at home against St. Gregory's.
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