Baseball players are known for being superstitious, so as a former professional pitcher,
Jim Giacomazzi felt it was a good sign when it was announced that his Wayland Baptist Pioneer volleyball team would host Ottawa, Kan., in the opening round of the NAIA Volleyball National Championships.
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Two years ago, Wayland also hosted Ottawa in an opening-round match and not only defeated the Braves but advanced all the way to the national tournament semifinals. Only one other team in NAIA history has made it that far after playing an opening-round match.
Of course Giacomazzi knows what happened two years ago – a 25-15, 25-15, 25-21 Wayland win – has little bearing on what will play out when the Pioneers (29-7), ranked the equivalent of 26
th in the NAIA Coaches' Top 25, and Braves (33-4), the equivalent of 31
st, meet at 3 p.m. Saturday in Hutcherson Center, where an invitation to the national tournament final site in Sioux City, Iowa, will be awarded the winner.
Admission is $5 for adults and $4 for students, with Wayland students admitted free with valid ID.
While Wayland realizes several major contributors still on its roster from 2013, few key players in Ottawa's lineup were around back then. The Braves even have a different coach.
"Everybody's new. All of their upperclassmen come from community colleges," Giacomazzi said. "It's really a completely different team. The coach (Melissa Blessington) is in her second season and their assistant coach (Tom Sorenson) played on the international level for the U.S., so they're trained well."
Compared to the team that arrived in Plainview from Kansas two years ago, the coach said the one Wayland will face Saturday is better, and certainly more experienced.
"They have a lot of junior college transfers and a lot of upperclassmen," he said. "Eight of their players are junior college transfers. That gives them an experience factor."
Ottawa comes to town with loads of positive momentum. The Braves have won 11 straight matches and 24 of their last 25, having gone 19-1 and winning the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament title for the third time in four years.
Wayland and Ottawa have played two common opponents in defending national champion Park, Mo., and Oklahoma City. While both the Pioneers and Braves both fell to Park in three, Ottawa lost in four to an OCU team that Wayland defeated twice in three meetings.
Giacomazzi said the Pioneers and Braves match up well with many similar statistics but contrasting offensive styles.
"They have some big outside hitters; we have some big outside blockers," he said. "They are a dominant outside-hitting offense where we're a dominant inside-hitting offense. We favor the middle and they favor the left.
"Those contrasting styles will be interesting to watch."
Leading the charge for Ottawa are junior outside hitters Janaya Fox, Keri Tanking and Avery Enzbrenner. Heading up that trio is the 6-foot-1 Fox, who ranks sixth in the NAIA in total kills (525) and 18
th in kills per game (3.9). Comparatively, Wayland's
Shahala Hawkins ranks second in both categories (596, 4.9).
"They go to her a lot," Giacomazzi said of Fox. "It's nothing tricky, nothing fancy. It's high outside…stop us."
Other top players for Ottawa include senior libero Hannah Sittig, who is fifth in the NAIA in total digs (775), and junior setter Bethany Farres, who ranks sixth in total assists (1,379).
Giacomazzi said Saturday's match will come down to defense.
"Whichever defense rises to the occasion is the team that's going to win, because both teams have offense," he said.
While the coach said Ottawa's defense "is a concern of ours," he likes how the Pioneer defense has performed of late.
"Our defense has been doing a lot better."
For that matter, the team's overall play has picked up down the stretch, he added.
"We've improved a lot over the last three weeks. As the quality of competition has been better, we've risen to the occasion. The girls stood the test of the play we've gone up against. We played OCU, Texas Wesleyan and John Brown at a level I've been pleased with, not just getting the win but a lot of the things we've done to get the win.
"That's been really pleasing to see."
Wayland and Ottawa are playing one of 12 opening-round matches that will advance the winners to the final site in Sioux City to meet up with 12 automatic qualifiers who received first-round byes. That event will play out Dec. 1-5.
