Box Score Nothing can or should be taken for granted when it comes to playoff volleyball. That's a lesson the top-seeded Wayland Baptist Pioneers were reminded of by the St. Gregory's Cavaliers in the quarterfinals of the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament on Saturday morning.
St. Gregory's (7-18), the tournament's No. 8 seed, held leads in the first two games until Wayland (27-7) was able to right the ship. Ultimately, the Pioneers pulled away with a 25-16, 25-15, 25-15 victory to advance to next week's quarterfinals.
"There are all kinds of stories out there about the underdog taking out the giant, and they were ready to do that," Wayland coach
Jim Giacomazzi said of St. Greg's. "We beat them easily before (25-9, 25-8, 25-16 to end the regular season on Thursday), but I told the girls that they may have a secret weapon, and their secret weapon may be they don't want their season to end."
The Cavaliers jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the opening game and showed no signs of handing Wayland the win.
"We were a little slow out of the game, but the thing you have to respect St. Greg's for is they have a great block and they were fighting for their lives, looking for the big upset," Giacomazzi said. "They started out with some big hits and nice swings. They were primed and ready to come out and be the David."
The Pioneers tied it at 13 then were able to take their first lead at 15-14 on a kill by
Katie Inman. After St. Greg's tied it at 15, Wayland scored the next nine points to take control.
"We didn't come out with the respect we needed to against our opponent, but the girls did a great job relaxing and coming back and getting focused," Giacomazzi said. "We're in the part of the season when you can't afford to give away any points because everybody is fighting for their lives."
The Cavaliers also came out strong in game two, but Wayland was able to take back control a bit sooner. SGU went up 4-0, but the Pioneers responded by winning six of the next seven points to take a 6-5 lead. After St. Greg's tied it once more at 7-all, Wayland ran off 10 straight points to put it away.
Shahala Hawkins and
Chelsey Driskill led the Pioneers with 13 and 12 kills, respectively, while hitting .500 and .300.
Cindy Horn added seven smashes. Hawkins wound up with one solo and three block-assists.
Rossanna Ramos dug 21 of Wayland's 55 balls, while
Emily Welch served up 18 assists and
Tyler Gasaloga 13. Welch also was credited with three aces.
"We're doing a good job on serve-receive and putting the ball in play in the areas we want," Giacomazzi said. "We still want to eliminate some hitting errors and continue to be a better blocking team. Those things are going to help us go further in the post-season."
The playoffs continue at 7 p.m. Wednesday when Wayland hosts either fourth-seeded John Brown University (21-14) or fifth-seeded Southwestern Assemblies of God (17-13), which played later Saturday.
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