For the first time in almost two decades, the Wayland Baptist volleyball team will go into a season aiming to defend a Sooner Athletic Conference championship. The Pioneers won the SAC regular-season title for the first time in 18 years last season, as well as the SAC Tournament for the first time in six years, and now it's time to go for a repeat.
"The girls are excited to defend the conference championship and the conference tournament championship. They understand they have a target on their backs and have to give 100 percent in every set they play," said WBU coach
Jim Giacomazzi, entering his ninth season with the team and first with his daughter, former Pioneer standout
Natasha Giacomazzi, serving as his graduate assistant coach.
Wayland opens the season this weekend at the Red River/Sooner Crossover Tournament in Waxahachie where the 19
th-ranked Pioneers will play four matches on the campus of fellow SAC member Southwestern Assemblies of God University. The Pioneers open at noon Friday against St. Thomas of Houston then get Langston (Okla.) at 4. On Saturday, WBU takes on Jarvis Christian at 10 a.m. followed by Our Lady of the Lake at 2 p.m.
"We're excited for the season to get started," Giacomazzi said.
Again this season, all WBU volleyball matches will be audio broadcast by Matt and Genene Driskill, with links available at
www.wbuathletics.com.
"We're ready to start playing some volleyball," Giacomazzi said. "We're getting going a week earlier than we normally start. Normally we have a week longer to get some of the stiffness out, but there was an opportunity for us to play in this crossover tournament, and I thought it was a positive opportunity to get some playing time in."
Wayland's toughest match this weekend figures to be against Our Lady of the Lake, which finished last season with an 18-12 record, including 11-2 in the Red River Athletic Conference where its only losses were to perennial power Texas-Brownsvillle.
"Our goals for the week are to get to know each other under stressful situations and make positive choices that enhance our play and make us a better team," Giacomazzi said.
The Pioneers, who finished last season with a 23-10 record and ranked No. 25 after falling in the first round of the NAIA National Championships, have been working out for the last couple of weeks. Besides the customary sore muscles, Giacomazzi said practices have gone smoothly.
"Our returners have been working really hard and our new players are assimilating into the systems that we run," he said. "It's been an easy preseason relative to past years because of the knowledge and passion that the returners came back with. They were able to help the new players to the program know what is expected of them."
Eight of Wayland's 13-player roster returns from last season, and heading up the veterans are senior all-Americans
Shahala Hawkins and
Chelsey Driskill.
Hawkins, a two-time Tachikara-NAIA First-Team All-American from Denver City, was the SAC Player and Hitter of the Year in 2014 when she led the nation in average kills per set (5.48) and was ninth in blocks per set (1.3). She heads into this season just 98 kills short of breaking the school's career kills record.
Driskill, an outside hitter from Lubbock, was named to the All-SAC First Team and was an all-American honorable mention pick after averaging 2.95 kills per set and hitting .304.
"Shahala and Chelsey will be our go-to people," Giacomazzi said. "They are seniors with experience and both all-Americans. If a team can stop them they have a chance to beat us."
Also back are seniors
Emily Welch of Plainview, an All-SAC honorable mention selection, and
Cat Wiechmann of Lubbock.
"We're counting on Cat's defense, and Emily is stepping up to fill in some setting duties due to an injury" to
Tyler Gasaloga, a freshman from Vallejo, Calif.
Other returners include junior outside hitter
Cindy Horn of Germany and sophomores
Katie Inman of Los Lunas, N.M.,
Machala Noack of Krum and
Cassidy Riza of Joshua.
"We expect Cindy to improve on what she did last year," Giacomazzi said.
Besides Gasaloga, newcomers are junior transfer
Rossanna Ramos (Polk State, Fla.) of Montverde, Fla., and freshmen
Mallorie Ellis of Brownfield,
Jessica Stohlman of Cibolo and
Maria Eduarda of Brazil.
Giacomazzi said he's mostly liked what he's seen thus far in practice.
"I'm very pleased with our serve receive and serve receive passing. One thing I hope to accomplish this weekend is start to solidify our defense so we can be not only a top offensive team but also one of the top defensive teams in the nation."
The Pioneers will play their first 12 matches on the road, following this weekend's tourney with tournaments in New Orleans and Columbia, Mo., where Wayland will face top-ranked and defending national champion Park, Mo., No. 3 Missouri Baptist, and No. 10 Columbia. Wayland makes its home debut in what also will be the SAC opener on Sept. 11 against Southwestern Christian.
As for the SAC, which Wayland is heavily favored to win especially with the move of Oklahoma Baptist to NCAA Division II, Giacomazzi said there are a lot of unknowns.
"There were some freshman coaches last year who will have a better feel for everything in their second year, so I look to see improvements from John Brown and Oklahoma City. Then there's a new team with Bacone, which just hired a new coach. They were in the middle of the pack last year in the Red River and did well against several of our (SAC) schools."
