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Box Score 2 NEW ORLEANS – Two tournaments, eight victories, zero losses.
That's the line score for the Wayland Baptist volleyball team after the first two weeks of the season. The 19
th-ranked Pioneers completed another perfect tournament weekend here Saturday as they defeated Big Easy Blastoff host team Xavier, La., 26-24, 25-21, 25-18, before taking down another New Orleans school, Loyola, 25-22, 25-12, 25-20.
"It was a good weekend. We saw several combinations of players out there and that worked out well," WBU coach
Jim Giacomazzi said.
Saturday's victories followed wins Friday over two Alabama teams, Mobile and Faulkner, both in four.
"We got to play from behind a lot, and they good thing is we didn't give up," Giacomazzi said. "We kept rallies going long enough to where the other team made a mistake before we did.
"What we need to do now is learn to terminate sooner."
That might come in handy next weekend when Wayland steps up its level of competition at the Hampton Inn Classic in Columbia, Mo. The Pioneers will run into three top 10 teams, starting with host Columbia, ranked No. 10, at 3 p.m. Friday. Wayland takes on Lindenwood-Belleville, Ill., at 7 p.m. Friday then on Saturday runs into third-ranked Missouri Baptist and top-ranked Park, Mo., the defending national champion.
"We're about to run into some teams that have some bombers," Giacomazzi said.
Wayland has its own bombers, too, led by senior all-Americans
Shahala Hawkins and
Chelsey Driskill. On Saturday morning against Xavier, a team that went 20-6 last season, Hawkins and Driskill had 18 and 15 kills, respectively, with Hawkins hitting .531 and getting two solo and four block assists.
Rossanna Ramos' 14 digs led the way, followed by
Cat Wiechmann and
Cindy Horns with nine each.
Emily Welch finished with 20 assists, with Wiechmann adding 14.
In the afternoon match against Loyola, Hawkins put down 14 kills, hit .444 and led a Pioneer block party that saw Wayland with three solo and 16 block assists.
"In the third set when we got several blocks, that was a lot of fun," Giacomazzi said.
Hawkins got two solos and seven assists,
Jessica Stohlmann four assists, and
Mallorie Ellis three assists. Ramos again led in digs with 17, while Horn had three aces and Welch 11 assists.
Giacomazzi said he liked Wayland's offense, but said the defense needs to step it up.
"Our digging is getting better, we're reading better," he said.
"We made more god decisions this weekend than bad, and as the season goes on we're going to make even wiser ones."
