WBU shows (some) signs of brilliance

Box Score At times in their Sooner Athletic Conference match against St. Gregory's University on Friday night in Hutcherson Center, the Wayland Baptist volleyball team played spectacularly, according to Pioneer coach Jim Giacomazzi.
 
Other times, however, not so much.
 
"We had moments of brilliance followed by moments that were less than brilliant," Giacomazzi said.
 
Still, the Pioneers managed to sweep the Lady Cavaliers, 25-21, 25-14, 25-20, and take another step closer to securing the No. 2 seed in the quickly-approaching SAC Tournament.
 
"We just didn't get out there and take care of business in a way that is going to help us in the post-season," Giacomazzi said. "I felt like we took a step or two backwards tonight. We had a lot of blank, passionless faces, and that needs to be fixed."
 
Both the Pioneers (21-13, 14-2 SAC) and fourth-place Lady Cavaliers (19-12, 10-5) struggled in the opening set.
 
"We had quite a few mistakes in that first set. It seemed like it was a struggle for us to get out of just going through the motions," Giacomazzi said. "We had nine errors and barely had a positive hitting percentage (.024). They had 10 errors (and hit .021). It was ugly volleyball on both sides of the net. Neither team went out and had the desire to be excellent."
 
The Pioneers got things going in the second set, recording 15 kills while committing just three errors and hitting .324.
 
"Set No. 2 was probably the highlight for us. We were running on all cylinders," Giacomazzi said. "Our digging was good, our passing was good, our hitting was good… . We were more efficient with the balls we were given and the rallies were shorter."
 
Giacomazzi said shorter rallies was one of the team's goals for the evening.
 
"We had 79 digs in three sets. That's a lot of digging, and that only happens because we're not putting the ball down soon enough," the coach said.
 
In the third set, Wayland trailed 13-7 before suddenly coming to life again and taking control. WBU won seven of the next eight points en route to outscoring SGU 18-7.
 
Four Pioneers produced double-digit digs, led by senior Rossanna Ramos with 23 and freshman Jordan Breding with a career-high 18. Junior Katie Inman got 12 digs and with her 10 kills wound up with her second straight double-double. Mallorie Ellis had 10 digs.
 
"Jordan's 18 digs were very good, as were Katie's 12 because she hasn't been playing a lot of defense. It's unusual for our hitters to (get a double-double)," Giacomazzi said.
 
Megan Sharratt's 12 kills and .222 hitting percentage led the team as did Elisabeth Piroli's 25 assists. Riyana Rakrouki delivered 10 helpers. Wayland finished with seven blocks that included four block-assists from Jessica Stohlmann and three each by Sharratt and Inman.
 
The Pioneers have the rest of the weekend off and next host sixth-place Southwestern Assemblies of God (15-15, 7-9) at 7 p.m. Nov. 4 followed by third-place Texas Wesleyan (25-4, 12-4) at 11 a.m. Nov. 5 to end the regular-season. Wayland needs to win at least one to secure the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament and play in the opposite bracket of 12^th-ranked and likely SAC champion Oklahoma City.
 
"We have two solid teams coming next week," Giacomazzi said. "SAGU is playing a lot better now than they were at the beginning of the season, and I know Texas Wesleyan really wants to be the third seed. So next week we have to bring our 'A' game, which means coming with more passion and enthusiasm and being more efficient with our movement."