Box Score
It was a rewarding but costly win for the Wayland Baptist volleyball team Friday night in Hutcherson Center as the Pioneers defeated Southwestern Assemblies of God University, 3-1, to secure the No. 2 seed in the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament. On top of that,
Rossanna Ramos – on Senior Night – broke the school's single-season record for most digs.
Through all of that, however, Wayland lost another of its key players…at least temporarily.
The Pioneers (22-13, 15-2 SAC) overcame a slow start to post a 17-25, 25-22, 25-17, 25-17 victory over the Lady Lions (16-16, 8-10).
"Uggggly," WBU coach
Jim Giacomazzi said. "But it's a win, and because of the team's hard work this year they're rewarded with a high seed in the (conference) tournament."
That event begins next week, after Wayland's final regular-season match at 11 a.m. Saturday against third-place Texas Wesleyan (26-4, 13-4), which was hoping the Pioneers would lose to SAGU to have a shot at the No. 2 seed in the conference tourney when the teams square off Saturday morning.
Instead, Wayland pulled out the win over the Lady Lions to lock down the spot in the bracket opposite 12
th-ranked and SAC champion Oklahoma City. Because of that, the Pioneers wouldn't face the Stars until the tournament championship match, and because the SAC is guaranteed two automatic berths in the NAIA National Championships for the tournament champion and runner-up, that's big.
It didn't come easily…or without cost.
Junior right-side hitter
Katie Inman suffered an ankle injury while going up for a block in the third set and is expected to miss the team's first-round match in the conference tournament Tuesday.
"Maybe we get her next Saturday" when the Pioneers, who are already without top hitter
Alex Wood who is sidelined with a shoulder injury, hope to be playing in the tourney championship match, Giacomazzi said of Inman's availability for the post-season.
The coach said freshman
Hanna Fridriksdottir did an admirable job filling in for Inman on Friday.
"Hanna did a decent job coming off the bench cold. She met the expectations I was wanting," Giacomazzi said.
Megan Sharratt and
Jessica Stohlmann picked up the slack for injury-depleted Wayland, recording 13 and nine kills and hitting .314 and .450, respectively. Sharratt also registered four block assists and an ace.
"Megan had a good night," Giacomazzi said. "One of the things we're working on is getting our middles scoring points."
Inman logged eight kills before she exited. Wayland hit .126 as a team versus SAGU's .121.
Somewhat lost during the evening was Ramos setting the school record for most digs in a season. Needing 11 going in to surpass Candy Fletcher's record of 656 set in 2002, Ramos – who was honored before the match with fellow senior
Cindy Horn – ended with 26 digs and now has 672. Play was stopped following the rally in which she broke the record, and Giacomazzi presented Ramos the game ball.
Four other Pioneers had double-digit digs:
Jordan Breding with 13 and Inman,
Elisabeth Piroli and
Mallorie Ellis with 10 each. Breding also had two aces.
"We played poorly. We weren't mentally prepared," Giacomazzi said. "The first set we had quite a few errors, our serve receive passing was too tight, and we couldn't get a quality touch. Fortunately it ended and we came out and played better in the second set.
"We had almost as many hitting errors that set (eight vs. nine), but our serve-receive was a lot better. They kept us in the second set with eight service errors and six hitting errors, so we only had to score 11 points. We got 10 kills and a block."
Giacomazzi said his team is tired, but at this stage of the season it's all about gutting it out.
"They've been working hard and fatigue is a little bit of a factor when you get this late in the season. We've been giving them some days off, so the big challenge is the mental side. How mentally tough can we be. As we get into the post-season we have to kick it up a notch mentally.
"This is the part of the season, too, when we emphasize making quick adjustments, doing the fundamentals correctly, and the best players play. There are times some people are hot and some aren't, that's why we have 14-15 players on the team. With those numbers we're looking for the hot hand, and those are the ones who are going to be playing."
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