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SAN ANTONIO – After an first-day sweep of two matches at the season-opening Hotel Indigo at the Alamo Saints Classic on Friday, the Wayland Baptist volleyball team reversed course Saturday as the Pioneers lost in straight sets to No. 20 Evangel, Mo., and tournament host Our Lady of the Lake University.
The Pioneers, ranked the equivalent of 34
th, first fell to Evangel, 25-22, 25-19, 25-17 before going down to Our Lady of the Lake, 25-9, 25-17, 25-20.
"(Friday) was two steps forward, today was two steps back," Wayland coach
Jim Giacomazzi said. "I don't think we got much better today. We didn't take the strides I wanted us to take, and I think the players are in agreement with that."
Like Wayland (2-2), both Evangel (3-1) and OLLU (3-0) were national tournament teams a year ago. Pioneers coach
Jim Giacomazzi knew his team would be in for more of a challenge against them than it was Friday when Wayland swept Xavier of Louisiana, 25-22, 25-16, 25-23, and Tennessee Wesleyan, 25-18, 25-15, 25-16.
The Crusaders and Saints proved Giacomazzi right.
Against Evangel, the same program that eliminated Wayland in the opening round of the NAIA National Championships in 2014, Wayland led late in the first set before the Crusaders rallied and ran off a string of late points. Wayland fought off four set points before going down, 25-22.
"The girls are learning how to fight and when to start fighting. They came to the conclusion they need to start fighting on the first point instead of near the end," Giacomazzi said.
The next two sets weren't as close as Wayland wound up the match hitting .058 with 30 kills compared to Evangel's .162 and 40 kills. Junior
Megan Sharratt paced the Pioneers with six kills and three aces. Freshman Kristi Epley also had six kills along with 2½ blocks, while freshman Riyana Rakroki totaled 15 assists and 14 digs, and senior
Rossanna Ramos 26 digs. Junior
Elisabeth Piroli contribute 10 assists while
Mallorie Ellis got a dozen digs.
OLLU then handed Wayland one of its most lopsided losses in recent history when the Saints took the first set, 25-9. The last time the Pioneers scored fewer points in a set was against the Chinese National Team in a 2014 exhibition when Wayland put up only seven.
The Pioneers competed better the next two sets, but couldn't take either one against the defending Red River Athletic Conference champions.
"They had quite a bit better ball control than we did, and a desire to win their tournament," Giacomazzi said.
Wayland committed 20 errors and hit .038 versus OLLU's .202 and 14 miscues.
Junior
Alex Wood had a solid overall game with seven kills, 2½ blocks, seven digs and an ace. Ellis ended with five kills and a pair of aces, Rakrouki had 20 assists, and freshman
Hanna Fridriksdottir got three blocks. Freshman
Jordan Breding's nine digs led the team, followed by Ramos with seven.
"We had a lot of different lineups," Giacomazzi said. "So much of it has to do with attitude and choices. There are times when they don't play well and they're going to get taken out. I'm simply trying to fine the lineup that works that particular match."
Wayland next hosts former conference rival Lubbock Christian in a scrimmage at 6 p.m. Tuesday before hosting the Coca-Cola Classic. The Pioneers will play matches at 3 and 7 p.m. Friday then 1 and 5 p.m. Saturday.
"We're looking forward to practice…at least (graduate assistant) Tatiana (Gonzalez) and I are. We have written lots of pages of notes, which is a good thing," Giacomazzi said. "When we play games we get to see what we need to work on, which allows us to make changes and get better in practice."
