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Box Score 2 WAXAHACHIE – Wayland Baptist picked up another big Sooner Athletic Conference road win over Southwestern Assemblies of God, then defeated Oklahoma Wesleyan in another straight-set match as the Pioneer volleyball team ran its win streak to a season-best three in a row here Saturday.
"We got two nice wins today," Wayland coach
Jim Giacomazzi said. "The even better thing is we put three good matches together."
Less than a day after opening conference with a four-set victory in Fort Worth over Texas Wesleyan, the Pioneers (9-7, 2-0 SAC) showed that was no fluke when they took out SAGU (8-6, 1-1) on Saturday morning, 25-19, 25-18, 25-16.
Alex Wood turned in another stellar performance, registering 18 kills and hitting .250.
Mallorie Ellis (.273) added nine kills along with nine digs. As a team the Pioneers hit .265 with 39 kills.
Rossanna Ramos' 20 digs led Wayland's defense, while
Riyana Rakrouki got 10 along with 14 assists.
Elisabeth Piroli ended with 15 assists.
Megan Sharratt had 1½ blocks in addition to seven kills (.462) and two aces.
Wayland was almost as dominant against Oklahoma Wesleyan, coming away with a 25-20, 25-21, 25-16 victory.
Wood again led in kills with 14 and hit .303 while as a team the Pioneers put away 40 kills and hit .282. Sharratt ended with 11 kills (.476) while Ellis had nine (.250).
Wayland recorded seven aces, three by Piroli who also had 16 assists and eight digs. Rakrouki provided 17 assists while Ramos notched 22 digs. Wood got nine. Sharratt again had 1½ blocks.
Reviewing both matches, Giacomazzi praised multiple players.
"We minimized our errors like we discussed we needed to do and had some nice serving again. Our hitting was very good again on the outside, and Megan had two good matches also. She had one of her better performances of the year.
Jessica Stohlmann also had a good night also, so the middles did well, especially against Oklahoma Wesleyan.
"Rossanna averaged about seven digs per set against Oklahoma Wesleyan, which is about where we want her."
The Pioneers – who are tied with No. 18 Oklahoma City, Southwestern Christian and John Brown atop the league standings with 2-0 records – stay on the road next week to face St. Gregory's (7-7, 1-1) on Friday evening in Shawnee, Okla., then Mid-America Christian (4-3, 0-2) on Saturday morning in Oklahoma City.
"Hopefully we'll string a couple more (wins) together," Giacomazzi said.
