Box Score
Southwestern Christian rolled into town with the same number of wins as Wayland Baptist, but the Pioneers proved the superior team Friday night in Hutcherson Center as they rolled to a 25-17, 25-21, 25-19 win in Sooner Athletic Conference volleyball action.
It was Wayland's seventh consecutive win, and sixth straight sweep.
"They started the season out 9-0, and they played three tough sets against (No. 14) Oklahoma City just last week, so we had to assume they're a solid team," WBU coach
Jim Giacomazzi said of the Lady Eagles.
Wayland (13-7, 6-0 SAC) was simply more solid, controlling most of the match except for the first half of the second set that saw the Lady Eagles take a 9-3 lead. But the Pioneers rallied, winning six straight points on the serve of
Riyana Rakrouki as part of a 10-3 set-ending run.
"The second set we made a bunch of hitting errors early. You can't give the other team a bunch of points," Giacomazzi said. "As our ball control improves, our hitting percentage goes higher."
In the opening set, Wayland came out of the blocks strong and took a 10-3 lead before the Lady Eagles managed to tie it at 15. The Pioneers again came up with six straight points, this time on the serve of
Megan Sharratt, as part of a 10-2 set-ending run.
In the final set, WBU assumed a 5-1 advantage and pretty much maintained that spread the rest of the way, although Southwestern Christian fought to within 21-18. But a couple of Lady Eagle errors and two kills by
Alex Wood ended the match.
"In the third set we had more block-assists," Giacomazzi said. "We talked a lot about it in between games two and three. We told our middles to make some more adjustments and move quicker, and our outside blockers to set the block up earlier, and they did that."
Wood ended with 13 kills and hit .400 while also recording 10 digs.
Mallorie Ellis had 11 kills and
Katie Inman got seven in her first action in two weeks due to injury. As a team the Pioneers hit .200 with 38 kills, compared to .076 with 31 kills for the Lady Eagles.
"We need to get some more kills, and our errors have to go down," Giacomazzi said.
Rossanna Ramos finished with 13 digs, while
Elisabeth Piroli racked up 21 assists and Rakrouki 13.
Wayland out-blocked the Lady Eagles, 5-1. Six different Pioneers had block-assists, led by Sharratt with three. Sharratt and Rakrouki had two aces each.
Southwestern Christian certainly has made great strides of late.
"Two years ago they only won six matches all season, so they've come a long way," Giacomazzi said. "When we made mistakes, they jumped right back into the game, which I expected out of team that had a 12-4 record.
"They hit over our blocks and both of our six-footers. As they get more experience they're going to be a force to be reckoned with."
Wayland has three more matches to wrap up the first half of SAC play then opens the second half against Southwestern Christian in Bethany on Oct. 8, a day after playing SAC co-leader and 14
th-ranked Oklahoma City (15-3, 6-0) on the road.
"When we go over there it will be with caution and respect," Giacomazzi said. "You have to respect every team in our conference. On any given night any team is capable of beating anyone."
The Pioneers have a week off before hosting John Brown (12-5, 3-1) at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30, followed by Bacone (1-10, 0-5) the following Saturday afternoon.
"John Brown is another team right up there in the conference standings," Giacomazzi said.
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