Box Score Jim Giacomazzi couldn't say enough good things about
Mallorie Ellis. Maybe that's because – like the Wayland Baptist volleyball coach – Ellis is a bit hobbled but powered through the pain Saturday afternoon when the Pioneers took on Texas Wesleyan.
"I want to give a shout-out for Mallorie. She's been hurting the last month and is still hobbling along, but she fought through the pain today," said Giacomazzi, himself slowed by a lower leg injury and other health issues. "The intent today was to play Mallorie just in the first set, but she was really on so we let her go.
"She was a player out there for us," the coach continued. "She was leading the team trying to get them to stay together. I was pleased to see how hard she worked."
Ellis led all players with 11 kills and hit .318 while also getting 12 digs. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to carry Wayland to victory as the Pioneers fell at Hutcherson Center to the Lady Rams, 25-17, 25-22, 25-22.
The loss in Wayland's final home match of the season dropped the Pioneers to 16-11 overall and 8-7 in the Sooner Athletic Conference. Texas Wesleyan improved to 22-3, 11-3.
WBU ends the regular-season Thursday night in Goodwell, Okla., against Oklahoma Panhandle State (8-14, 5-8), a team the Pioneers defeated Sept. 19 in Plainview, 25-23, 25-19, 25-22.
A win over OPSU will seal WBU as the No. 5 seed for the eight-team SAC Tournament, which is set to start Nov. 7. Regardless, the Pioneers will be on the road for that match since the top four seeds host opening-round matches, and Wayland is destined for a No. 5 or higher seed.
Against Texas Wesleyan, which is tied with John Brown for third place in the conference, Wayland hit .134 compared to the Lady Rams' .241. Besides Ellis' 11 kills,
Megan Sharratt got 10 and
Amber Daniel eight.
Jordan Breding ended with 18 digs while Ellis and Daniel got a dozen each. WBU blocked five balls while TWU got eight.
Elisabeth Piroli dished out 29 assists while Sharratt and
Lindsey Schwab served up two aces apiece.
"Our blocking was pretty good. It kept us in the game. We didn't get a lot of points but we had a lot of touches," Giacomazzi said.
The coach said Wayland's serve-receive continues to be an issue.
"A thorn in our side this year has been our serve-receive. As we passed well on serve-receive, we played well and had a lot of options. When we were off a little bit, they took advantage."
Giacomazzi said facing two of the SAC's top teams in TWU and Southwestern Assemblies of God on Friday "really gets us ready for the conference tournament."
