Box Score SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. – Jim Giacomazzi and his Wayland Baptist volleyball team will make another long trip home from Arkansas after experiencing another frustrating outing against John Brown University.
"It's frustrating because we played well and didn't win," Giaomazzi said after the Pioneers suffered a season-ending loss to the Golden Eagles in the first round of the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament on Tuesday night, 26-24, 25-19, 25-27, 25-23.
"We played really well," Giacomazzi said. "We were right there. We just couldn't get over the finish line."
Fifth-seeded Wayland (17-12) fell to fourth-seeded John Brown (26-6) in five when they played here in early October. Giacomazzi called that match frustrating as well, then said Tuesday's rematch – when Wayland led in every set – was even more aggravating.
Maybe the most frustrating part was holding a 24-21 lead in the first set, only to see John Brown fight off three match points as part of a 5-0 run to pull it out, 26-24. The first two points of the late push came on JBU kills; the last three courtesy of WBU hitting errors.
The Golden Eagles also made a 5-0 run – this time on four kills and a service ace – to close out game two, which saw Wayland leading 16-14 until John Brown scored four unanswered to take the upper hand.
It was Wayland's turn to make a late push in game three. Trailing 23-20, the Pioneers scored four unanswered on two kills by Amber Daniel, one by Megan Sharratt and an ace by Lindsey Schwab. The teams traded points until Ellis came through with back-to-back kills to force a fourth.
Wayland fell behind early in that one but rallied to lead by as many as three, 19-16. The Pioneers were up 22-21 when John Brown again finished strong with back-to-back kills and an ace. A kill by Ellis saved one match point, but a kill by Bayli Reagan ended it.
"Every set got better offensively for us," Giacomazzi said. "We slowed some of their big hitters down. Some of the mistakes we made were people playing out of position, because of the fact we didn't have enough defensive players on our team, so people stepped up."
JBU ended with nine more digs and nine more kills.
"When it's that close, those little mistakes you have wind up being a pretty big deal," Giacomazzi said.
Ellis and Sharratt put down a match-high 17 kills apiece while hitting .273 and .333, respectively. Daniel added 11 kills along with 14 digs. Jordan Breding finished with 24 digs and Ellis a dozen with two blocks. Elisabeth Piroli provided all but three of Wayland's 50 assists.
"Mallorie had a great night with some of the best hitting she's had in her career, when she was hurting the most," Giacomazzi said. "She's been a trooper for us for a while because she's been hurt."
Wayland did commit 10 costly reception errors, another reason why the match was so frustrating for Giacomazzi.
"In years past we've been the besting receiving team on the court, but even with that we're still in the match tonight. That indicates just how much we've improved and shows a lot of their determination, heart and never-say-die attitude that they've had all year."
WBU was the only team to avoid a sweep in the first round of the conference tournament as all the higher-seeded home teams won. Top-seeded Oklahoma City defeated Mid-America Christian, 25-14, 25-19, 25-13, second-seeded Southwestern Assemblies of God eliminated St. Gregory's, 25-23, 25-17, 25-13, and third-seeded Texas Wesleyan downed Southwestern Christian, 25-16, 25-9, 25-17.
Tuesday's winners advance to the final four site, OCU's Abe Lemons Arena for the semifinals and finals Friday and Saturday.
It's the first time in Giacomazzi's 11 seasons at Wayland that the Pioneers did not advance past the first round of the SAC Tournament, and Wayland's run of four straight trips to the NAIA National Championships comes to a close.
