This time, Pioneers roll past USW

Box Score Seven days after struggling to defeat University of the Southwest in Hobbs, N.M., the Wayland Baptist volleyball team shined in their final tune-up before conference by rolling to a 25-12, 25-19, 25-15 victory Wednesday night in the Pete & Nelda Laney Student Activities Center.
 
"It's amazing the difference a week makes," WBU coach Jim Giacomazzi said. "The more we practice the better we get, and in combination with (playing at home) it was the perfect combination to have a lot of success today."
 
In the teams' Aug. 23 meeting, Wayland (6-2) dropped the first two sets before rallying to win in five. On Wednesday, a Pioneer victory was never in doubt.
 
"We've had two matches since we played them last time and three practices, so that made us little bit better. And that road weariness affected Southwest today like it affected us last week," Giacomazzi said.
 
Wayland hit .275 as a team compared to -.023 for the Mustangs (3-7).
 
"Their hitting percentage was atrocious just like ours was last week. Ours was terrific compared to last week and we had players that had the number of kills I expect, even though you always expect fewer hitting errors."
 
Mallorie Ellis led the Pioneers with a dozen kills while Megan Sharratt and freshman Amber Daniel had 10 each while hitting .667 and .333, respectively. Wayland ended with 41 smashes compared to USW's 18. Elisabeth Piroli tallied 32 of Wayland's 40 assists, while Jordan Breding led with 11 digs, followed by Daniel with 10 and Piroli with eight.
 
"We were putting the ball down much better," Giacomazzi said. "It's much better for me to sit on the bench and cheerlead rather than be a motivator and be a demanding coach. Tonight I was able to sit back and enjoy the match like a fan, make little suggestions, make them conscious of a technique flaw. It's nice to be able to make adjustments while the game juices are flowing through us."
 
Sharratt wound up with seven aces, matching a team record accomplished numerous times, although not since 2011. The senior also had a team-best three block-assists.
 
"Our blocking will come along in the second half of the season," Giacomazzi said. "You have to read and anticipate (in order to block), and both of those skills are difficult. When we do that we'll be better blockers and we'll have better back-row defense and dig more balls. Practice and time and experience will all help us get better."
 
Wednesday's match was played in the Laney Center due to ongoing roof repairs at Hutcherson Center. Giacomazzi said he enjoyed the atmosphere in the Laney.
 
"It was a neat experience. It was very loud," he said. "The bleachers were full and it was interesting to see people up on the (second-level) track, standing shoulder to shoulder. That was fun."
 
The Pioneers now have eight days to prepare for their Sooner Athletic Conference opener at home against Mid-America Christian at 7 p.m. Sept. 8. Giacomazzi said he's mostly happy with how the season has played out thus far.
 
"I'm pleased we have the record we have as poorly as we've played at times. We just have to take care of business in conference. We've had a lot of practice and we're making game adjustments a lot better than we were five or six games ago.
 
"The first time around (in conference) there's not a lot of stats or scouting reports that are going to help us out. We just have to take care of everything on our side of the net. When we do that it doesn't matter what the other team does. When we hold our hitting errors to a minimum, our serve reception errors to a minimum, and hit our service spots and keep service errors to a minimum we have a lot more success."