Unfortunately, back injuries have had major impacts on the seasons for both Wayland Baptist volleyball seniors
Alex Wood and
Mallorie Ellis.
Wood and Ellis were recognized prior to Friday night's Sooner Athletic Conference match against Central Christian College (Kan.), but only Wood was able to see any action.
While Wood's season has been curtailed by a bulging disc, Ellis strained a back muscle earlier in the week. After being introduced in the starting lineup along with Wood, Ellis took a seat on the bench to rest.
Wood, meanwhile, was able to help the Pioneers to a lopsided 25-13, 25-12, 25-8 victory over the last-place Tigers.
"It was nice to see Alex do what she did tonight because she's been nursing a bulging disc all season," Wayland coach
Jim Giacomazzi said. "She had a lot of energy and passion out there tonight. That might have been because it was senior night and she had family and friends here supporting her. She's from Kansas, so it was quite a commitment for them to come in."
Wood, an all-conference second-team honoree two seasons ago before medically redshirting last season, finished with four block-assists and a solo block along with three kills. The performance helped Wayland to one of its best blocking matches of the season while the Pioneers also enjoyed their third-best hitting performance at .302.
Sophomore
Kellie Kozak led the hitters with a season-best .467 from her nine kills. Freshman Taijana Markic put down 11 and hit .346 with four of WBU's 11 aces, while sophomore
Amber Daniel came up two kills and one dig shy of a double-double.
"It was a great night of hitting for us," Giacomazzi said. "Kellie had a great night, and I was very pleased to see Tatijana score (a team-high) 15½ points. She's getting to the point where she's feeling comfortable on the court.
Jessica Nguyen recorded 29 assists, 14 digs and three kills. "Jess did a good job setting the ball consistently," Giacomazzi said. "Sadie (Hall) didn't contribute a lot offensively, but she got four block-assists."
Jordan Breding finished with 11 digs.
Central Christian hit -.043, committing 20 hitting errors along with 11 reception errors, four blocking errors and three service errors.
Wayland plays its final home match of the season at 11 a.m. Saturday against next-to-last Langston (6-23, 2-14), which fell in Goodwell, Okla., on Friday to Panhandle State, 25-21, 25-13, 25-21. The Pioneers previously defeated the Lions, 25-16, 25-19, 25-17.
WBU, currently sixth in the SAC standings, finishes the regular-season with three road matches against eighth-place OPSU, fifth-place Southwestern Christian and second-place Oklahoma City.
"We're trying to get to the point where we get to .500," Giacomazzi said.
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