GOODWELL, Okla. – The Wayland Baptist volleyball team's late-season quest to reach a .500 record took a big hit here Tuesday as the Pioneers fell to Oklahoma-Panhandle State in Sooner Athletic Conference play, 23-25, 25-23, 26-24, 25-16.
"Fatigue makes cowards of us all," Wayland coach
Jim Giacomazzi said. "OPSU played well and we didn't."
After winning three of the last four points to pull out the first set after it was tied at 22, Wayland (11-15, 9-9 SAC) led the second set by as many as five, 13-8. The eighth-place Aggies (9-18, 7-11) rallied to take the lead, then the Pioneers went back on top, 23-21. From there, OPSU recorded four straight points – on two kills and two WBU errors – to win it.
In the third, the score was tight throughout. Wayland fought off two set-points to knot it at 24, but OPSU came up with back-to-back kills to win it.
The fourth set was never close after the Aggies scored the first six points. Wayland never got closer than three, the last time at 12-9 when OPSU responded with four consecutive points before going on to finish it out, 25-16.
Junior libero
Jordan Breding recorded a career-high 31 digs and two aces, and
Amber Daniel managed a double-double with 17 kills and 13 digs, as did
Jessica Nguyen with 45 assists and 15 digs.
Tatijana Markic added 11 kills and
Kellie Kozak and
Alex Wood nine each. Wayland hit .106, compared to OPSU's .211. Wood had nine digs, two solo blocks and one block-assist, while Sadie Hall had nine digs.
Wayland defeated OPSU in three, 25-13, 28-26, 25-9 when they met in Plainview Sept. 4. It was the Pioneers' second loss to the Aggies in 14 all-time meetings. The first loss was in 2006.
The Pioneers, who stand sixth in the SAC standings, return to the road to finish out the regular-season with matches at 7 p.m. Friday against fifth-place Southwestern Christian (18-7, 11-7) and 11 a.m. Saturday against co-leader Oklahoma City (25-3, 16-2), now ranked the equivalent of 36
th in the NAIA.
