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Box Score 2 FULLERTON, Calif. – Wayland Baptist kicked off its 2018 volleyball campaign Wednesday by playing two matches against California opponents in the Hope International Summer Slam. The Pioneers dropped both, first to Vanguard, 25-13 26-24, 25-13, then to La Sierra, 25-16, 25-23, 25-17.
Wayland was short-handed all day as senior left-side hitter
Mallorie Ellis played only two plays in the season-opener before coach
Jim Giacomazzi pulled her due to a previous injury. That forced the Pioneers, who are awaiting the arrival of a middle-hitter, to change formations and shuffle their line-up, including playing 5-foot-2 defensive specialist
Tacie Bell in the front row.
Besides their "Swiss cheese blocking (holes everywhere), Giacomazzi said was pleased overall with his team's performance against Vanguard, a perennial playoff team that received votes in the NAIA Preseason Coaches Top 25 and which started practice about a week earlier than the Pioneers.
"It was about what I expected," the coach said. "We were up 22-17 in the second set and should have taken it, so that was a little disappointing."
Wayland hit just .114 compared to Vanguard's .456, with the Pioneers recording 23 kills in 88 tries.
"We had plenty of attempts, and we had good movement," said Giacomazzi, who called sophomore
Kellie Kozak a "bright spot" after she recorded eight kills and hit .400. "That was really good."
He also praised sophomore libero
Jordan Breding, who logged 13 of WBU's 33 digs. "Jordan did fantastic.
"Our service receive and defense, in a way, was better than theirs," he added.
Against La Sierra, Wayland hit just .074 (compared to La Sierra's .280) with 27 kills and 20 errors. Kozak contributed 11 kills while
Jessica Nguyen had six and
Amber Daniel and
Alex Wood five each. Freshman
Renzelle Horner finished with 23 assists after getting 15 in the opener. Bell's eight digs led the team, followed by Daniel with seven and Nguyen and Breding with six each.
"I'm seeing improvements with every set," Giacomazzi said. "Kellie is doing things this year she did not do last year. I was pleased with her 11 kills. Jordan is stepping up on defense as well as taking on some leadership. Our setters, Jessica and Renzelle, are getting a lot of opportunities to set. However, Jessica saw action as a hitter due to our injuries. Renzelle is beginning to see the game slow down and is making better decisions.
"Hitters are beginning to connect with more consistency. Their next big step will be understanding how important defense is on their side of the court. Amber had some nice swings and as she improves her defense she will become a much more dynamic player.
"Seeing Alex on the court is great. She will step up to do whatever it takes for the team to be successful. Right now her calling is filling in the middle position. She had some nice blocks and touches on defense and then on the offensive side she saw what was open. Alex placed the ball in places where it was very difficult for the defense to put a hand on it."
Wayland is back on the floor at 4 p.m. CDT Thursday to face Aquinas, Mich., then The Master's, Calif., at 8.
Giacomazzi said the Pioneers have a long way to go, adding that most of their problems can be fixed when players are healthy and the team gets more playing time.
"It'll come with experience, and as we have our team regain their health we will be able to put some quality practice on the shortcomings we are seeing."
