Pioneers win first event on new floor

The Pioneer volleyball team made the first-ever competition on the redesigned competition floor in Hutcherson Center a successful one for the home team.

Coach Jim Giacomazzi's squad picked up its first win of the young season in their Sooner Athletic Conference opener Friday night, defeating Mid-America Christian in front of some 450 fans, 25-20, 18-25, 25-18, 26-24.

"We came out on fire and out-hustled the other team, which is something we're going to have to do a lot of this year until we start refining our skills. Hustle is going to have to lead the way," Wayland coach Jim Giacomazzi said.

Amber Daniel, last year's SAC Freshman of the Year, led Wayland (1-4, 1-0 SAC) in both kills with 15 and digs with 21. Another sophomore, Kellie Kozak, added nine kills with four blocks while Mallorie Ellis ended with seven kills and 17 digs.

"We had a lot of attempts (164), and those (kill) numbers are going to get better," Giacomazzi said. "We need to eliminate errors (WBU hit .055, compared to MACU's .029). All three (Daniel, Kozak and Ellis) had a lot of hitting errors, but as we get better we'll get more consistency.

"We have a new setter this year (converted outside hitter Jessica Nguyen) who has never set before. I have to give her praise because she did a great job in her first college start as a setter. She has such a great attitude and is a great athlete. She's quick and sees things well. Now we need to get her to anticipate and read to where it's a benefit for her movement."

Nguyen, forced into a setting role due to senior transfer Stephany Orjuela not being cleared and an injury to freshman Renzelle Horner, finished with 30 assists.

MACU (3-1, 0-1) scored the first point of the match before Wayland – which put just eight players on the floor all evening – ran off the next nine. The Evangels rallied to within three, 23-20, before WBU took its first game of the season on an ace by Ellis.

After MACU evened the match by winning the second set, 25-18, Wayland returned from a five-minute halftime and went to work, taking a 10-5 lead and stretching it to as many as nine points before settling for the 25-18 win.

The Pioneers trailed in the fourth set, 5-3, but went on an 8-1 run to take control. MACU fought off two match points to tie it at 22-all, but Wayland ended it thanks to an Evangel attack error and a closing kill by Daniel.

Giacomazzi pointed to his team's 82 digs ("That's a huge number in a four-set match") and eight team blocks. "Usually you have that many digs when you don't have a good blocking team, but I don't remember many matches last year where we had eight blocks. If we can average two blocks a set and 20 digs a set, we'll have a chance to play against anybody."

The coach said junior libero Jordan Breding "did a great job" after WBU "turned our defense completely upside down. The last 6-7 years the libero played middle-back. The libero is now playing left-back, so Jordan is seeing things from a different angle and being responsible for different roles. Her serve-receive is pretty good and she's quick as all get-out. We just need to get her to read better."

Freshman twins and defensive specialists Tacie Bell and Tevia Bell "both got a lot of playing time. Both worked really hard, and they're doing a good job making the transition from a small high school (Amarillo Highland Park) to college volleyball where the pace is faster and anticipation is at a different level."

The coach said junior Sadie (Staton) Hall "set up some good blocking and did a steady job," finishing with five kills in 17 attempts. "She played with intelligence, and because of that she scored points. We're going to have to be a smart team to see openings and put the ball in places where it makes it difficult for the other team to make a play on it."

Finally, of Kozak, Giacomazzi said, "This will be a great year for her to learn and fine-tune how to be a middle. Kellie has great desire, passion for the game, and aggressiveness, and that will make her a great player the second half of the season. As she makes better decisions under stress her numbers are going to sky-rocket."

The Pioneers are back in action at 11 a.m. Saturday in the Hutch against Science and Arts of Oklahoma (1-7, 0-1), whose lone win thus far is a forfeit victory recorded over Bacone College, which announced earlier this week it will not field a volleyball team this season. On Friday, USAO fell to Oklahoma-Panhandle State in a SAC match, 34-32, 24-26, 25-15, 25-17, and in non-conference play to Oklahoma Wesleyan, 25-18, 25-17, 25-19. Wesleyan also defeated OPSU, 9-25, 25-22, 26-24, 25-14.