Just in time for the start of Sooner Athletic Conference play, the Wayland Baptist volleyball team appears to be finding its groove.
A day after winning their conference opener over Mid-America Christian in four, the Pioneers rolled over Science and Arts of Oklahoma on Saturday in Hutcherson Center, 25-11, 25-11, 25-14.
The win, which took just 70 minutes, improves Wayland to 2-4 on the season and 2-0 in SAC play.
Wayland coach
Jim Giacomazzi pointed to his team's "huge improvement" in side-out percentage, which rose from 38 percent Friday against MACU to 73 percent against USAO (1-8, 0-2).
"That is a fantastic number," Giacomazzi said.
The Pioneers also improved their hitting numbers, recording a .305 attack percentage as a team compared to USAO's -.012.
Sophomore
Amber Daniel posted her second straight double-double, ending with 11 kills and 11 digs while hitting .375. Fellow sophomore
Kellie Kozak also had 11 kills with just on error and hit a team-best .455. Senior
Mallorie Ellis finished with eight kills and hit .300, plus had five of Wayland's dozen aces.
"All three of those girls made big improvements," Giacomazzi said. "Mallorie had a really good match. Now we need to reset her because she still has tender legs."
Redshirt-freshman
Jessica Nguyen ended with 28 assists after logging 30 in four sets Friday.
"She had much better production and better set distribution. It helps when the hitters make fewer errors. When they do that it makes everybody look better," Giacomazzi said.
Junior libero
Jordan Breding matched Daniel's 11 digs for team-high honors, while freshman
Tacie Bell added 10 and a pair of aces.
"Jordan's serve-receive was really nice today. We moved her from middle-back to left-back, and she's starting to feel more comfortable in the position she's playing," Giacomazzi said. "Even though Tacie is playing a left-front position, she's really a defensive player which she proved with her 10 digs. She's showing much-improved defense and is seeing things much better."
Sophomore transfer
Samantha Cullen of Calgary saw her action with the Pioneers.
Wayland returns to action at 7 p.m. Tuesday against Oklahoma-Panhandle State (1-4, 1-0), which picked up its first win of the season Friday over USAO, 34-32, 24-26, 25-15, 25-17. The Aggies hosted MACU on Saturday.
Tuesday's match will be proceeded at 5:15 p.m. by a special ribbon-cutting for the redesigned competition floor in Hutcherson Center, which is part of the Plainview Chamber of Commerce's Business After Hours. For more information, click
here.
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