Box Score SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. – It will be a long ride home for
Jim Giacomazzi and the Wayland Baptist volleyball team after they "let one get away" here Friday night.
"This is the match I felt we should have won," Giacomazzi said after the Pioneers dropped a 25-18, 25-21, 21-25, 25-23 Sooner Athletic Conference decision to John Brown University. "I'm disappointed."
In dropping its fourth straight contest, Wayland (3-8, 3-3 SAC) had what Giacomazzi called "moments of brilliance.
"We came out of the gates fast in every set, but we lost a little enthusiasm and passion as things went on, and that's something we have to have all the time," the coach said. "When it comes to crunch time we have to have somebody step up and demand the ball (and) put the ball down. We're slowly getting that, but right now there's not that one person grabbing the bull by the horns and saying, 'I'm going to win this match.'
"I hoping this was going to be the beginning of a four-match run for us. I felt like we let one get away tonight."
Unofficial statistics showed the Pioneers hitting .158, "which is good for us," Giacomazzi said. "But we still had too many attack errors (23). They're coming down but we're still making too many mistakes."
He said the Pioneers also had too many service errors.
"A lot of them weren't even close, and what made it worse is they came at crucial times. We also made quite a few bad passes."
Mallorie Ellis led WBU with 17 kills plus had five digs.
Kellie Kozak added 11 kills,
Amber Daniel eight kills and a dozen digs, and
Jordan Breding 17 digs.
After being swept in its last three matches, Giacomazzi said stretching JBU (4-5, 4-1) to four on the road is progress.
"At least we got into position in this match where it meant something. We're starting to recognize some of those errors, and we're getting better."
Wayland next heads back home instead of to Muskogee, Okla., where the Pioneers originally were scheduled to take on Bacone on Saturday. But Bacone, which temporarily closed its doors over the summer, cancelled its volleyball season this year.
The Pioneers' next outing is a match against a team of alumni at 7 p.m. Wednesday. After that Wayland plays three more road matches next weekend in Oklahoma and Kansas against Langston, Central Christian and McPherson College before returning home to host Oklahoma City Sept. 28.
"I'm looking forward to them," Giacomazzi said of the next round of road-trip matches. "We're be doing a lot of rehab this week, and we'll be ready for our next match."
