Pioneers go down in 5 to SW Christian

Heading into their first fifth game of the season, the Wayland Baptist volleyball team owned all of the momentum against Southwestern Christian. But the Eagles turned the tables in a hurry and went on to defeat the Pioneers on Saturday afternoon in Hutcherson Center, 26-24, 23-25, 25-22, 22-25, 15-9.
 
"We shot ourselves in the foot. It was our mistakes on our side of the net that cost us a victory," WBU coach Jim Giacomazzi said after the Sooner Athletic Conference match between teams locked in a tie for fifth place in the league standings.
 
"I told the team afterwards, 'Don't hang your heads. We're a lot closer to that team beating us than us losing it.' That said, a loss is a loss and that hurts, especially against this team. That one hurts more than all of them this year."
 
Wayland (6-11, 5-5 SAC), which was playing its final contest of the first half of league play, needs to finish among the top four in order to avoid playing a road game in the first round of the SAC Tournament.
 
Saturday's match figured to be close, and it was. But the Eagles (10-4, 6-4) took control in the fifth set when the Pioneers was hurt by back-to-back ball-handling errors and an attack error, prompting Giacomazzi to call an early timeout with his team trailing 4-1.
 
A kill by Amber Daniel stopped SCU's run, but only momentarily. Cashlyn Munroe got one of her match-best 23 kills then Wayland committed three hitting errors in a row to fall behind 8-2. The Pioneers pulled to within four at 10-6, but the Eagles were able to close it out and record their first-ever win over Wayland after nine losses. It also was the Eagles' first win in four five-set matches this season.
 
Wayland had a tough time with Munroe, a junior, and Jamesha Redd, a senior who added 15 kills.
 
"We were supposed to have a double-lock on (Munroe and Redd). We were in position but just didn't execute the block," Giacomazzi said.
 
Daniel, a sophomore, ended with a career-high 19 kills and was one shy of her career-high in digs with 20. Freshman Tatijana Markic, whose previous best was four kills, put down 15 kills. Mallorie Ellis finished with 13 kills, a career-high 22 digs and four aces, while Kellie Kozak had four kills. Jordan Breding also produced a career-high with 24 digs, Jessica Nguyen finished with a personal-best 53 assists and a dozen digs, and Sadie Hall had 13 digs.
 
Wayland recorded 59 kills and hit .120 while the Eagles had 53 kills and hit .144.
 
"Our serving at times was really good," Giacomazzi said. "Our (serve) placement caused the other team to play a little bit out of system, which allowed us to set up the block. On the other side of the coin we had a lot of unforced errors, and most of those came an inopportune times. We want them serving tough because it helps us neutralize big athletes and strong hitting teams.
 
"We're starting to be in the right spots more often and come up with some quality digs to where we can turn around and run plays.
 
"We're definitely getting better," the coach added. "We're taking small steps forward. Last night (in a 3-set loss to Oklahoma City) I felt it was three steps forward and three steps back. Today I felt like we took three steps forward versus two steps back.
 
Wayland plays its next four outings on the road, starting with Science & Arts of Oklahoma and Mid-America Christian next weekend. The Pioneers defeated MACU in four and USAO in three in their previous meetings. WBU's next home match is Oct. 20.
 
"I believe the second half of the season will be a lot better than the first half," Giacomazzi said. "We have a lot of young players and new players, and they're starting to figure out exactly what we need to do and where we need to be."