FORT WORTH – Wayland Baptist lost two straight Sooner Athletic Conference matches for just the second time this season as the Pioneers fell to second-place Texas Wesleyan on Saturday afternoon here, 25-19, 25-15, 25-21.
The Pioneers (13-17, 8-10 SAC), coming off Friday night's four-set loss to Southwestern Assemblies of God, played the first two sets without setter
Renzelle Horner due to illness.
"But we still fought hard to stay in the game," WBU graduate assistant coach
Megan Sharratt said. "Given our circumstances, we still hit .183 which is commendable against such a tough team."
Wayland took its first lead of the match in the third and was up 15-13 when the Rams (20-7, 15-3) rolled off five straight points. The Pioneers never caught back up.
Sophomore
Charm Henderson hit .455 with four kills plus got one solo and three block-assists. "It's exciting to see her timing come together after fighting an injury all season," Sharratt said.
Tatijana Markic led Wayland with 11 kills while
Kellie Kozak got nine and hit .429. wayland hit .202 compared to .292 for Texas Wesleyan.
"Jordan (Breding) was all over the court as usual, coming up with 18 digs," Sharratt said of the team's lone senior, who is within striking distance of moving into the No. 2 spot for most career digs at Wayland, a record held by Anika Voigt (1,711 digs). Breding is at 1,462, while Desiree Luevano is at 1,533. Coincidentally, Luevano, a 2010 WBU graduate now a doctor of veterinary medicine living in Dallas, attended Saturday's match.
Lucie Mahelova, pressed into action as setter, ended with 19 assists while Horner came in and ended with nine plus two aces.
"It was a hard-fought match and it's unfortunate that we came up short, but we're seeing some good things as we head into our final regular-season matches and the (SAC) Tournament," Sharratt said.
Wayland closes the regular-season by hosting No. 22 Oklahoma City (28-1, 18-0 SAC), winners of 27 straight, at 7 p.m. Friday for Senior Night, followed by Southwestern Christian (12-13, 7-10) at noon Saturday.
