Volleyball logs first win over Southwest

Wednesday's home-opener for the Wayland Baptist volleyball team wasn't always a thing of beauty, but it still wound up being the Pioneers' first win of the young season...and the 500th in program history.
 
"It was nice to win in three," WBU coach Jim Giacomazzi said after his team downed University of the Southwest (N.M.) in Hutcherson Center in front of close to 500 fans, 25-21, 25-23, 25-20.
 
After being swept in all four of their matches at last weekend's season-opening tournament in Iowa, the Pioneers (1-4) needed some success. They got it against the Mustangs (1-4), who arrived from Hobbs, N.M., having already been swept by three Sooner Athletic Conference teams (Oklahoma City, Southwestern Christian and Mid-America Christian). USW's win came over another SAC school, Langston.
 
Still not at full strength due to injuries, the Pioneers did have the services for the first time of transfers Ariel Marquez, who played libero in the final set, and Lucie Mahelova.
 
"We're still trying to figure out who's to our right, who's to our left, and who's responsible for certain plays when it comes from certain directions," Giacomazzi said. "It's a matter of court time and getting experience out there."
 
The Pioneers benefited from one of the best performances of junior Amber Daniel's collegiate career. In addition to a team-high three aces, the all-conference left-side hitter recorded 13 kills and a .423 hitting percentage, the third-highest of her career.
 
Also with 13 kills was Tatijana Markic as the sophomore finished two shy of her career-best while hitting .242.
 
"Both Amber and Tatijana minimized their mistakes (two for Daniel, five for Markic) and capitalized on opportunities to score. And as Kellie (Kozak) becomes more consistent with her offense, it will free both of them up a little bit more," said Giacomazzi, whose team hit .227 compared to USW's .080.
 
Redshirt freshman Renzelle Horner led the Pioneers in both digs with a dozen and assists with 24. Mahelova added seven assists.
 
"Our offense looked a little bit better with either setter setting," Giacomazzi said. "Our outsides were getting opportunities to swing, which was the main thing."
 
Wayland outblocked USW 6-1, with Sadie Hall getting two assists and one solo.
 
The Pioneers trailed in all three sets.
 
In the first, the Mustangs jumped out to an 8-3 lead. Wayland rallied to put up the next seven points but then fell behind 16-10. It was tied at 19 when the Pioneers ran off six of the next eight to win, 25-21.
 
USW led set No. 2 23-22 when Wayland called timeout. Markic saved it for the Pioneers with two kills, which along with a Mustang hitting error gave the Pioneers the 25-23 win.
 
Set No. 3 saw the Mustangs take another early lead, 7-2. The visitors were up 19-17 when Wayland again finished with a flourish, recording eight of the final nine points to win, 25-20. Three kills by Daniel and an ace by Kozak helped Wayland polish off the victory.
 
"The challenge is the teams we're playing coming up will have better players than we played tonight," Giacomazzi said.
 
Next for the Pioneers is a tournament in Denver hosted by Johnson & Wales. WBU first takes on Presentation College at 10 a.m. Friday. WBU's next home action is the conference-opener against Mid-America Christian on Sept. 6.
 
"We're hoping to find a lineup this weekend that we can put on the court when conference starts next weekend," said Giacomazzi, adding that lone senior Jordan Breding (ankle) likely won't play this weekend, although sophomore transfer Charm Henderson (shoulder, elbow) has a chance to return.
 
"Pretty soon we'll have a full complement of players to do a little bit of everything," Giacomazzi said.