WINFIELD, Kan. – Thursday night's volleyball match between Wayland Baptist and Southwestern College was suspended due to unsafe playing conditions surrounding the court inside Stewart Field House.
The Pioneers (5-7) and Moundbuilders (9-4) split the first two sets, with Southwestern winning the first (25-18) and third (27-25) and Wayland taking the second (25-20) and fourth (also 25-20).
Then, seven points into the fifth set and after numerous players had slipped on a slick court, officials decided to suspend the match.
"A couple of our players had taken spills, and we weren't going to continue," Wayland coach
Jim Giacomazzi said. "I was willing to take the loss" rather than risk injury to any student-athletes.
Instead, game officials decided to suspend the match with no plans to resume.
Apparently, the slick conditions were caused by excessive humidity inside the gymnasium after it had rained much of the day.
The conditions were present well before the match, which initially prompted officials to look into moving the match to a nearby elementary school. But Giacomazzi said the roof-suspended nets did not meet NAIA requirements, so the teams had no other option but to try to play the match at Southwestern.
SC personnel as well as players' teams and coaches routinely tried to dry the court with towel-wrapped push mops.
While disappointed they weren't able to complete the match after traveling almost 500 miles, Giacomazzi came away pleased with his team's performance.
"We got a lot of experience. We played well against a pretty good team. I was pleased with what we did."
The Pioneers next travel back to Oklahoma to take on Langston (1-8, 0-2 SAC) at 7 p.m. Friday in Sooner Athletic Conference play before returning to Kansas for two matches in Sterling. First, Wayland takes on Central Christian (2-5, 0-2) at 1 p.m. Saturday, followed immediately by a non-conference bout with Sterling (3-10) on Central Christian's floor.
