McPHERSON, Kan. – "It was ugly, but it was a win."
That was Wayland Baptist volleyball coach
Jim Giacomazzi's take on the Pioneers' 25-19, 25-22, 25-12 victory – their first of the season – over Central Christian (Kan.) here Friday night.
Neither the Pioneers (1-3) nor the Lady Tigers (2-11) exactly lit it up, with Wayland hitting .189 and Central Christian .048. Wayland, though, got the job done.
"We came out pretty strong in the third set and played more at the level I wanted them to play," Giacomazzi said. "We let them score six points from mistakes we shouldn't make. There are things we need to continue to work on…sloppiness."
Wayland got contributions across the board from its eight players, including
Tatijana Markic and
Kellie Kozak who led the team in kills with 10 and nine, respectively. Markic added six digs and Kozak a pair of blocks. Meanwhile,
Paxton Patterson hit a team-high .333 on four kills with seven digs.
Jayla Schultz produced a dozen digs, three block-assists and a solo block. "The freshman did well," Giacomazzi said.
Amber Daniel added 10 digs to go with six kills. Libero
Tevia Bell recorded six digs, and
Lucie Mahelova provided 25 assists.
"We're still putting people in different positions. We tried a different lineup in the first set that we didn't really like so we went back to the normal That was worse but we stuck with it," Giacomazzi said, adding that Patterson was slowed by a sore arm, so "we tried
Alexa Hinojos in the front a little more."
Wayland plays on consecutive days for the first time this season when the Pioneers take on Mid-America Christian (9-1) at 3 p.m. Saturday in Oklahoma City. The Evangels dropped their first match of the season before reeling off nine wins in a row.
