SAN ANTONIO – Playing for the first time in more than two months, the Wayland Baptist volleyball team picked up right where they left off, picking up a pair of wins here Saturday afternoon.
Wayland first dominated Jarvis Christian, 25-10, 25-16, 25-9, before outlasting Our Lady of the Lake University, 25-20, 17-25, 20-25, 25-23, 17-15.
"The girls are working hard mentally, believing they can win and doing a good job finishing a match. That was good to see," Wayland coach
Jim Giacomazzi said following his team's fourth and fifth straight victories.
Against Jarvis Christian (0-4), which fell to OLLU in three on Friday and again Saturday after Wayland's sweep, the Pioneers racked up 13 service aces, including five by
Kellie Kozak and three by
Tatijana Markic.
The Pioneers hit a season-best .415 with
Paxton Patterson getting eight kills and hitting .583.
Lucie Mahelova and Markic added five kills each and hit .500 and .333, respectively. Mahelova added nine digs.
Against OLLU (2-1), Wayland's first five-set match of the season, the Pioneers came through by rallying in the fourth set. The Pioneers trailed 21-19 but outscored the Saints 6-1 to force a fifth set. Five of Wayland's final six points resulted from OLLU errors.
WBU again trailed in the fifth, 12-10 and later 15-14. But the Pioneers fought off match point with a clutch kill by Markic. After an OLLU attack error, Patterson clinched it with a match-winning block.
"They (OLLU) had some big players who can hit the ball well," Giacomazzi said.
Kozak finished with 11 kills and hit .423, while Markic, Patterson and
Amber Daniel all had eight kills. Daniel also logged three aces and a team-high 17 digs.
Ariel Marquez added 16 digs, Mahelova 12 and Markic 10. Kozak had one of Wayland's four solo blocks and three of the team's eight block-assists.
"I was really pleased with a lot of swings we took," Giacomazzi said. "Kellie did a good job hitting and Tatijana had some really great swings. I like how hard she hit the ball and the choices she made.
"I'd like to see a little better digging."
The Pioneers are in for another extended break before returning to play Feb. 11 at home against University of the Southwest and Lubbock Christian in round-robin action at Hutcherson Center. Sooner Athletic Conference play is set to begin two weeks after that.
