(This match was later forfeited by WBU).
FORT WORTH – In a showdown of two top Sooner Athletic Conference teams both receiving NAIA Top 25 votes, Wayland Baptist took Texas Wesleyan to the limit but fell just short of knocking off the Lady Rams, falling 22-25, 25-18, 22-25, 25-17, 16-14.
"It was a good match," WBU coach
Jim Giacomazzi said. "We did well, but they have some big athletes who at the right times came up with some big plays."
Playing without injured senior
Amber Daniel for the first time, the Pioneers (20-8, 13-4 SAC) – ranked the equivalent of 34
th in the NAIA – held the upper hand most of the match over the Lady Rams (20-5, 15-2) – ranked the equivalent of 29
th in the NAIA.
"Dadgummit," said Giacomazzi, who knew the Pioneers let the Lady Rams off the hook as Wayland tried to sweep TXWES. WBU won in four on Sept. 25 in Plainview.
"The girls showed a lot of resilience. Everybody stepped up. Sure we miss Amber, but people stepped up and did a good job."
In the fifth set, Wayland held a 9-6 lead. The Lady Rams scored three straight to tie it, then TXWES took an 11-10 lead. But the Pioneers ran off three straight points – on a couple of attack errors and a kill by
Paxton Patterson – to assume a 13-11 edge.
But the Lady Rams ran off another three-point spurt. A kill by WBU's
Tatijana Markic tied it at 14, but TXWES finished it off with a kill then a Pioneer error to end it.
"I can't praise the girls enough for stepping up and playing an outstanding game on the road against a really good opponent," Giacomazzi said.
In her first full match since being injured in the Sept. 25 match vs. TXWES, Wayland's
Jayla Schultz came up with a team-high 14 kills and hit .275.
"Jayla had a great night…one of the better matches for her career," Giacomazzi said.
He also praised
Ariel Marquez, who finished with a career-high 32 digs, surpassing her previous best of 27 last season against John Brown. "Ariel made adjustments and did a wonderful job."
Wendy Cobbah and Patterson ended with 11 and 10 kills, respectively, with Cobbah hitting .310. WBU hit .184 as a team compared to .222 for TXWES, which had four players with double-digit kills led by Nyia Anderson's 17.
Lucie Mahelova had 13 digs to go with her 42 assists, and
Jayda Nelson had 10 digs. Both teams had 11 blocks.
"I was a little disappointed with our service errors (10), but other than that…" Giacomazzi said. "They had 11 (service-errors). It was just some unfortunate timing (on ours)."
The loss leaves Wayland tied for fourth place with its next opponent, Southwestern Assemblies of God University (18-7, 11-4). The Pioneers, who beat SAGU 25-22, 25-21, 25-21 on Sept. 24 in Plainview, and Lions are behind TXWES and Oklahoma City (15-8, 13-3). SAGU took on Oklahoma-Panhandle State on Friday.
"Now we have to fight tooth and nail to get second place," Giacomazzi said. "It's going to be a challenge. We have to win out to have a chance."
After SAGU, WBU ends the regular-season at home next weekend against Southwestern Christian (7-17, 3-15) and OCU.
