Gallery: (3-13-2021) Volleyball vs. JBU
Amber Daniel turned in one of the best matches of her career, and she wasn't alone as the Wayland Baptist volleyball team secured its 13th straight victory Saturday afternoon in Hutcherson Center as the Pioneers downed John Brown (Ark.), 25-18, 25-20, 22-25, 25-15.
"I was pretty tickled with the intensity and focus. We lost a little bit of it that third set, but they fought the whole time," Wayland coach Jim Giacomazzi said. "The bench stayed engaged, and we had people come off the bench who contributed."
As Wayland ended a seven-match losing skid against John Brown dating back to 2016, the Pioneers improved to 13-3 overall and took over sole possession of first place in the Sooner Athletic Conference at 6-0, a half-game ahead of 16th-ranked Oklahoma City.
Daniel was a big reason why, producing 27 kills and an eye-popping .545 hitting percentage. The 27 kills were nine more than the senior has had in any one match this season and just one off her career-best, and her hitting percentage also marked a season-best. On top of that, Daniel logged 16 digs.
"That has to be the best performance Amber's had, both offensively and defensively. She had 33 swings and just one error. She was outstanding. What a great time to have a career night," Giacomazzi said. "Same thing with Kellie (Kozak). She had another great hitting percentage."
Kozak finished with 10 kills and hit .435, with no errors in 23 attempts. Tatijana Markic recorded nine kills, and Wayland hit .242 as a team.
On defense, libero Ariel Marquez led the way with 27 digs, her best performance this season by 11 digs.
"Ariel did a great job on defense," Giacomazzi said. "She was in the right place when they crushed the ball and was able to keep it in play. That's crucial against good teams like that, to keep the ball up and off the floor, and she did that an awful lot.
"We averaged about 20 digs a set, which is pretty good. There was a lot of offense going on…a lot of swinging. We had eight blocks and a lot of block touches."
Alexa Hinojos was credited with four block-assists and Kozak three.
The coach said John Brown might have been fatigued a bit from its five-set win over Oklahoma-Panhandle State on Friday night in Goodwell, Okla.
"I think they were a little leg weary. We probably had fresher legs. It was evident in that first set."
The 4-set match ended a string of six straight 3-0 victories for the Pioneers.
"We had an OK side-out percentage, and because of that we did well," Giacomazzi said.
The coach made special mention of Shykerra Fanner's performance.
"I was pleased with what Shykerra did coming off the bench. She hasn't played a lot the last couple of matches but came in and performed when it was asked of her."
The coach also praised senior Lucie Mahelova's efforts. Not only did she have 22 assists, one more than Elizabeth Wirth, Mahelova shared her knowledge with teammates throughout the match.
"Lucie has so much experience and did a good job showing some of the maturity you expect out of seniors," Giacomazzi said.
Wayland will shoot for its 14th straight win, matching the 14 in a row from the 2014 season, when the Pioneers travel to Fort Worth to meet Texas Wesleyan (11-2, 5-1), ranked the equivalent of No. 30, on Friday night, prior to a road match against Southwestern Assemblies of God. WBU's last loss – way back on Oct. 23 – came courtesy of Texas Wesleyan, 25-12, 25-22, 25-22.
"It will be a big matchup," Giacomazzi said. "Every team we've played has gotten better, and it's not going to change next week."
