FORT WORTH – Wayland Baptist's longest winning streak in seven seasons came to an end here Friday night as the Pioneers fell in four to Texas Wesleyan, 24-26, 25-19, 25-23, 25-16.
"We went toe-to-toe with them, but they were the better team tonight," Wayland coach
Jim Giacomazzi said. "We didn't make adjustments fast enough."
The loss snapped a 13-match win streak for Wayland and knocked the Pioneers (13-4, 6-10 SAC) out of first place in the Sooner Athletic Conference. WBU is now a game behind Oklahoma City (7-1, 7-0), tied for second with Texas Wesleyan (13-2, 6-1), which is ranked the equivalent of 30
th in the NAIA.
"This was a very good match for us this evening. Texas Wesleyan has improved a lot, but I have to say we are much improved as well," Giacomazzi said.
Before Friday, the Lady Rams were the last team to defeat Wayland, with TXWES winning on Oct. 23 in Plainview, 25-12, 25-22, 25-22. The Pioneers then set off on a 13-match win streak, the program's longest since winning 14 straight in 2014.
It was the seventh straight win for TXWES, which had won its previous six by 3-0 counts. When Wayland won the match's first set, it ended an 18-set win streak for the Lady Rams.
"We had to come from behind to win the first set," Giacomazzi said.
Wayland trailed 24-22 but won the next four points on a kill by
Jayla Schultz, a ball-handling error by the Lady Rams, then back-to-back kills by
Tatijana Markic.
The Pioneers scored the first point of set No. 2, but never led again when TXWES went up 11-5.
In the third, both teams made big runs, and Wayland trailed 22-20 before a kill by
Amber Daniel and block-assist by
Kellie Kozak and
Paxton Patterson helped the Pioneers won three straight points and take a 23-22 advantage. The Lady Rams called timeout and came back and won three straight – including a pair of kills by Nyia Anderson – to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Wayland never saw the lead in the fourth, with the Lady Rams going on a 12-2 run and expanding a slim 6-5 lead to a commanding 18-7 spread. The Pioneers fought off four match points before TXWES closed it out, 25-16.
"I saw awesome determination and focus," Giacomazzi said. "The girls played smart and show some skills moves."
The coach said Markic was feeling under the weather but "elevated her focus and had a very good night," finishing with a team-high 13 kills and a .242 hitting percentage.
Paxton Patterson added 11 kills and hit .276.
"Paxton hit well and scored points. We just couldn't get Tatijana and Paxton the ball enough," Giacomazzi said.
Wayland had no answer for hard-hitting Bailey Foy, who had 19 kills and hit .515, or Anderson, who added 11 kills and hit .222.
"Our blocking did well at times and we stopped their setter from scoring. Our defense had moments of brilliance then at times we floundered," Giacomazzi said.
Ariel Marquez finished with 17 digs, Daniel 13 and
Lucie Mahelova 11, along with 25 assists. Kozak logged one solo and four block-assists, with Markic getting three combination blocks.
"In general, we have a couple of things to improve on, including service receive, and that will help a lot with decision making in our offense," Giacomazzi said. "I believe this was a great match for us today. Post-season is just around the corner and I'm happy with where we are."
Before post-season play, the Pioneers still have six regular-season matches, including Saturday's 1 p.m. outing in Waxahachie against Southwestern Assemblies of God University (9-4, 5-2), which blasted Oklahoma-Panhandle State on Friday, 21-25, 25-15, 25-17, 25-19.
