WAXAHACHIE – It didn't take the Wayland Baptist volleyball team long to get back in the win column.
Less than 24 hours after seeing their 13-match win streak end at the hands of Texas Wesleyan, the Pioneers shook off their disappointment and took care of business against Southwestern Assemblies of God University here Saturday afternoon, winning the Sooner Athletic Conference match, 25-23, 25-20, 25-22.
"Over the past four or five years, the top teams in our conference have gotten better. This is a very hard road trip for us. I am happy we split matches and even happier we won today in three," WBU coach
Jim Giacomazzi said.
Senior
Kellie Kozak, the reigning SAC Attacker of the Week, ended with a career-high 10 blocks – one solo and nine block-assists – to lead a strong defensive effort by the Pioneers (14-4, 7-1 SAC). Kozak's nine assists are one shy of the team record, last done by
Shahala Hawkins in 2012. As a team Wayland logged 30 blocks, including 28 block-assists which were seven shy of the program record established in 2000.
Alexa Hinojos and
Jayla Schultz added five block-assists apiece while
Lucie Mahelova contributed four.
"Today's match highlight had to be our blocking. Kellie did a great job and Paxton (Patterson) and Jayla did a good job setting the block to allow our middles to have success," Giacomazzi said. "Paxton was a little disappointed with her hitting percentage, but overall she is getting better each week."
Kozak and Schultz shared the team kills lead with seven each, with Kozak making no errors in 13 swings and hitting .538.
Shykerra Fanner added six kills and Patterson and
Tatijana Markic five each.
A trio of Pioneers –
Amber Daniel, Mahelova and
Ariel Marquez – posted seven digs each, while Patterson and
Elizabeth Wirth got six apiece. Mahelova provided 17 assists and Wirth 14.
The Lady Lions fell to 9-5, 5-3.
Wayland takes a break from conference play next weekend, traveling to Arizona to take on Ottawa-Arizona on Friday night then Arizona Christian on Saturday afternoon. The Pioneers then return home to wrap up the regular-season against Southwestern Christian, No. 15 Oklahoma City and Our Lady of the Lake.
"This coming week we'll continue to work hard on our floor defense and hopefully get better at reading the opposing team hitters," Giacomazzi said. "I really want to see a lot better improvement with our serve receive, but as we drive back we are going to enjoy this victory."
