SURPRISE, Ariz. – Wayland Baptist took Ottawa to five sets on its home court before the Spirit – receiving votes in the NAIA Top 25 – were able to pull out a hard-fought match with the Pioneers.
"(The loss) was disappointing, but we played well against a team receiving votes," Wayland coach
Jim Giacomazzi said. "It was a fun match…a good competition."
It was just the second five-set match of the season for Wayland (14-5), which won its first five-setter over Our Lady of the Lake University. Ottawa, ranked the equivalent of 37
th in the NAIA, is 4-0 in five-set matches this season.
"They pushed us, that's what we want. We want to work hard and earn our victories," Giacomazzi said.
After dropping the first set, the Pioneers shined in the second, breaking away from a 19-19 tie and scoring the final six points.
Paxton Patterson and
Amber Daniel logged a kill each and
Kellie Kozak got two in that final push.
In the third, WBU broke out to a 7-1 lead. The Pioneers extended it to 14-4 before the Spirit started working its way back in it. Ottawa managed to tie it at 17-all and even took a 22-21 lead, but Wayland got it back together following a timeout, using a kill by
Tatijana Markic and an ace by
Lucie Mahelova to move to double-match point.
Ottawa staved off the first match point but an attack error gave the match and a 2-1 lead to Wayland.
"They started getting back into (the match) in the third," Giacomazzi said, believing that recovery after Wayland built a big lead gave Ottawa some momentum for the rest of the match.
A couple of big runs by each team first allowed Ottawa to build a six-point lead but then Wayland to tie it at 17. It was knotted at 19, but the Spirit put forward a 6-2 run to force a fifth.
The teams were tied at 10 when Ottawa seized control, running off the final five points, all kills including three by Izze Gibbs. Kate Pestova served out the match and got one of the clinching kills.
"We had missed opportunities where we could have won the match," Giacomazzi said. "We shot ourselves in the foot."
Pestova ended with 27 kills and hit .385 while Gibbs ended with 20 and hit .432. The Spirit hit .310 as a team.
"We just couldn't stop (Pestova)," Giacomazzi said. "We didn't do our best job blocking."
Wayland had three players produce double-digit kills: Markic (.323) and Kozak (.225) with 13 each and
Paxton Patterson (.290) with 10. Markic's 13 matched her season-best. WBU hit .227 overall.
Giacomazzi said the Pioneers struggled with the serve of Cristal Carrizoza, who put it in play well behind the service line.
"She had a nice float and our girls couldn't corral it. Our serve-receive was mediocre most of the match," the coach said, adding that serving, passing and ball-handling were also issues at times.
"Our ball-handling was a little bit off, so we couldn't get the ball to our middles. We also had some untimely missed serves.
"Good teams make you play out of your comfort zones, and Ottawa did that to us at times. They're a good defensive team. We had some balls that against other teams would be down."
Daniel led Wayland in digs with a season-high 19 while Mahelova got 13, matching her season-best, in addition to 20 assists.
Elizabeth Wirth added 19 assists. Wayland had a dozen block-assists, three by Kozak who also had a solo stuff.
While it was Ottawa's last match of the season, Wayland is back in action for two more non-conference matches at 4 p.m. (CDT) Saturday against Arizona Christian. The Spirit and Firestorm split matches earlier this week.
Arizona Christian (5-8) defeated Wayland in Plainview in the Pioneers' season-opener back on Oct. 3, 25-19, 27-25, 25-16.
