Pioneers miss out on share of SAC title

The table was set for the Wayland Baptist volleyball team to secure the Sooner Athletic Conference regular-season title and earn an automatic bid to the NAIA National Championships.

For a while it looked like they would get it done, but in the end the Pioneers weren't able to pull it off as they fell to 19^th-ranked Oklahoma City University on Saturday in Hutcherson Center, 19-25, 25-16, 30-28, 25-22.

Wayland ended the day, and the regular-season, with a non-conference match against Our Lady of the Lake, rallying to win, 13-25, 25-18, 27-25, 25-21.

"We knew coming into today's match we had a chance to win the conference championship and earn a bid to the NAIA National Tournament. We even had help from John Brown (JBU defeated second-place Texas Wesleyan to further open the door for Wayland)," Pioneers coach Jim Giacomazzi said. "But that is now water under the bridge. We play OPSU on Tuesday so we'll work on our passing and serving and shore up our floor defense. Our blocking is very good, but we can make it even better."
 
Wayland (16-7, 8-2 SAC) finished tied for second in the league standings with Texas Wesleyan (16-3, 8-2). The Pioneers will be the No. 3 seed because TXWES defeated Wayland in five on March 19.
 
That means WBU will host No. 6 seed Oklahoma-Panhandle State (10-6, 5-5) in the first round of the SAC Tournament. That match will take place at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Hutch. It will be the third meeting between the Pioneers and Aggies this season. They split the first two, with OPSU winning in Goodwell on Oct. 16 in five before Wayland prevailed March 9 at home in three, 25-17, 25-17, 25-20.
 
The WBU-OPSU winner advances to the semifinals against either No. 2 Texas Wesleyan (16-3) or No. 7 Mid-America Christian (19-14) at 6 p.m. Friday at Oklahoma City University's Abe Lemons Arena. The finals will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, also at OCU.
 
Wayland went into Saturday's match against the Stars (11-2, 10-0) hoping to snap a seven-match skid against the Stars dating back to 2016. It looked like it could happen when the Pioneers strolled to victory in set 1, 25-19.
 
But the tide quickly turned and the Stars stormed to a 25-16 victory in set 2. OCU kept up the pressure in the third set, jumping out to a 6-1 lead. Wayland hung tough and tied it at 21, then fought off two set points and knotted it at 24. The Pioneers erased three more match points and even took a 28-27 lead before the Stars ran off three straight points – two kills by Lacy Beeler who had 19 for the match and an ace by Isabel Harwell – to finish off the 30-28 win.
 
Wayland led much of the fourth until OCU scored four in a row to take a 20-17 lead and go on to win the set, 25-22, and close out the match.
 
Kellie Kozak logged 13 kills and hit .400 plus got one of Wayland's five solo and seven of their 18 block-assists. Paxton Patterson added nine kills. Amber Daniel recorded 21 digs and Lucie Mahelova 11 with 37 assists.
 
OCU went on to defeat Our Lady of the Lake, 25-23, 25-12, 27-25, before Wayland squared off with the Saints (11-3) and won in four. The Pioneers did to OLLU what OCU did to them: losing the first, 13-25, before winning the next three, 25-18, 27-25, 25-21.
 
In the pivotal third set, Wayland found itself behind, 22-19, before winning four straight points to take a 23-22 lead. But OLLU won three of the next four to get it to set point, but the Pioneers got back-to-back kills from Jayla Schultz and Daniel before winning it on an OLLU attack error.
 
Wayland also finished strong in the fourth, breaking a 20-20 tie by going on a match-ending 5-1 run that featured kills by Kozak, Daniel and Alexa Hinojos. A block by Hinojos and Daniel ended the tripleheader day.
 
Patterson put down a best-at-WBU best 15 kills and hit .565 while Schultz added a dozen smashes to tie her season-high. Kozak and Shykerra Fanner tacked on nine kills apiece.
 
Wayland had another solid blocking performance with 25 block-assists, led by Hinojos with seven and Kozak and Mahelova with five each. Mahelova ended with 45 assists, while Daniel and Fanner had 12 digs, Schultz 11 and Tevia Bell nine.
 
"Kellie, Jayla and Paxton had a good day offensively," Giacomazzi said. "Kellie had three very good matches in a row (including Friday's win over Southwestern Christian). She blocked well and hit well. She is just now showing the consistency we need for post-season play.
 
"Paxton has come into her own the last couple of weeks. Despite the thumb injury she sustained in the match on Friday night, she rose to a higher level to help us have a chance to win the conference championship.
 
"It comes down to serving and passing. We can do better with both. We spend a lot of time in those two areas, so I am always a little disappointed when we fail in those areas."
 
Sooner Athletic Conference Volleyball Tournament 
At Campus Sites at Highest Seed 
Tuesday's Games 
Quarterfinals 
Game 1: No. 8 Langston (3-7) at No. 1 Oklahoma City (11-2), 7 p.m. 
Game 2: No. 7 Mid-America Christian (19-14) at No. 2 Texas Wesleyan (16-3), 6 p.m. 
Game 3: No. 6 Panhandle State (10-6) at No. 3 Wayland Baptist (16-7), 7 p.m. 
Game 4: No. 5 SW Assemblies of God (10-6) at No. 4 John Brown (11-3), TBA 
At Abe Lemons Arena, Oklahoma City
Friday, April 9 
Semifinals 
Game 5: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 4, 4 p.m. 
Game 6: Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3, 6 p.m. 
Saturday, April 10 
Championship 
Game 7: Semifinal winners, 1 p.m.