OKLAHOMA CITY – Looking for a win to assure themselves a spot in the NAIA National Championships, the Wayland Baptist volleyball team fell to Texas Wesleyan for the third time this season, this time in the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals on Friday night at Abe Lemons Arena.
The third-seeded Pioneers came oh-so-close to forcing a fifth game, but the second-seeded Lady Rams fought off three set-points and wound up with a four-set victory, 25-23, 25-23, 22-25, 28-26.
"We fought very hard against one of the best Texas Wesleyan teams that has come out of Fort Worth. We blocked well and we hit pretty well, but our heart is what impressed me the most," WBU coach
Jim Giacomazzi said.
The Pioneers (17-8) now must hope they earn an at-large bid to the national tournament. Those selections will be announced at 10 a.m. Monday, April 10.
Meanwhile, Texas Wesleyan (18-3), ranked the equivalent of 35
th in the NAIA, moves on to face top-seeded, 21
st-ranked Oklahoma City, a four-set winner over Southwestern Assemblies of God, in Saturday's 1 p.m. championship.
Both OCU, the regular-season champion, and Texas Wesleyan, regardless of Saturday's outcome, have qualified for nationals. The Pioneers will keep their fingers crossed until Monday morning when they find out if they get an at-large bid.
The Pioneers hoped to end a nine-match skid against Texas Wesleyan on Friday night. Those of those losses – in three last October and in four on March 19 – came this season, both in Fort Worth. The last snapped Wayland's impressive 13-match winning streak.
Playing in the conference tournament semis for the first time in four years, Wayland fell behind big in the first game, 22-10, before a 9-0 run closed the gap. The Pioneers closed to within one, 24-23, but the Lady Rams won the next point to win the opener.
"We had a good case of the jitters," Giacomazzi said. "With that, we dug a good hole. But the girls persisted and fought back, and because of their determination we were set for a barn-burner."
Game 2 started much better for Wayland, which went up 4-0. The Pioneers were up 18-17 when TXWES ran off five unanswered points to take control. Once again, Wayland closed to within 24-23, but the Lady Rams came up with a crucial kill to close it out.
WBU led most of the third and got a kill by
Jayla Schultz and an ace by
Lucie Mahelova to make it 2-1. In the fourth game, the Pioneers were within a point on three occasions of forcing a fifth game. But the Lady Rams fought all three off with a kill, a WBU attack error and a Pioneer service error.
Finally, the Lady Rams secured the match with a kill and a final block.
Paxton Patterson led Wayland with 12 kills and a .321 hitting percentage, followed by Schultz with 11 kills.
Amber Daniel provided 16 digs, Mahelova 15 and
Brenna Daniel 14, while SAC Defender of the Year
Kellie Kozak ended with one solo block and five block-assists.
"I cannot say enough about Kellie and her impact on this team," Giacomazzi said. "She is the engine that could…chugging right along. Wesleyan knew they had to shut her down. Kellie came up with timely hits and blocks that jacked up the emotion and passion on our side of the net. We will miss her, and she will be hard to replace."
The Lady Rams got 20 kills, four solo blocks and four block-assists from SAC Attacker of the Year Bailey Foy, who hit .333. Nyia Anderson added a dozen kills, 25 digs and three aces.
In case the Pioneers don't get their hoped-for at-large bid to nationals, Giacomazzi praised his team for its intelligence and work ethic.
"This was a challenging year and I cannot give enough credit and praise for each of our players. They are smart and hard-working."
