Pioneers fall in 5 to MACU

(This match was later forfeited by WBU).

In a matchup of teams tied atop the Sooner Athletic Conference, Wayland Baptist and Mid-America Christian went toe-to-toe Friday evening in Hutcherson Center, and the Evangels walked away with a come-from-behind, five-set victory, 23-25, 17-25, 25-19, 25-23, 15-12.
 
"That one hurt. That one was very frustrating," WBU coach Jim Giacomazzi said. "We had a game plan going in that wasn't always executed."
 
It was the first conference setback for Wayland (8-4, 2-1 SAC), while MACU (9-3, 3-0) remained tied for the top spot in the league with Oklahoma-Panhandle State (9-3, 3-0) and Southwestern Assemblies of God (9-3, 3-0). OPSU on Friday defeated Wayland's next opponent, Science & Arts of Oklahoma (6-4, 0-3), 25-15, 25-6, 25-13. The Pioneers host the Drovers at 11 a.m. Saturday, before a match with University of the Southwest at 4 p.m. Science & Arts and Southwest square off in between WBU's matches at 1:30.
 
On Friday, Wayland hung on to win the first set, 25-23, then rolled in the second, 25-17. The third set saw MACU go on a 6-1 game-ending run to prevail, 25-19. The Pioneers held a six-point lead, 17-11, but couldn't close it out. WBU was up, 21-18, when MACU scored seven of the next nine points. The Pioneers called two late timeouts to try to regain control, but the Evangels got a kill by Hanna Foecker to end it.
 
"You can't let a team like them think they can beat you," Giacomazzi said.
 
In the fifth, Wayland again owned the lead, up 7-5, but the Evangels scored five of the next six to take the lead and never give it back. Wayland did tie it at 10, but the visitors put up three unanswered points before kills by Vanessa Moreira and Foecker ended it.
 
"We had more points than they had, but unfortunately they won the last point," Giacomazzi said.
  
Foecker, the defending NAIA Attacker of the Week, ended with 33 of MACU's 71 kills and hit .329. Moreira added 14 smashes and hit .343.
 
For Wayland, Paxton Patterson and Tatijana Markic recorded 22 and 21 kills, respectively, and hit .296 and .381. Amber Daniel added 16 kills as the Pioneers hit .249 compared to MACU's .263.
 
Lucie Mahelova dug a 29 balls and dished up 60 assists. Ariel Marquez added 23 digs and Daniel 18. WBU ended with 14 block-assists, with Alexa Hinojos and Patterson getting four each.
 
"Tatijana had one of her best offensive nights, and Lucie had almost 30 digs. Ariel had a good night, and Paxton had a really nice night," Giacomazzi said. "Individually there's some girls who did some very nice things, but as a team you have to follow the game plan. If you do your own thing that hurts the team."
 
The coach credited MACU. "They're not a one-dimensional team. Their middle hurt us, their right-side hurt us, and Foecker hurt us, and their libero had a ton of digs.
 
"Little things hurt us. We had too many errors, and at crucial times we didn't concentrate."
 
The loss stings, but Giacomazzi hopes the Pioneers learn from it.
 
"Hopefully this will help us get a little tougher mentally. I was pleased we never quit. We had great energy. But you have to stay in the moment (and) stay focused."