Pioneers knock off league-leading SAGU

(This match was later forfeited by WBU).

"Another One Bites the Dust…"
 
Wayland Baptist volleyball fans got to hear that song regularly from 2012-15 when the husband-and-wife broadcasting team of Matt and Genene Driskill – parents of former all-American Chelsey Driskill – played it following every Pioneer win.
 
The Driskills were back on the air Friday night because daughter Chelsey, now the team's broadcaster, was out...and because the Pioneers won.
 
"I have missed that song. It gives me thrills from the past and optimism for the future," Wayland coach Jim Giacomazzi said as he conducted his post-game interview with Matt after the Pioneers handed Southwestern Assemblies of God University, ranked the equivalent of 37^th in the NAIA, its first Sooner Athletic Conference loss of the season in Hutcherson Center, 25-22, 25-21, 25-21.
 
"I can't say how exciting that was to watch," Giacomazzi said.
 
The victory – the fifth straight for WBU – left the Pioneers (13-4, 6-1) atop the conference standings, alongside the Lions (12-4, 6-1) and Texas Wesleyan (9-4, 6-1). Wayland won't have long to celebrate, though, as the Pioneers host TXWES, ranked the equivalent of 29^th in the NAIA, at 1 p.m. Saturday back in the Hutch. The Rams defeated Oklahoma-Panhandle State on Friday, 25-12, 25-17, 25-18. Oklahoma City (7-5, 6-2), ranked No. 23 in the NAIA, is in fourth place, having fallen to SAGU in three and Mid-America Christian on Tuesday in four.
 
"It's a topsy-turvy conference this year," Giacomazzi said.
 
While Wayland won in three over the Lions, the match – and the statistics – were close. The first set saw 17 ties and six lead changes. Wayland trailed 21-20 but went on a 5-1 run to close it out, getting three kills by Paxton Patterson and a clincher from Amber Daniel.

The Pioneers gained a crucial point late in the set when SAGU disputed a call that was awarded to Wayland after an extended conference with game officials.
 
Wayland's momentum from that victory carried over to the second set, which saw the Pioneers rush to an 11-1 lead.
 
"They shot themselves in the foot," Giacomazzi said.
 
WBU was up 22-12 when SAGU won five straight points. The Pioneers ended the run and picked up two points to get to set-point, and the Lions fought off four of those before a kill by Tatijana Markic ended it, 25-21.
 
"We put some good blocks up there, which really helped in that second set," Giacomazzi said. "We've worked hard on our block. Tonight we didn't get a lot of blocks statistically, but we slowed it down. That was important because they have some bangers."
 
It was SAGU that got off to a hot start in the third, assuming an 11-6 lead. But WBU won seven of the next eight points to take a 13-12 edge. Another 7-1 run helped the Pioneers pull away, going up 20-16. Wayland closed out the match with a dump by setter Lucie Mahelova.
 
"We've talked a lot about the mental side, (that) when a team is down, you step on their throat and don't let them breathe," Giacomazzi said. "They're learning."
 
Wayland ended with one more kill than SAGU (47-46), one more attack error (14-13), and three more digs (64-61), while barely outhitting the Lions (.254-.248). SAGU wound up with two more blocks (8-6) but committed eight service errors compared to two for the Pioneers. Wayland also had five aces to SAGU's zero.
 
Patterson paced Wayland with 17 kills and hit .324 while Daniel added 15 smashes and hit .308. Markic wound up with eight kills. Four Pioneers had double-digit digs: Ariel Marquez and Mahelova with 13 each and Markic and Daniel with 10 apiece.
 
Newcomers Isaline Jacquemyn and Wendy Cobbah, both 5-foot-10, came off the bench to give WBU a boost in the middle after Jayla Schultz was injured in the first set. Cobbah especially proved vital as she contributed six kills, two block-assists and an ace.
 
"That threw a monkey wrench into all their preparation," Giacomazzi said of having the taller Jacquemyn and Cobbah on the net. "They didn't know what to do.
 
Besides her tremendous play, Giacomazzi said Patterson, a senior, did a good job instructing Cobbah on the court, since the freshman right-side had never played in the middle.
 
"Paxton did a super job coaching Wendy," he said. "That's what you hope for in a team, to make those in-game adjustments without me having to do it. "These girls are smart. They're all great students."