SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. – Wayland Baptist took John Brown University to the brink before the Golden Eagles, ranked the equivalent of 37
th in the NAIA, pulled out a five-set victory in a Sooner Athletic Conference thriller inside Bill George Arena Friday evening.
"It shows how much the girls have improved to be able to go with a team like that," WBU coach
Jim Giacomazzi said following the 18-25, 25-12, 24-26, 25-22, 21-19 match that lasted close to 2½ hours. "We had a lead, we could've won. I'm disappointed we couldn't get the win, but I'm encouraged."
Against the SAC's third-place team that beat them in three, 25-19, 25-20, 25-23, in Plainview Sept. 17, Wayland (6-15, 6-10) was looking to end a 10-match home winning streak – dating back to Oct. 8, 2021, for JBU (18-5, 12-3). Only two other teams had taken sets off the Golden Eagles in seven matches in Siloam Springs this season.
But the Pioneers showed they were up to the challenge by winning the first set with relative ease, 25-18, only to give away the second, 25-12.
The third was back-and-forth, with Wayland owning a 14-10 lead before JBU ran off seven straight. The Pioneers went on a 5-1 run to regain the lead, 21-20, but found themselves down 24-22. That's when the Pioneers put together four unanswered points – a couple of JBU errors, an ace by
Carlee Heidebrecht and a kill by
Chante Moore – to take the set, 26-24.
It appeared Wayland would finish it in the fourth when, after taking an early six-point lead, the Pioneers led it 21-17. But JBU impressively answered the bell with six straight kills followed by an ace to go up 24-21. A JBU hitting error delayed the Golden Eagles ultimate 25-22 win secured on a kill by Savanna Riney.
That forced the fifth fifth set for Wayland this season. The teams again went back-and-forth with the Pioneers owning a 13-12 advantage. JBU got a pair of kills for its first match point, but Wayland fought it off. They did the same thing a total of six times with some gutsy play, but JBU – never allowing Wayland its own match point – finally ended it with back-to-back kills by Taylor Golman and Madline Nolan.
"For us to go 21-19 in the fifth is a testament to how the team has improved," Giacomazzi said. "We made a mistake at an inopportune time sometimes and just couldn't put the ball down when we needed to. We got stuck in a rotation we couldn't get out of, but (JBU) did what they needed to do."
While JBU got 84 kills and double-digit smashes by five players, Wayland had 45 kills and just one double-digit kill total, Moore with 13 (.267), although
Alexa Hinojos and
Fade Ogunbade with nine each and Heidebrecht with eight just missed. The Pioneers hit .153 vs. .198 for the Golden Eagles, who committed 36 attack errors and 14 service errors compared to Wayland's 14 and six.
"When we keep our errors to a minimum shows we can play with teams like that," Giacomazzi said. "We had some great digs on some hard-hit balls against the top-hitting team in the conference."
WBU produced 108 digs, led by libero
Brenna Daniel's career-high 30, followed by 17 for
Ava Pinter, 16 for
Elizabeth Wirth and 14 each for
Haley Fossett and
Samantha Ingram. Hinojos ended with five blocks and Ogunbade four. Ingram provided all but three of Wayland's 44 assists.
"It was a good night overall. It always hurts to lose, but I can't complain," Giacomazzi said. "This makes it fun for us to start looking forward to post-season a little bit."
Before that (the SAC Tournament begins Nov. 8), Wayland – on a five-match skid – still has four regular-season matches, the first two against the league's bottom two teams – Central Christian and Langston – at home next Friday and Saturday. Wayland defeated the Lady Tigers and Lady Lions in three on the road in the first half of SAC play.
