FORT WORTH – They took a set off Texas Wesleyan this time, but the Wayland Baptist volleyball team fell to the 23
rd-ranked Rams for the third time this season, bowing out in the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinals Tuesday at Sid Richardson Center, 25-20, 25-21, 23-25, 25-11.
"For us to take a set off a Top 25 team says a lot for this team," Wayland coach
Jim Giacomazzi said.
The loss ends Wayland's season at 9-17. Second-seeded TXWES (25-4) advances to the semifinals and will host either third-seeded John Brown (21-8) or sixth-seeded Oklahoma City (13-14).
In the opening set between the Pioneers and Rams, Wayland was within 18-17 when TXWES scored four straight. WBU claimed three of the next four to close to 23-20 but the Rams closed it out with a pair of kills.
Set two was tied at 9 but TXWES scored seven in a row to take control. Wayland put up four straight to make it 22-18 then later fought off two set points before going down, 25-21.
The Pioneers fought back in the third and led most of the way. After TXWES tied it at 23, Wayland came out of a timeout and prevailed after a hitting error by the Rams and a finishing kill by
Maria Eduarda Motta.
That only appeared to anger the Rams, though, who came out in the fourth and went up 9-1. It was never close after that.
The big difference in the match came on the serve where TXWES logged 11 serves compared to just two for Wayland.
Each team had three players with double-digit kills, with Wayland led by
Chante Moore with 12.
Carlee Heidebrecht and
Alexa Hinojos tacked on 10 each, while
Fade Ogunbade added eight. WBU hit .171 as a team compared to .234 for TXWES, which was led by Kendal King's 16 kills.
The Pioneers out-blocked the home team, 17-8, with Heidebrecht and Hinojos getting five putbacks each and Ogunbade four.
Brenna Daniel finished with 16 digs,
Elizabeth Wirth 12 and Motta 11.
Samantha Ingram provided all but one of WBU's 44 assists.
"We would like to have played one more match, but overall we're looking good for the future," Giacomazzi said. "I'm pleased with the effort the girls made. They never gave up, never complained, always kept trying and working hard."
WBU's young roster included just two seniors and five freshmen.
"A lot of these young players got a lot of playing time. That's a big plus," Giacomazzi said.
Of his two seniors, Hinojos and Daniel, the coach said, "I can't say enough about Alexa and how she's improved through the years. We're going to miss her along with Brenna. I was able to recruit her twice!" (
Cauane Krainski, who spent most of the season in a student coaching role, also will graduate.)
"The future," Giacomazzi said, "looks good."
