WAXAHACHIE – Wayland Baptist's volleyball team went from the frying pan to the fire when the Pioneers followed up a match against No. 21 Texas Wesleyan on Friday night by taking on No. 13 Southwestern Assemblies of God on Saturday afternoon.
The unbeaten Lions prevailed in the Sooner Athletic Conference match, 25-10, 25-11, 25-11.
"We definitely played a top-20 team today," WBU coach
Jim Giacomazzi said.
Wayland (1-9, 1-3 SAC) hit .012 compared to .409 for SAGU (13-0, 5-0).
Carlee Heidebrecht led Wayland with seven digs while
Maria Eduarda Motta got six.
"Our serving was better. Our blocking, which had been our strong point, was mediocre," Giacomazzi said.
The Pioneers had no answer for Emma Tompkins, who led SAGU with 16 kills and hit .652. Ava Meyers added 11 smashes and hit .444.
"Things we need to do for improvement are better passes on serve receive and better transition hitting," Giacomazzi said. "As our younger players get better, our offense will get better. Our middles led the offense today, which we expect to happen all year long."
Wayland returns home next week to take on Oklahoma-Panhandle State (9-4, 2-2) at 7 p.m. Tuesday and John Brown (7-3, 3-1), ranked the equivalent of 31
st in the NAIA, at 1 p.m. Saturday.
"We're looking forward to a Monday practice and a Tuesday match to see how much we can improve in one day," Giacomazzi said.
