MACU denies Pioneers first win in SAC debut

Wayland Baptist was three points away from picking up its first win of the season, then it all went wrong.

Taking on Mid-America Christian Friday night in the Sooner Athletic Conference opener for both teams, Wayland gave up the final three points of the fourth before the Evangels dominated the fifth, slipping out of raucous Hutcherson Center with a 17-25, 25-18, 23-25, 25-22, 15-5 victory.

"We're getting better every time we touch the ball. We just need to gel as a team. That will happen with a lot of practice and a lot of games, and we've got a bunch of those left," Wayland coach Jim Giacomazzi said.

For the first time all season, Wayland (0-6, 0-1 SAC) won the opening match against the Evangels (7-3, 1-0). But MACU regrouped and won the second by about the same margin as Wayland won the first.

The third was a battle, tied at 23 until back-to-back kills by Wayland newcomer Carlee Heidebrecht gave the Pioneers a 2-1 lead.

In the fourth, WBU broke out to an 11-8 lead, but MACU ran off five straight points and it was back-and-forth from there. The Pioneers trailed 22-19 but rallied to tie it on two MACU hitting errors and a kill by Alexa Hinojos. The Evangels called timeout then proceeded to win the final three points – on a kill, an ace and a WBU hitting error – to force a fifth.

The Pioneers never found their groove in the final set as MACU jumped out to 6-1 lead on a combination of Evangel kills and aces and WBU miscues. Giacomazzi called timeout but it had little effect as MACU won six of the next seven points to take a commanding 12-2 lead before finishing it out, 15-5.

"We didn't pass, we didn't serve, we didn't hit, and we were a little bit confused," Giacomazzi said.

It was Wayland's second five-set match of the season; WBU also fell to Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) in a season-opening tournament.

The Pioneers enjoyed what Giacomazzi called a "great blocking night," recording two solo and 24 block-assists. "It's been a long time since we've had 24 block-assists," said the coach. Chante Moore led the team with seven block-assists, followed by Heidebrecht and Hinojos with five each. Heidebrecht also had a solo stuff.

Moore, Heidebrecht and Hinojos all ended with 10 kills, and Moore hit a match-best .318. Wayland hit .166 as a team.

Fade Ogunbade logged three of Wayland's eight aces, although MACU served up 13 aces. Dayana Critchi ended with 25 digs, Samantha Ingram 15 and Elizabeth Wirth 10, while Wirth and Ingram recorded 21 and 19 assists, respectively.

"Dayana had a fantastic evening, and Samantha and Chante had great nights," Giacomazzi said.

The Pioneers are back in action at 3 p.m. Saturday against Science & Arts of Oklahoma (4-2, 0-1), which dropped its SAC debut on Thursday to Oklahoma-Panhandle State (8-2, 1-0), 25-22, 25-19, 25-16.

"We're looking forward to our next match," Giacomazzi said.