Langston – The Pioneer Volleyball team had their backs against the ropes on the road against a desperate Langston squad Friday night, but Wayland Baptist was able to escape with a 3-2 victory over the Lions in five sets to move to 8-4 in Sooner Athletic Conference play.
Wayland Baptist (9-7, 8-4 SAC) fell behind early in the opening set after the Lions scored only four kills in their first 11 points, yet they held an 11-5 lead over the Pioneers. Later in the set, the Lions continued their strong start with a service ace and a kill to make it 17-10 in the opening set. The Pioneers battled back to cut their deficit to just three points after junior
Carlee Heidebrecht scored a kill to make it 23-20, but Wayland Baptist couldn't overcome the slow start and dropped the opening set, 25-20.
The second set began much better for the Pioneers as they jumped out to an early 10-4 lead over the Lions that was sparked by four Pioneer service aces. Wayland Baptist extended their lead to 17-7 later in the second set after kills by junior
Fade Ogunbade and freshman
Ilgin Ada Cacaron. The Pioneers went on to win the second set 25-13 after Ogunbade capped the set off with a kill to bring Wayland Baptist back even in the match, 1-1.
The Pioneers carried their second set momentum into the third set as they opened a 5-2 lead over the Lions after back-to-back kills by senior
Selma Sutaj. The Pioneers continued their strong play in the third set and took a 15-8 lead after kills by Brzeczkowska and Cacaron. The Lions cut the score to 15-10, but the Pioneers executed a 7-0 scoring run sparked by three service aces from Cacaron and two kills from Brzeczkowska to take a commanding 22-10 lead. Ogunbade would once again finish off the set victory for the Pioneers with a kill, and the Pioneers would win set three, 25-13, to take a 2-1 set lead over the Lions.
It seemed as if the Pioneers were about to cruise to four-set victory over the Lions after WBU opened the fourth set with a 10-3 lead that featured three kills by Cacaron and four points from Heidebrecht with two via service aces and two from kills. Brzeczkowska would jolt the Pioneers to a 13-5 lead after recording three straight kills to put the Lions on the mend of defeat. However, Langston continued to chip away at the Pioneer lead and eventually won the set over the Pioneers, 26-24, to tie the match up at two sets each with a decisive fifth set needed.
Langston scored the first three points of the fifth set, but the Pioneers answered by scoring the next six after multiple Lions errors put WBU ahead. Langston battled back to tie the set up at 9-9, but the Pioneers scored the next four points to make it 13-9 thanks to four kills (two by Sutaj, one by Heidebrecht, and one by Ogunbade). With Wayland Baptist holding a 13-10 lead, Ogunbade scored a kill followed by a Lion error to give the Pioneers the 15-10 fifth set victory, and a 3-2 match victory over the Lions.
The Pioneers were able to get 14 players into tonight's match, which was important due to a few nagging injuries the Pioneers are having to deal with right now. "We were able to get a lot of people into the game tonight, which was one of our goals for the game, because we want to get more experience for some of our depth players," said Head Coach
Jim Giacomazzi when referencing the importance of being able to get more players involved.
Coach Giacomazzi continued talking about where his team stands, "I'm pleased with how we finished tonight. Langston is a much-improved team and have a great coach that has her team playing hard. It was a gritty win for us, and we hope to be able to do the same thing tomorrow afternoon against Central Christian."
Brzeczkowska led the Pioneer offensive attack tonight with 12 kills, a .455 hitting percentage, and seven total blocks. Heidebrecht finished with 10 kills, three service aces, and four block assists. Sutaj totaled nine kills, a .115 hitting percentage, a service ace, and two block assists. Cacaron finished with six kills, a .111 hitting percentage, four service aces, and three total blocks.
The Pioneers will look to continue the winning trend as they head to McPherson, Kansas for another road Sooner Athletic Conference match against Central Christian on Saturday, October 12
th. The match is set to begin at 1:00 PM.
