Gallery: (10-19-2024) Volleyball vs OCU
Plainview – The Pioneers defeated the Stars of Oklahoma City University in dramatic fashion on Saturday afternoon at the Hutcherson Center, picking up one of their biggest wins of the season with how close the top of the Sooner Athletic Conference standings is at with just seven games to go.
It was a back-and-forth battle to begin the match, but Wayland Baptist (12-7, 11-4 SAC) eventually fell behind 14-9 after a few kills by Oklahoma City. The Stars maintained their lead until the score was 20-15, which forced the Pioneers to call a timeout. Out of the timeout, the Pioneers went on a 4-0 scoring run to make it 20-19 after kills by
Carlee Heidebrecht and
Alyssa Vasquez put the Pioneers back in the set. The Pioneers would tie the set up at 22, but Oklahoma City finished with a 3-0 scoring run to take the opening set, 25-22.
The Pioneers got off to a slow start in the second set, falling behind the Stars 9-3, but they would chip away at the deficit after a kill by
Fade Ogunbade and a service ace by
Selma Sutaj, plus a few Stars errors, made it 12-10, OCU. The Pioneers battled back to take a 17-16 lead after kills by Vasquez and
Klaudia Brzeczkowska, and a service ace by Heidebrecht. Oklahoma City wouldn't falter and stormed back to win set two, 25-21, to take a 2-0 lead in the match over the Pioneers.
The third set opened with the score tied at 7, but the Pioneers jumped in front 10-7 after kills from Ogunbade and Heidebrecht. The set remained close until the Stars took a 22-18 lead late, making it seem like the match was all but finished.
However, the Pioneers found a spark and rattled off the next seven points, sparked by two kills from Ogunbade, to win the set, 25-22, and keep their hopes at winning the match alive.
Wayland Baptist carried their momentum into the fourth set as they held a 10-5 lead over the Stars after two kills by Sutaj, and a service ace by sophomore
Valentina Bozzato. Ogunbade lifted the Pioneers to a 14-6 lead after scoring a pair of kills to keep the Pioneer offense on the attack. The Pioneer lead wouldn't fade as they went on to defeat the Stars in set four, 25-18, to force a decisive fifth set.
Wayland Baptist opened the final frame by taking a 7-4 lead after a kill from Sutaj and a service ace by Brzeczkowska. With the set tied at 12,
Alyssa Vasquez scored back-to-back kills for the Pioneers to put the match victory in sight.
Oklahoma City wouldn't budge as they tied the set up at 14 to put the win-by-two scenario in play. With the match tied at 15, Wayland Baptist scored back-to-back kills from Sutaj to secure the 3-2 comeback victory for the Pioneers, avenging their loss to the Stars earlier in the season.
Head Coach talked about his team's blocking today and how important it was on and off the floor, "We're in October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so I told the girls before the game, for every total block we have, we'll donate $10 to the Susan G. Komen Foundation."
Coach Giacomazzi continued, "After the first set we had like one block, and we were a little frustrated because we've been working on it all week. We got better with timely blocking today and started executing what we had been working on all week."
Ogunbade had another strong outing – finishing with 12 kills, a .423 hitting percentage, and four blocks. Heidebrecht added 12 kills, two service aces, two blocks, 20 digs, and a .146 hitting percentage. Sutaj scored nine kills, a .148 hitting percentage, 22 digs, and a service ace. Brzeczkowska added seven kills, four service aces, and four total blocks.
"It was a great match, and the girls showed a lot of fortitude today. We're maturing and starting to understand the game isn't over until it's over. Teams are going to make mistakes, and we limited our mistakes in the third, fourth, and fifth sets, and that helped us stay in the match," expressed Coach Giacomazzi.
Next up for the Pioneers will be their toughest road trip of the season as they head to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex for matches against the top two teams in the Sooner Athletic Conference, Texas Wesleyan and #22 Nelson University. The Pioneers will first face Texas Wesleyan on Friday, October 25
th at 7:00 PM in Fort Worth, Texas.
"This is a really good win at the right time with conference play, because we were tied with them. We have a great chance to move into second place with a little help around the conference, but this is going to be a rough two weeks for us with a lot of tough games," Coach Giacomazzi said referencing his teams' tough schedule down the stretch.
