Gallery: (10-8-2024) Volleyball vs USW
Plainview – The Pioneer Volleyball team dominated the University of the Southwest (NM) in three straight sets to earn a non-conference victory before the second half of Sooner Athletic Conference play begins this weekend.
Wayland Baptist (8-7, 7-4 SAC) scored nine kills in their first 11 points including three by senior
Alyssa Vasquez that propelled the Pioneers to an 11-4 lead and forced the Mustangs to use an early timeout. The Pioneers extended their lead to 16-7 after three straight kills by junior
Carlee Heidebrecht.
The Pioneers went on to win the first set, 25-14, after Vasquez and Heidebrecht each recorded another kill followed by a Mustang attack error to seal the set. The Pioneers had a massive advantage when it comes to hitting percentages in the first hall with WBU owning a .378% compared to a .029% for the Mustangs.
The Mustangs took an early 8-6 lead over the Pioneers to begin the second set but kills by Heidebrecht and senior
Selma Sutaj brought the Pioneers back even at 8. The Pioneers started to gain some momentum midway through the second set after freshman
Ilgin Ada Cacaron scored a kill to build a 17-13 lead.
The Pioneers stayed on the attack and extended their lead to 23-18, but another kill by Cacaron and a Mustang error gave the Pioneers a 25-18 second set victory. The hitting percentages between the two teams during the second set was much closer with Wayland Baptist ending at a .194% and USW owning a .114%.
The Pioneers carried their momentum into the third set, jumping out to a quick 10-3 lead that featured two kills each for Heidebrecht and Cacaron, and forcing the Mustangs to use a timeout. USW trimmed their deficit to 11-7 out of the timeout, but the Pioneers answered with a 4-0 scoring run that was capped off by back-to-back service aces by Cacaron to give WBU a 15-7 lead. The Pioneers cruised the rest of the way, winning the third set 25-14 and completing their 3-0 victory over the University of the Southwest (NM).
The Pioneers were able to play get a lot of players some playing time tonight, and Head Coach
Jim Giacomazzi said that was one of his teams' goals for the match, "We got a lot of people in today. That was great, that was our goal for today. We had a few girls that needed some rest today"
"We did something we've never done before tonight. We had two liberos. It's a new rule this year, so we're specializing having both Makayla and Emily. When we serve, Emily does a great job defensively. Makayla knows our philosophy better," said Coach Giacomazzi referencing the new ability teams have to deploy to liberos.
Heidebrecht led the Pioneer attack with ten kills, a .474 hitting percentage, and two service aces. Sutaj finished with eight kills, a .211 hitting percentage, a service ace, and two block assists. Vasquez added six kills with a .400 hitting percentage. Cacaron scored five kills, two service aces, and a .231 hitting percentage.
The Pioneers will hit the court again on Friday, October 11
th at 7:00 PM in Langston, Oklahoma against the Lions of Langston University.
