Pioneers Drop Regular Season Finale to MACU, Clinch 6-Seed in SAC Tournament

Plainview – The Pioneers dropped a pivotal match in the regular season finale against Mid-America Christian (Okla.) to end their chances of hosting the opening round of the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament.
 
Wayland Baptist (15-11, 14-8 SAC) got off to a strong start and jumped out to a 4-1 lead after two kills from junior Carlee Heidebrecht and a kill from sophomore Klaudia Brzeczkowska. The Evangels weren't fazed and responded by scoring the next four points to take a 5-4 lead over the Pioneers.
 
MACU extended their lead to 13-10, but the Pioneers battled back to tie the set after another kill from Brzeczkowska, and a service ace from senior Alyssa Vasquez. The Evangels regained the lead and held it until it was 20-17, but junior Fade Ogunbade scored her first kill followed by an Emily Buchberger service ace that tied the set up at 20 and forced MACU to use a timeout. Brzeczkowska scored two more kills late in the set, but it wasn't enough as the Pioneers dropped the opening set, 25-23, to fall behind 1-0 in the match.
 
MACU gained a lot of momentum after winning the opening set, and they carried the momentum into set two as they jumped out to a 7-3 lead over the Pioneers. The Pioneers got two kills from senior Selma Sutaj plus a pair of Evangel errors to even the set up at 7-7.
 
The Pioneers took a 14-13 lead midway through the set after back-to-back kills by Vasquez and Brzeczkowska, but they weren't able to hold it long as the Evangels scored the next two points to lead 15-14. MACU maintained their lead throughout the remainder of the second set to win 25-22 and take a 2-0 set lead in the match over the Pioneers.
 
The Pioneers got off to a rough start to begin the third set as the Evangels opened up an 8-1 lead to take command of the set early. The Pioneers would begin to gradually chip away at the Evangel lead and cut their deficit to 10-7 after back-to-back kills from Ogunbade and Heidebrecht. Heidebrecht scored another kill to make it 12-10, MACU, but the Evangels scored the next three points to extend their lead to 15-10.
 
Brzeczkowska brought the Pioneers back to within one point after earning two straight kills to make it 16-15, Evangels, midway through the third set. MACU carried the lead until sophomore Valentina Bozzato scored an ace followed by two more kills from Heidebrecht to tie the set at 22. Heidebrecht put the Pioneers on the brink of winning the set after scoring her fifth kill of the set, but MACU took the next two points to take a 25-24 lead.
 
With the match point on the line, Alyssa Vasquez scored her fourth kill of the set to tie the match at 25 and put the win-by-two scenario in play, but the Evangels would score those next two points to win the set 27-25 and the match, 3-0.
 
"Everyone is playing well, but MACU played a lot better this time. I think we actually played well. We made little mistakes, but when it's a match of this type, you're going to have little mistakes. We were right there," said Head Coach Jim Giacomazzi when talking about his team's performance in their 2024 regular season finale.
 
Coach Giacomazzi continued, "We made some adjustments. We tried to not make their libero the best libero in the country, and when we made those adjustments in the third set, we were able to get back in the game."
 
Heidebrecht had a team-high ten kills, a .129 hitting percentage, a service ace, a block, and 14 digs. Brzeczkowska added eight kills, a .238 hitting percentage, and a block. Vasquez finished with eight kills, a .350 hitting percentage, and a service ace.
 
With the loss, the Pioneers clinched the six seed in the Sooner Athletic Conference tournament. The seeding for the SAC tournament will be:
 
1 seed – Nelson
2 seed – Texas Wesleyan
3 seed – John Brown
4 seed – Mid-America Christian (Okla.)
5 seed – Oklahoma City
6 seed – Wayland Baptist
7 seed – College of the Ozarks
8 seed – Science and Arts (Okla.)
 
The Pioneers will travel to Siloam Springs, Arkansas to face John Brown in the Opening Round of the Sooner Athletic Conference on Tuesday, November 12^th with a time to be determined.