Pioneers Overmatch Drovers in Three Sets to Secure Win on Senior Night

Plainview – The Pioneers celebrated Senior Night with a lopsided three-set victory over Science and Arts (Okla.) in a crucial must-win match that places them in a tie for fourth place in the Sooner Athletic Conference with one game to go.
 
Wayland Baptist (15-10, 14-7 SAC) began the opening set with a 10-3 scoring output that featured a little bit of everything for the Pioneers – three kills, three service aces, and a great block from senior Gabreya Garcia to cap it off.
 
Later in the set, junior Jordan Schlageter scored back-to-back kills to give the Pioneers a 21-10 lead and five service aces in the opening set. Senior Selma Sutaj put the Pioneers on the brink of securing the opening set after scoring her second kill of the set to make it 24-10. The Drovers would follow that up with a kill and an attack error to give the Pioneers the 25-11 set win, and a 1-0 lead in the match. In the opening set, the Pioneers had a team hitting percentage of .355% compared to the Drovers .026 team hitting percentage.
 
The service aces continued for Wayland Baptist to begin the second as graduate student Emily Buchberger scored two aces in the first three points of the set to give the Pioneers an early 3-0 lead. Sutaj would later extend the Pioneer second set lead to 13-4 after scoring back-to-back kills in the middle of a 5-0 scoring run that put Wayland Baptist in complete control of this frame.  Senior Alyssa Vasquez gave the Pioneers an overwhelming 22-8 lead after scoring her second kill of the set and blocking a Drover attack for another point.
 
Another Sutaj kill and a Drover attack error completed the 25-9 set win for the Pioneers, giving them a 2-0 lead in the match. The Pioneers would once again overmatch the Drovers in hitting percentage for the set as Wayland Baptist finished with a .323 hitting percentage compared to a -.079 hitting percentage for the Drovers.
 
Wayland Baptist never lost momentum between sets, and that continued into the third frame as they jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead that was sparked by two straight kills from Brzeczkowska to begin. Brzeczkowska would extend the Pioneer lead to 7-3 and force the Drovers to call a timeout after scoring back-to-back service aces, her third and fourth of the match.
 
The momentum would only continue to build for the Pioneers as they extended their lead to 15-6 after a kill from Garcia followed by a service ace from Sutaj. The Pioneers would go on to win the third set, 25-16, to sweep the Drovers in three straight sets.
 
The Pioneers outperformed the Drovers in every aspect of this match. Overall, Wayland Baptist had 32 kills, 11 service aces, 11 blocks, 28 assists, and 66 digs. The Pioneers finished with a .265 team hitting percentage compared to a -.041 hitting percentage for the Drovers.
 
Brzeczkowska finished the match with seven kills, a .500 hitting percentage, four service aces, and three blocks. Sutaj added eight kills with a .241 hitting percentage, a service ace, and a block. Garcia scored five kills with a .286 hitting percentage and four blocks.
 
"They played really well. I was really pleased with the effort, energy, and attitude tonight. We had very few errors as team tonight, a lot of blocks, and a lot of quality touches around the net. We improved a whole lot since the last time we played them," said Head Coach Jim Giacomazzi when highlighting some key factors in tonight's win.
 
Coach Giacomazzi continued, "We need to continue maintaining our focus for the entire match, especially as we are getting ready for postseason play."
 
The Pioneers enter the final game of the 2024 regular season with incredibly important stakes at hand in regard to the Sooner Athletic Conference standings.
 
The Pioneers will host Mid-America Christian (Okla.) on Saturday, November 9^th at 1:00 PM in the Hutcherson Center where the winner will have the opportunity at third place in the SAC.
 
Coach Giacomazzi spoke about the importance of tomorrow's game, "We have to take care of business tomorrow otherwise we're not playing for third, we're playing for fifth or sixth. We want to take care of business tomorrow in a way like we did tonight."