Plainview – The Pioneers secured a massive home win against Sooner Athletic Conference foe, Texas Wesleyan, after a huge comeback in the decisive fifth set locked down the 3-2 victory for Wayland Baptist.
Wayland Baptist (5-5, 5-2 SAC) was able to jump out to an early 7-4 lead in the first set after back-to-back kills by
Carlee Heidebrecht and
Fade Ogunbade. The Rams were able to tie the match up at 7, and the score would remain within one point of each other until freshman
Averi Penner scored a kill for Wayland Baptist to make it 15-13, WBU. Late in the first set, the Pioneers extended their lead to 23-18 after a pair of kills by Heidebrecht and
Alyssa Vasquez. Wayland Baptist secured set one, 25-20.
The Pioneers did not get off to the same type of start in set two as they did in the opening set as they fell behind the Rams early, 12-3. Senior
Selma Sutaj kept the Pioneers within striking distance midway through the set by scoring back-to-back kills to make it 14-7 in favor of the Rams. The Pioneers just couldn't get anything going in the second set and ultimately fell, 25-15, to even the match at one set a piece.
Wayland Baptist regrouped in between sets and came out with a lot of energy to begin the third set. A kill by
Klaudia Brzeczkowska and two service aces by Sutaj jolted the Pioneers to an early 5-1 lead in set three. The Rams battled back and eventually tied the set at 10, but the tie wouldn't last long after another kill by Ogunbade put the Pioneers back in front, 11-10. The two squads battled back and forth for the next ten points each, but the Rams jumped in front 22-20 and forced Wayland Baptist to use a timeout.
The Pioneers exited the timeout and immediately got back even with the Rams at 23 each, but a Ram error and a kill by Sutaj gave the Pioneers a 25-24 lead with the set point ahead. Texas Wesleyan recorded the next point to extend the match, and the teams exchanged points until the score was 29 each. The Pioneers would take the third set 31-29 a couple of Ram errors gave the Pioneers the two point advantage and 2-1 lead in the match.
Texas Wesleyan showed aggression early on in the fourth set and jumped out to an early 12-10 lead over the Pioneers. Wayland Baptist was only able to score six kills in the fourth set including two by Ogunbade, and even though the score remained tight, the Rams controlled the set. Texas Wesleyan went on to win set four, 25-18, to even the match at 2-2 with a decisive fifth set needed.
Wayland Baptist fell in a 10-6 hole to begin the final set, but after the Pioneers used a timeout to regroup, they went on to score the next four points to even the score up at 10. The Rams jumped back in front 13-11, putting the pressure on the Pioneers to respond, and that's exactly what they did. Wayland Baptist went on to score the final four points of the set, capped off by kills from Ogunbade and Vasquez, to secure the 15-13 fifth set win and 3-2 match victory over Texas Wesleyan.
Ogunbade had a team-high 14 kills, a .222 hitting percentage, four solo blocks, and two service aces. Heidebrecht added nine kills, one solo block, and a .150 hitting percentage. Sutaj had seven kills, seven assists, three service aces, 17 digs, and a .182 hitting percentage. Brzeczkowska finished with six kills, a .182 hitting percentage, four solo blocks, and two block assists.
The Pioneers will look to keep the solid start to Sooner Athletic Conference play going as they host John Brown University on Friday, September 27
th at 7:00 PM at the Hutcherson Center.
