GOODWELL, Okla. -- Wayland Baptist volleyball put together a strong showing on the road Tuesday evening but ultimately came up short against Oklahoma Panhandle State, falling in four sets (12-25, 19-25, 25-21, 22-25) inside Anchor D Arena.
After a slow start, the Pioneers battled back from a two-set deficit to take the third set and push the Aggies to the limit in the fourth. Despite the loss, several Pioneers delivered standout performances in a balanced offensive effort.
Junior
Deniz Yileri led the way with an impressive 19 kills on a .326 hitting percentage, adding two block assists and eight digs for a 21-point outing.
Fade Ogunbade was a force at the net with 11 kills and a team-high six block assists, while
Carlee Heidebrecht added 12 kills and 18 digs for a strong all-around performance.
Setter
Martyna Lewinska paced the Wayland offense with 43 assists and contributed 14 digs, while libero
Rachel Russell anchored the back row with 16 digs.
Averi Penner also chipped in six kills, nine points, and 11 digs in a solid two-way effort.
After hitting just .000 and .048 in the opening two sets, Wayland found its rhythm in the third, attacking at a .349 clip to pull within a set. The Pioneers carried that momentum into the fourth, hitting .255, but a late run from OPSU sealed the match.
Wayland Baptist finished the night hitting .172 as a team with 51 kills, 81 digs, and 7 blocks.
With the loss, the Pioneers move to 8-8 overall and 7-5 in Sooner Athletic Conference play, while OPSU improves to 9-10, 7-5 SAC.
Head Coach
Lucie Mahelova spoke about the match afterwards saying, "OPSU is a difficult team to play. They had more fight in them than we did, and that is what finished the game for them. When you play against a team that does not let a single ball drop, it is easy to get out of rhythm and lose, and we watched and let it happen."
Wayland will look to bounce back on Friday, October 10
th as play host to the College of the Ozarks Bobcats. The match will begin at 6:00 PM at the Hutcherson Center.
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