PLAINVIEW, Texas — Wayland Baptist Volleyball continued its winning ways Saturday afternoon, sweeping Central Christian College in straight sets (25-18, 25-9, 25-12) inside the Hutcherson Center. The victory marked the Pioneers' second consecutive sweep of the weekend and improved their overall record to 13-8 and 9-4 in Sooner Athletic Conference play.
The Pioneers opened the match with a 25-18 victory in the first set. Wayland's offense recorded 11 kills in the opening frame while the defense limited Central Christian to a negative hitting percentage. The Pioneers carried that momentum into the second set, delivering their most dominant performance of the afternoon with a 25-9 win. Wayland hit .304 in the frame while committing just one attacking error.
Wayland continued to control the match in the third set, holding Central Christian to just five kills and a -.194 hitting percentage. The Pioneers closed out the match with a convincing 25-12 victory to secure the sweep.
Taisiia Kalchenko led the Pioneer offense with eight kills on 22 attempts without committing an attacking error, finishing with an impressive .364 hitting percentage. Sevval Aslan followed with six kills while hitting .455 and adding two blocks. Brooklyn Bundy contributed three kills on seven attempts for a .429 hitting percentage while leading Wayland at the net with three blocks.
Ana Zink directed the Pioneer offense with a team-high 14 assists, while Chloe Gray added six assists and eight digs. Milena Alliot-Maslankiewicz made her presence felt at the service line, recording three aces while contributing eight digs. Aubrie Sierra added two service aces and five digs.
Defensively, Deniz Yileri led the Pioneers with 11 digs as Wayland finished with 46 digs as a team. The Pioneers also controlled the net, recording six team blocks while holding Central Christian without a block.
Wayland finished the afternoon hitting .207 with 27 kills, 25 assists and seven service aces. The Pioneer defense proved to be the difference, limiting Central Christian to a -.117 hitting percentage and forcing 33 attacking errors throughout the match.
Head Coach Lucie Mahelova was pleased with her team's performance and hopes to carry the momentum into the remainder of conference play.
"It was a good game. We are looking to take this momentum into the rest of round two," Mahelova said.
The victory completed a successful weekend at home for the Pioneers, who also swept Langston University on Friday evening. With back-to-back conference victories, Wayland looks to build on its recent success as the Pioneers continue through the second round of Sooner Athletic Conference play.
