PARKVILLE, Mo. – Wayland Baptist Volleyball opened the Park University Invitational on a strong note Friday, picking up a pair of four-set victories over Southwestern College and Hannibal-LaGrange University at the East Dome.
The Pioneers defeated Southwestern, 3-1 (26-24, 25-23, 23-25, 25-17), before closing the day with another 3-1 victory over Hannibal-LaGrange (21-25, 25-15, 25-8, 25-21). The two wins moved Wayland back to .500 on the season at 3-3.
Wayland Baptist 3, Southwestern 1
Wayland opened the tournament with a tightly contested matchup against Southwestern. The Pioneers grabbed the opening two sets by narrow margins, winning 26-24 and 25-23. Southwestern responded with a 25-23 victory in the third, but Wayland left little doubt in the fourth, closing out the match with a 25-17 win.
The Pioneer offense finished with 58 kills while hitting .222 as a team. Wayland also totaled 53 assists, eight service aces and 81 digs.
Deniz Yileri led the offensive attack with 17 kills while also making an impact defensively with 20 digs. Taisiia Kalchenko added 15 kills on a .316 hitting percentage, while Brooklyn Bundy reached double figures with 10 kills and hit .320.
Setter Chloe Gray directed the offense with 47 assists and added two service aces. Aubrie Sierra led the Pioneers defensively with 22 digs, while Lovie Eastep-Harris contributed 10. Emma Scott added six kills while hitting .294 and was involved in two blocks.
Wayland Baptist 3, Hannibal-LaGrange 1
The Pioneers had to respond to some early adversity in their second match after Hannibal-LaGrange took the opening set, 25-21. Wayland answered in dominant fashion.
The Pioneers controlled the second set, 25-15, before putting together their most dominant set of the day in the third. Wayland held Hannibal-LaGrange to just eight points in a 25-8 victory before completing the comeback with a 25-21 win in the fourth.
Brooklyn Bundy turned in an outstanding performance at the net, finishing with a team-high 13 kills on just 23 attacks while hitting .522. Bundy also played a role in six blocks to finish with a team-best 16.5 points. Sevval Aslan added 11 kills, while Kalchenko recorded 10 to give Wayland three players in double figures.
Wayland's serving game also played a major role in the victory. Lilou Henry-Souquet-Bressand recorded seven of the Pioneers' 11 service aces, while Yileri added two. Gray once again ran the offense with 37 assists and also collected 11 digs.
Defensively, Milena Alliot-Maslankiewicz produced a match-high 31 digs as Wayland finished with 96 as a team. Eastep-Harris added 17 digs, while Yileri finished with 12. The Pioneer defense held Hannibal-LaGrange to a .024 hitting percentage for the match, including a -.250 mark during Wayland's dominant third-set victory.
With two wins in hand, Wayland Baptist will look to carry the momentum into the final day of the Park Invitational. The Pioneers are scheduled to face the University of Saint Mary at noon Saturday before closing the tournament against host Park University at 2 p.m.
