McPHERSON, Kan. – Wayland Baptist Volleyball opened Sooner Athletic Conference play in dominant fashion Friday night, sweeping Central Christian College in straight sets, 25-9, 25-6, 25-16, at Jerry E. Alexander Arena.
The victory improved the Pioneers to 5-4 overall and 1-0 in SAC play. Wayland controlled the match from start to finish, holding Central Christian to just 16 kills while finishing with 38 of its own. The Pioneers hit an impressive .341 as a team while limiting the Tigers to a .000 hitting percentage.
Wayland wasted little time taking control in the opening set. The Pioneers totaled 11 kills while committing just two attacking errors to hit .300 in the frame, cruising to a 25-9 victory.
The Pioneers were even more efficient in the second set. WBU put down 16 kills on 32 attempts with only two errors for a .438 hitting percentage. Central Christian managed just three kills in the set as Wayland rolled to a 25-6 win and took a commanding 2-0 advantage.
Central Christian put together its strongest effort in the third, but the Pioneers remained in control. Wayland hit .276 with 11 kills and only three errors to close out the sweep with a 25-16 victory.
Brooklyn Bundy led the Wayland attack with an outstanding performance, recording a match-high 10 kills without an error on just 13 attempts for a .769 hitting percentage. Bundy also contributed three block assists to finish with a team-high 11.5 points. Deniz Yileri added eight kills and nine digs, while Olivia Ley finished with six kills and hit .286.
Chloe Gray directed the Pioneer offense with 25 assists while adding three service aces, five digs and two kills. Martyna Lewinska chipped in six assists in one set of action. Wayland's service game also caused problems throughout the night as the Pioneers finished with nine aces, led by three apiece from Gray and Lilou Henry-Souquet-Bressand. Alaina Baran added two aces.
Defensively, Milena Alliot-Maslankiewicz led all Wayland players with 18 digs. Yileri followed with nine, while Henry-Souquet-Bressand recorded eight as the Pioneers finished with 54 digs compared to 42 for Central Christian.
The Pioneers held the advantage across nearly every statistical category, finishing with a 38-16 edge in kills, 36-14 advantage in assists and 9-1 advantage in service aces.
Wayland Baptist continues its conference-opening road trip Saturday, Sept. 5, when the Pioneers travel to Langston, Oklahoma, to face Langston University at 1 p.m.
