A ten-day layoff is apparently all the Wayland Baptist volleyball team needed to get back on the right track as the Pioneers dominated Oklahoma City University 25-10, 25-14, 25-19 in an important Sooner Athletic Conference match on Friday evening at Hutcherson Center.

The win moves the WBU netters into second place in the conference standings with a 5-3 record.  The Stars are also at 5-3, but Wayland has the tiebreaker advantage based on its two victories over Oklahoma City this season.

The Pioneers set the tone early with an impressive display at the net.  WBU had five total team blocks in the opening set, forcing the visitors into a negative hitting percentage.  A block by Audrey Hemminger and Desiree Luevano gave Wayland a 16-6 advantage, and another block by Kimberli Harger and Hemminger opened the lead to 19-7.  A kill by Luevano, her sixth point of the set, made it 25-10.

The Stars jumped out to an early 3-1 lead in the second set, but the Pioneers came roaring back with five straight points off the serve of Harger.  Later in the match, Hayley Hill held serve for another five straight to make it 17-7. 

Wayland only had one block during the middle set, but hammered out 16 kills with just two attack errors.  Luevano hit .667 in the set, getting points on six of her nine kill attempts. Hemminger was a perfect four-for-four in the set, and Sabrina Davis hammered down three kills.

With the score tied at two in the third set, the Pioneers put up six straight points with Harger serving again to make it 8-2.  OCU cut the lead in half with the next two points, but could never get any closer.  The block was again active for Coach Jim Giacomazzi's team in the finale.  The Wayland women combined for another three blocks, giving them a total of nine for the match. 

Davis and Harger had the big arms in the third with five kills each.  Harger, who led the way with a total of seven points, including the match-winner, also served up two service aces.

Anika Voigt finished out with 35 assists in the match.  She and Harger each had a game-high 14 digs.  Luevano recorded 12 kills and had a block solo and four assists for a total of 15 points.  Harger, who had 12.5 points, recorded nine kills and three block assists, and Jennifer Wyatt produced nine points with six kills, a service ace and four block assists.

The Pioneers return to action on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. against another conference opponent.  Southern Nazarene University (19-10, 4-4), which fell to Lubbock Christian on Friday evening in three sets, defeated Wayland in a close five-set match earlier this season in Oklahoma.