The Wayland Baptist volleyball team has never beaten a team from West Texas A&M University and that still holds true after the Lady Buffs' four set victory on Wednesday evening at Hutcherson Center.

What makes this last match different, however, is that the Pioneers won a set over the fifth-ranked team in NCAA II for the first time in eight meetings. After falling 25-15 in the first set, the WBU netters came back to take the second set 25-21. WTA&M took the next two, 25-21 and 25-19 to capture its 30th win of the season.

WBU Coach Jim Giacomazzi was encouraged to see the way his team battled against the Lady Buffs.  "It was nice to see us have some success, especially after all the adjustments that we have made to our lineup over the past couple of weeks.  We were looking for someone to score points on the outside, and two hit the double figure mark in kills with limited errors.

"We also moved Staci Wilt back to the libero position and she did a good job, almost matching the top libero in this region (WTA&M freshman Lauren Beville).  A good libero should average around five digs a set, and Staci did that tonight with 22."

Part of the adjustments Giacomazzi refers to were made necessary after the loss of sophomore outside hitter Kimberli Harger two weeks ago.  Harger injured her knee in a match against Southern Nazarene University and is lost for the remainder of the season.

Junior Desiree Luevano led the Pioneers with 14 kills with an attack percentage of .342.  Haley Hill, another junior, had 11 kills and a .300 hitting percentage.  Anika Voigt handed out 41 assists and got the double-double with 14 digs.

Giacomazzi says that his team still needs to work on some things.  "But I'm picky and expect us to walk on water.  It was nice, though, to hear another coach compliment us the way Coach Skouch did after the match."

The 19-6 Pioneers stay at home for the final three matches of the regular season.  First up is an important Sooner Athletic Conference meeting against Oklahoma Baptist University on Friday at 7 p.m.  The Lady Bison are one game behind the Pioneers in the conference standings.  WBU is currently in third place at 7-4, a half game behind Oklahoma City (8-4).  OBU is fourth at 6-5.