OKLAHOMA CITY – In their 2016 home opener, the Mid-America Christian University Lady Evangels split a pair of matches in their tri-match, falling 3-1 to the Southwestern Assemblies of God University Lady Lions before rebounding to knock off the Crowley's Ridge Lady Pioneers, also by a score of 3-1.
In the opening contest, SAGU slipped by the Lady Evangels 25-21 in the first set and then cruised to a 25-12 win in the second for a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.
The Lady Evangels responded in the third set as kills from Shannon Niemeier, Emily Lynch and Laurel Church put MACU up 17-10.
After another kill from Church made it 19-12, SAGU charged back with eight straight points to jump on top 20-19.
Niemeier then answered with two kills, including one that closed out the set 25-23 for the Lady Evangels.
The fourth set was tight throughout, featuring nine ties, with the last gridlock coming at 20-20 on a kill from Melissa Hoppal.
But the Lady Lions finished off the set and the match by scoring five of the last six points to pull out a 25-21 win.
Niemeier led the Lady Evangels in both kills (14) and digs (17), while Church had 10 kills. Emily Lynch recorded 35 assists and Hoppal also had double-digit digs with 11.
Kali Shaw had a match-high 19 kills to pace the Lady Lions and Paulyae Dawkins had 14 kills. Sophia Ivy led everyone with 42 assists and Celi Bruce tallied a match-best 18 digs.
The nightcap saw the Lady Evangels jump on top with a 25-20 win in the opening set, but the Lady Pioneers fought back and evened the match 25-16 in the second set.
The Lady Evangels then charged out to a 16-6 lead in the third set behind three kills from Niemeier and two kills each from Hoppal and Mary Burkhead.
MACU rode a .400 hitting percentage to a 25-14 win in the third set and a 2-1 lead.
With the Lady Evangels trying to put away the feisty Lady Pioneers and clinging to a 20-19 edge, kills from Lynch and Church followed by a service ace from Camera Broadnax and a kill by Hoppal closed out the match 25-19.
Four Lady Evangels reached double-figure kills in the victory over CRC, led by 15 from Niemeier. Church had 12 kills, while Hoppal and Runyan each had 10. Lynch produced a career-best 43 assists and Broadnax led the way with a match-high 27 digs. Runyan had 11 digs and Hoppal recorded 10 digs.
Tori Hardin led the Lady Pioneers (3-3) with 12 kills and Taylor Lockhart had a team-high 33 assists. Hannah Killian paced CRC with 22 digs on the night.
In the other outing of the tri-match, SAGU defeated Crowley's Ridge 3-1.
The Lady Evangels, now 3-2 overall, will next face off at Southwestern Christian University in a SAC matchup Thursday night (Sept. 8) at 7 p.m. in Bethany, Okla.
