OKLAHOMA CITY – Friday night was a test for the Mid-America Christian University volleyball team in every sense of the word. Thanks to a strong effort at the net, the Lady Evangels passed the test and ran their winning streak to five matches.
MACU (8-11) got six blocks from Laurel Church to go with 13 kills as the Lady Evangels battled past the Indians of Haskell Indian Nations University (8-14) in four sets, 25-21, 17-25, 26-24, 25-22.
The match was a nip-and-tuck affair all night. MACU built a four point lead early in the first set, but Haskell battled back to take a 13-12 lead with a 6-1 run. Neither team led by more than two points through the middle portion of the set, but with the score tied at 20 late in the frame, the Lady Evangels scored four straight points which included a kill from Church and a service ace from Melissa Hoppal. Church added a second kill to close the set out with MACU taking a 25-21 win.
The teams traded 4-0 runs early in the second set, but Haskell immediately took a 7-4 lead and the lead for the Indians stabilized at three points until MACU pulled to within one at 14-13. Haskell responded with a 9-2 run to break the set open, and the Indians closed out the win 25-17 to square the match at one set apiece.
Late in the third set, with Haskell leading 22-20, the Lady Evangels took a timeout, and the tactic worked. Erika Brown had two kills in the late stages of the frame to help MACU earn a set point chance with a 24-23 lead, and after a service error tied the score at 24, Da'Jah Thompson notched a kill, and Church and Mary Seifert combined for a block to end the frame and give MACU the 26-24 win to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
MACU appeared to use the energy in the Gaulke Activity Center to take command early in the fourth frame, opening the set on a 9-2 run, but Haskell slowly chipped away. The Indians closed the gap to 18-15, and then they used a pair of kills and an attack error to tie the score at 18. After a kill from Breeana Fritschow briefly reclaimed the lead for MACU, Haskell immediately scored twice to take a 20-19 lead. With the match on the line, however, Fritschow and Thompson combined to lead the Lady Evangels on a 6-2 run to close out the match in four sets with a 25-22 set win.
Church led the Lady Evangels offensively with 13 kills and defensively at the net with six blocks, and Thompson added 11 kills. Fritschow had eight kills and 16 digs to go with four aces, Hoppal notched 27 assists and nine digs, Ryann Hale added 16 assists and 18 digs, and Gabrielle Poling posted 19 digs.
MACU will wrap up their busy week on Saturday, stepping back into Sooner Athletic Conference play to take on the John Brown University Golden Eagles (19-5, 8-2 SAC) at 1 p.m.
