OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian University volleyball team headed into their final full home weekend of the 2017 season knowing the needed to win matches to give themselves a shot at reaching the Sooner Athletic Conference postseason. Despite a battling hard all night, however, the Lady Evangels now find themselves facing a must-win match on Saturday.
MACU (8-13, 4-8 SAC) held a lead for much of the second set, and they rallied to tie the third set late, but in each case Wayland Baptist University (15-9, 7-5 SAC) found a way to win the frame, and when the evening was over, the Pioneers had secured a straight sets win 25-17, 25-21, 25-21.
Both teams hit the ball for a high attack percentage in the first set. The teams combined for 29 kills in the first 43 points, with each exceeding their season kills per set average. WBU opened an early 8-4 lead with a 4-0 run, and the Lady Evangels were never able to recover. MACU closed the gap to 9-7 on a kill from Erika Brown, but for the rest of the frame, WBU inched their lead out, and the Pioneers took the set win 25-17.
MACU opened the second stanza on a roll, however. Kills from Breeana Fritschow and Jasmine Pickett, along with a service ace from Ryann Hale helped MACU build a 9-3 lead and force WBU into using a timeout. The strategy worked for the Pioneers, as they began slowly whittling away at the deficit. With MACU leading 17-13, WBU surged ahead with a 5-0 run to claim the 18-17 lead, although that lead was short-lived as Mary Seifert and Dianne Walter combined for a block that knotted the score at 18. WBU, though, had the momentum, and they took seven of the set's final 10 points to claim the 25-21 set win to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
In the third set, it was WBU who opened the set on a run, theirs being a 5-0 spurt to open the stanza, but this time MACU was able to bounce back. The Lady Evangels closed the gap to 9-7 on a kill by Fritschow, and Adanna York notched a service ace later in the frame to draw the Lady Evangels even at 18 apiece. After WBU scored to take a 19-18 lead, Da'Jah Thompson pounded a kill to the floor to again square the match, but MACU was unable to claim the lead. After WBU built a 22-19 lead, Kills from Thompson and Laurel Church again pulled the Lady Evangels to within one point, but WBU took the final three points to complete the sweep with a 25-21 set victory.
Church, Fritschow, and Thompson all had eight kills to lead the way for the Lady Evangels. Pickett also had a noteworthy night, scoring points with kills on all five of her swings and hitting 1.000 for the match. Melissa Hoppal had 15 assists, and Hale added 12 to go along with a team high nine digs.
MACU will be back at home on Saturday for an early start in what is a must-win match for the Lady Evangels. MACU will welcome in the Aggies of Oklahoma Panhandle State University (8-13, 5-7 SAC) for a noon start. MACU currently trails OPSU for the final spot in the SAC tournament by a full game with four to play, and OPSU won the first meeting between the two teams this season.
