FORT WORTH, Texas – In the third set of the Mid-America Christian University volleyball match on Saturday evening, the Lady Evangels appeared to be headed for a set victory to push the match to a fourth stanza. A late rally from Texas Wesleyan University, however, squelched that effort and the Rams completed the sweep.
MACU (10-15, 6-10 SAC) led for much of the third stanza, but Texas Wesleyan (24-3, 13-3 SAC) took the final two points after rallying to tie the score at 23 in the set, taking the sweep from the Lady Evangels 25-19, 25-16, 25-23.
Both teams hit the ball at a blistering pace in the opening set. MACU and Texas Wesleyan each had 17 kills in the frame, with Mid-America attacking the ball at a .324 clip. Texas Wesleyan, however, hit an unbelievable .533 in the set, and the Rams took the win 25-19. MACU struggled to find the floor on the attack in the second set, recording only nine kills and committing six attack errors, as the Rams took a 25-16 win to set up a hard-fought third set.
Mid-America opened the third frame on a 5-1 run, but Texas Wesleyan began to whittle away at the gap. TWU tied the set at 7, but MACU scored the next three points to rebuild a three-point lead. The Lady Evangels continued to lead for most of the set, but they were unable to stretch their lead, and the Rams drew even again at 19, and this time, TWU took the lead. The Rams used a 5-0 run to claim a 21-19 edge, and their lead eventually reached three points at 23-20. MACU put together a 3-0 spurt to tie the set, but the Rams finished things off with a pair of kills to take the set 25-23, and the match 3-0.
Laurel Church and Da'Jah Thompson each had nine kills to lead the Lady Evangels' offense, and Breeana Fritschow picked up seven scoring swings as well. Melissa Hoppal had 18 assists, and Ryann Hale added 11 helpers, while Gabrielle Poling pulled up 17 digs in the match as well.
MACU will be the eighth seed in the upcoming Sooner Athletic Conference volleyball tournament, with the quarterfinal matches slated to be played on November 7. The Lady Evangels will face the Tournament's top seed, the Oklahoma City University Stars (20-6) in the Quarterfinal round at OCU. The match time is still to be announced.
