BETHANY, Okla. - As the season winds down for the Mid-America Christian University Evangel volleyball team, the Evangels know that every win is crucial to their postseason hopes. MACU has been a very competitive team this year, the Evangels have a chance to qualify for the NCCAA postseason in addition to the Sooner Athletic Conference tournament, and the Evangels need every win they can get to make that happen.
On Tuesday night, MACU (13-13, 7-9 SAC) was again very competitive with a very good opponent, but on this occasion, the Southwestern Christian University Eagles (17-7, 10-7 SAC) proved too much as SCU took the four-set win, 25-17, 25-19, 17-25, and 25-11.
MACU started off the first set well, opening an early 5-2 lead. SCU kept things tight, and the teams were tied at 12 after a kill from Da'Jah Thompson midway through the set. It was then that SCU's Cashlyn Munroe got the Eagles going with three straight kills that ignited a 7-0 run from which MACU never recovered, as SCU took set one 25-17.
The Evangels again started quickly in the second set, as they scored the first five points and 11 of the first 14 in the frame as MACU appeared to be in control on the frame from the start. The eagles, though, rallied to cut the deficit to 13-10 before MACU regained their footing and pushed their lead back to 17-12. At that point, SCU seized control as they closed the set on a 13-2 run to take the win 25-19 and grab a 2-0 lead.
In the third frame, SCU took the early 4-2 lead, but MACU rallied to take a 7-4 edge with a 5-0 run. The score remained tight in the middle stages of the stanza, and with MACU leading 18-17, the Evangels put the set away with a 7-0 run that included three kills from Elena Hadzhieva to force a fourth set with a 25-17 win.
Unfortunately for MACU, after the teams split the first six points of the fourth frame, the Eagles took off and closed out the match. SCU scored 22 of the final 30 points in the match, and MACU did not score consecutive points in the frame, as SCU won the set 25-11 to take the 3-1 win in the set.
Hadzhieva led the Evangels with 13 kills in the match, while Thompson, Annika Barnett, and Dianne Walter notched eight apiece. Alexa Bass dished out 39 assists in the match, and Maegan Plunk (12) and Kaylie Walker (11) each had more than 10 digs.
MACU will close out theor 2-18 home schedule on Saturday afternoon with Senior Day festivities against Oklahoma City University (23-3, 14-2 SAC). The Evangels will honor Da'Jah Thompson - the team's lone senior - after the match, which is slated to begin at 1 p.m.
