FORT WORTH, Texas - The first set of Mid-America Christian University's volleyball game at Texas Wesleyan University on Saturday went about as well as it could have gone for the Evangels. MACU came out and controlled the opening set, but in the second set, the momentum shifted, and the Rams never looked back.
MACU (14-16, 8-12 SAC) took the first set, but Texas Wesleyan (22-9, 17-3 SAC) bounced back to take the final three frames to claim the match win, 22-25, 25-21, 25-12, 25-22.
MACU took the first three points of the afternoon, and the Evangels built an 8-4 lead early in the first frame. Texas Wesleyan answered with an 8-0 run to take a 12-8 lead, but MACU bounced right back. A 7-2 MACU run restored the Evangels' lead at 15-14, and the Evangels continued to inch their way out to a bigger lead. an 8-4 spurt put MACU up 23-18, and the Evangels held on to win the set 25-22.
Texas Wesleyan opened the second set by building a 10-4 lead, and they extended their advantage all the way to 15-7 before MACU began to bounc back. The Evangels put together a 12-2 run to take the lead 19-17, but after MACU's run, the Rams answered with a pair of four-point spurts in the final points of the set, and Texas Wesleyan rallied to take the second stanza 25-21 to square the match at one set apiece.
MACU took four of the first seven points in the third period, but Texas Wesleyan seized control with a 10-1 run and MACU was unable to recover. The Rams closed the set on an 12-5 run to take the stanza 25-12 and claim a 2-1 lead in the match. The fourth set was close through the early portions of play, and the teams traded long runs in the late stages - an 8-1 run from Texas Wesleyan followed by a 7-1 run from MACU - as MACU claimed the lead 21-20 in an effort to force a fifth set. Unfortunately for MACU, the Evangels had run out of gas, and the Rams closed the set on a 5-1 run to claim the set 25-22 and the match 3-1.
Annika Barnett led MACU offensively with 10 kills, and Da'Jah Thompson added nine in the match. Alexa Bass played well, dishing out 37 assists in the match, and four different Evangels were in double figures in digs. Kaylie Walker had 27 digs, Barnett added 24 to complete the double-double, Maegan Plunk pulled up 19, and Morgan Van Meir had 16.
MACU will head into the postseason as the number seven seed in the Sooner Athletic Conference Championship. The Evangels will open the tournament at Southwestern Assemblies of God University (27-3) on Tuesday evening. The match time has not yet been announced.
