OKLAHOMA CITY – For head coach Faith Avalos, the message to her Mid-America Christian University volleyball team of late has been that the Evangels need to learn to finish. On Tuesday night, they had a chance to do that on their home floor, and the Evangels did just that.
MACU (8-7, 4-3 SAC) won the first two sets handily over the University of Science & Arts (Okla.) Drovers (4-13, 2-6 SAC), but they faced a third set deficit. Faced with the deficit, the Evangels banded together and rallied to take the set and complete the sweep 25-17, 25-13, 25-23.
MACU took control of set one early, opening a 5-2 lead with consecutive kills from Da'Jah Thompson, Dianne Walter, Thompson, and Annika Barnett. Hannah Balzer-Lipsett, Elena Hadzhieva, and Skylar Brower got in on the party later in the set, and Hadzhieva ended the set with three straight service aces as the Evangels took the frame 25-17.
The offense remained on full display in the second stanza, as MACU opened the set with a 5-0 run. The Lead ballooned to 15-7 midway through the set and it eventually reached 20-10. After the two sides traded points to get to a 22-13 score, the Evangels got the ball back, and Walter stepped back and served consecutive aces to end the set in a 25-13 win to give MACU a commanding 2-0 lead in a match.
MACU scored the first point of the third set, but USAO quickly rallied to take the lead, and they led for most of the frame. MACU got close several times, but each time the Drovers were able to hold off the challenge, and USAO eventually built a 14-8 lead. MACU answered with a 4-0 run to cut the deficit to two, and after three straight points from USAO pushed it back to five, MACU answered with a 7-2 run to tie the score at 19. USAO used a pair of kills and an ace to take a 22-19 lead, but after a timeout, the Evangels belted four kills and an ace to take a 24-22 lead. After USAO blocked an attack from Walter, the Drovers committed an attack error of their own, and MACU claimed the set 25-23, and the match 3-0.
Barnett led the Evangels' offense with eight kills, and Thompson, Walter, and Hadzhieva each added six kills. MACU had eight players record kills in the match, and of those eight, six had at least four. Alexa Bass handed out 16 assists, and Morgan Van Meir dished out 10 in the match, while Van Meir led the way with eight digs. As a team, MACU notched 15 service aces in the match.
MACU will open a difficult weekend on Friday night, hosting the Rams of Texas Wesleyan University (10-6, 6-2 SAC) at 7 p.m.
