OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian volleyball team will look to get back on the winning track as the Evangels start the second half of the Sooner Athletic Conference season this weekend with home matches against Oklahoma Panhandle State at 7 p.m. on Friday before returning to the court Monday for a 7 p.m. match against Wayland Baptist.
LAST TIME OUT
Mid-America Christian (8-7, 6-4 SAC) is coming off a rough road trip to Texas last week, dropping a three-set match (25-22, 25-21, 25-19) at Southwestern Assemblies of God on Oct. 3 before falling to Texas Wesleyan 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-14).
In the SAGU match, the Evangels were able to challenge the Lady Lions, but MACU couldn't overcome some crucial mistakes, hitting for a .178 attack percentage compared to SAGU smacking a blistering .308 for the match. Despite the struggles from the Evangels attack, Hannah Focker continued to play at a very high level with 11 kills on a .308 attack percentage.
Even though the Evangels got Maddie Callicoat back from injury in the Texas Wesleyan match, the MACU attack struggled against a tough Rams defense. TWU also able to hit for a very effective .310 attack percentage against the Evangels while MACU hit for a .053 percentage, the third-lowest attack rate for MACU during the 2019 season.
SCOUTING THE AGGIES
Oklahoma Panhandle State enters Friday's match with a 6-11 record and a 3-7 mark in SAC action. The Aggies have struggled in the mid-season as they are currently on a six-match losing streak after dropping a pair of three-set matches at Oklahoma City (25-16, 25-23, 25-9) and Southwestern Christian (25-14, 25-17, 25-21) last week.
Senior middle blocker Kendra Butler leads three OPSU attackers with more than 100 kills, recording 127 kills at a 2.15 per set clip on a .294 hitting percentage. Keeley Johnston is the center point of the Aggies offense with a team-high 306 assists, averaging 6.12 assists per set.
Defensively, Oklahoma Panhandle has been strong at the net with 116 blocks, 54 of which have come off the hands of Butler, who is the SAC leader at 0.9 blocks per set. Defensive specialist Ashley Sanchez will be the Aggies primary defender in the backline, tallying a team-high 199 digs at 3.49 digs per set.
HISTORY WITH THE AGGIES
Mid-America Christian will be seeking the lead in the all-time series for the first time in the program's history as MACU and OPSU are evenly split 4-4 in the eight previous matchups. After dropping the first four meetings, the Evangels have won four straight, tying the series earlier this season in Goodwell, Okla. with a 3-1 victory (25-20, 22-25, 28-26, 25-23) on Sept. 7.
SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
Wayland Baptist makes its way into the weekend with a 9-13 overall record is 4-6 against SAC foes. The Pioneers are also in the midst of a tough mid-season stretch, falling in four straight matches, including a 3-1 affair at Southwestern Christian (25-23, 23-25, 25-17, 25-19) and a three-set sweep at No. 24 Oklahoma City (25-12, 25-19, 25-20) last week.
WBU is led by a pair of strong attackers in sophomore left side hitter Tatijana Markic and junior left side hitter Amber Daniel. Markic leads the team with the second-most kills in the conference, knocking down 257 kills at a 3.95 per set rate while Daniel has recorded 219 kills, averaging 3.32 kills per set. The Pioneers primary setter is redshirt freshman Renzelle Horner, dishing out a team-best 435 assists at the fourth-best assist per set rate in the SAC at 7.5
On the defensive side, the Pioneers will be led at the net by junior middle hitter Kellie Kozak with an SAC leading 64 total blocks, averaging 0.8 blocks per set. Daniel has been a commanding presence in the backcourt, digging out a team-high 295 digs, tying her for third in the league.
HISTORY WITH THE PIONEERS
Despite losing the first 27 matches in the all-time series, Mid-America Christian is looking to start a streak of their own after picking up its first victory over the Pioneers in program history earlier this season on Sept. 6 with a 3-0 sweep (25-21, 25-19, 25-17) in Plainview, Texas. The Evangels hit for a .325 attack percentage in the match, the second-highest rate this season, finishing only behind the 3-0 win over Paul Quinn on Aug. 24. Focker led the Evangels with 16 kills on a .381 percentage while Alexa Bass came just one dig shy of a triple-double with 27 assists, 10 kills and nine digs.
TURNING THE TABLES
After going 6-4 through the first 10 Sooner Athletic Conference matches, the Evangels are currently fifth in the conference standings. However, the Evangels will be seeking to climb back up leaderboard in the second half of the conference season as their four league losses came on the road against the top four teams in the standings. MACU will get all four teams at home in the second half of the conference season, starting with league leader No. 24 Oklahoma City on Oct. 17.
REWRITING THE RECORD BOOKS #1
As MACU enters the second half of conference play, several Evangels will be looking to climb up the Mid-America Christian career record books.
Alexa Bass is on the cusp of moving up the career books in two different categories. With 979 career assists at MACU, she's just one assist away from tying Melissa Hoppal for third all-time in the program's history. The Argyle, Texas native will also be looking to climb up the service ace record book as well, as she is just two aces away from tying Becca Anderson for sixth all-time with 76.
With 127 total blocks, senior middle blocker Dianne Walter is closing in on Jennifer Roselius for ninth all-time in program history, needing just two blocks to tie the mark.
