OKLAHOMA CITY – Coming off a dramatic five-set victory at Southwestern Christian, the Mid-America Christian volleyball team will look to string together a road winning streak as the Evangels will take on Langston at 7 p.m. on Thursday before heading to McPherson, Kan. to face Central Christian at 5 p.m. on Friday.
LAST TIME OUT
Mid-America Christian (11-8, 9-5 Sooner Athletic Conference) had to fight its way back from two sets down to the Eagles last Saturday. After dropping each of the first two sets by 25-21 scores, MACU put together a major response in the third set with their most dominant single-set performance of the season, coming away with a 25-5 win. MACU won set four in dramatic fashion, tallying the final three points to pull out the 25-23 win and force a fifth set. In the final set, the Evangels went to extra points before scoring the final two points to complete the 18-16 set win for the comeback victory.
SCOUTING THE LADY LIONS
Langston enters Thursday night's match with a 6-20 overall record and a 3-10 mark in SAC play. The Lady Lions snapped a four-match losing streak on Tuesday after sweeping Science & Arts 3-0 (25-10, 25-18, 25-11) on Tuesday.
The LU attack has featured a pair of strong attackers in Brittani Bailey and Antonese Tatum. Bailey leads the team with 244 kills (2.68 kills per set) while Tatum has 216 kills (2.45 k/s) at a team-high .183 attack percentage. Jada Roland will handle the setting duties with a team-best 645 assists (7.33 assists per set).
On defense, Tatum has presented problems at the net for opposing attacks, totaling at team-high 56 total blocks while Jada Jolly will command the backline with a squad-best 300 digs (3.41 digs per set).
HISTORY WITH THE LADY LIONS
The Evangels hold a 6-3 edge over Langston in the all-time series and have won the last five matches. In their last meeting back on Sept. 19, MACU defeated the Lady Lions in straight sets (25-19, 25-18, 25-12). Hannah Focker led the Evangels with nine kills while Skylar Brower chipped in six kills on a .600 attack percentage. The last time the two teams played in Langston, MACU pulled out a hard-fought sweep (26-24, 25-19, 25-16) on Sept. 11, 2018.
SCOUTING THE LADY TIGERS
Central Christian is still seeking its first conference win of the season as the Lady Tigers are 0-14 against SAC competition with a 4-22 overall record. In their last match, CCC challenged Oklahoma Panhandle State, but ultimately fell 3-1 (25-20, 20-25, 25-19, 25-15) last Saturday.
The Lady Tigers attack will be led by Morgan Cook with a team-best 205 kills (3.66 k/s) while Kiarrah Carlisle will be the Tigers primary passer with 372 assists (8.65 a/s) for the season.
Defensively, Christin Vetter has been a strong presence at the net with 69 total blocks (1.29 b/s) while Anslee Bridges leads a group of three Tigers with more than 200 digs with a team-high 239 (4.37 d/s).
HISTORY WITH THE LADY TIGERS
Mid-America Christian is 6-0 against Central Christian all-time since 2011. In their previous meeting this season, the Evangels dominated the match, sweeping the Lady Lions in straight sets (25-17, 25-12, 25-12). Focker led the Evangels with 16 kills and Maegan Plunk was solid on the defensive end with 18 digs. In their last meeting at Central Christian on Sept. 13, 2018, the Evangels swept the Tigers (25-16, 27-25, 25-14).
QUEEN OF THE KILL
On top of leading the Evangels comeback against the Eagles on Saturday, Focker set an incredible mark in the MACU record books. Focker's match-winning kill in the fifth-set was her 30th kill of the match, becoming the first player in Mid-America Christian volleyball history to record 30 kills in a match. Focker broke her own single match kills school record after she tied Christiane Smith with 27 in her debut match with the Evangels against Huston-Tillotson on Aug. 24. The Sudlohn, Germany product is just 19 kills away from breaking into the top 10 for most kills in a season in program history as she is in hot pursuit of tying Larissa Runyan in 10th with 264 kills.
SETTING UP FOR A BASS DROP
On top of Focker's record-breaking performance against the Eagles, senior setter Alexa Bass also reached a personal milestone with a career-best 48 assists. The mark tied MACU all-time assist leader Calle Solie for the sixth-most assists in a single match while eclipsing her previous career-high of 47 set against John Brown last season. In just her second season with the Evangels, Bass is currently third all-time in program history with 1118 career assists.
