OKLAHOMA CITY – After completing the most successful regular season since 2012, the Mid-America Christian volleyball team will be looking for its first Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament victory in program history Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in Waxahachie, Texas against the fourth-seeded Southwestern Assemblies of God.
LAST TIME OUT
Mid-America Christian (14-11, 12-8 SAC) had a tough finish to the 2019 regular season as the Evangels fell in straight sets (27-25, 25-21, 25-17) to SAGU on Senior Day Saturday at the Gaulke Activity Center. The Evangels struggled against the aggressive Lady Lions block as the Evangels committed 25 attack errors with 13 coming from blocks at the net.
Junior outside hitter Hannah Focker led the Evangels attack once again with 15 kills and a pair of service aces to go with 12 digs. Senior setter Alexa Bass tallied a team-high 21 assists while Maegan Plunk tallied 15 digs to lead the back line.
SCOUTING THE LADY LIONS
Southwestern Assemblies of God finished the 2019 regular season with a 22-8 record and went 15-5 against SAC competition. Since dropping a home match to Texas Wesleyan on Oct. 29, the Lady Lions have won four straight, including a road win against MACU.
An aggressive attacking team, SAGU is led by a pair of players with more than 300 kills on the season. Freshman outside hitter Ava Myers has made a major impact in her first season with the Lions, tallying a team-high 355 kills, the third-most in the SAC at 3.4 kills per set. Fellow sophomore outside hitter Alexis Mealer is right behind her in the SAC kills standings with 339, averaging 3.2 per set.
Senior setter Sophia Ivy is one of the best the SAC has to offer, leading the conference with 1147 assists with a 10.7 assists per set average. On the defensive side of the net, junior libero Nikki Almaguer ranks second in the conference with 464 digs (4.3 digs per set) while senior middle hitter Madeleine Hartline ranks second in the conference with 93 total blocks on the season.
HISTORY WITH THE LADY LIONS
Mid-America Christian will look to snap a 15-match losing streak to SAGU as Mid-America Christian's last win over the Lady Lions came in a 3-0 shutout in Waxahachie, Texas on Nov. 15, 2012. In that matchup, Jordan Batley put down 15 kills while MACU's all-time assist leader Calle Solie dished out 37 assists in the three-set sweep.
PUNCHING A TICKET BACK TO THE POSTSEASON
No matter if the Evangels win or lose Tuesday night, Mid-America Christian has at the very least locked up a spot in the NCCAA Central Region Tournament for the first time since 2015. The NCCAA National Championships this year will be hosted by College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri from Dec. 5-7 as the Evangels will be looking at getting back to the NCCAA National Championship level for the first time since the 2004 campaign.
KEEPING AN EYE ON THE BOOKS
So far during the 2019 campaign, three Evangels continue make their ascent up the MACU single season record books.
Junior outside hitter Hannah Focker is climbing up the record books in three different statistical categories. Over the weekend, the Sudlohn, Germany product jumped to fifth in single season kills with 328, putting her just four back of Laurel Church for fourth and 10 back of MACU all-time great Christiane Smith for third. Focker is also currently sixth in the MACU books for points at 374.5, putting her just 12 points back of Emily Moore for fifth in the record books. The outside hitter has been on a tear from the service line as well, as her team-leading 36 aces is currently the ninth-most in a single season during the NAIA era.
Senior setter Alexa Bass is also climbing up the record books for both assists and service aces. The Argyle, Texas native recently moved into the top 10 with 597 assists and is three assists away from passing Emily Moore for the ninth-most assists in a single season. If Bass can tally 33 assists against SAGU Tuesday night, she can tie Hannah Luedtke for the eighth. From the service line, Bass is just one behind her German counterpart, putting her in a tie for 10th with Shelbi Johnson.
Putting together a career year in the Evangels backline, junior libero Maegan Plunk has already recorded the fifth-most digs in a single season with 416. The Rowlett, Texas product is just two digs shy of tying MACU all-time digs leader Camera Broadnax for fourth on the single season list.
