OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian volleyball team is preparing to play in its first NCCAA National Championship Tournament since 2004 as the Evangels will compete in Pool A as the No. 5 seed.
In the national tournament hosted by College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Mo., the Evangels will open pool play on Thursday, Dec. 5 at noon against No. 4 seed Judson (Ill.) before returning to the court to take on top-seeded Sooner Athletic Conference rival Southwestern Assemblies of God at 4 p.m.
The Evangels will wrap up pool play with No. 8 seed Piedmont International (N.C.) at noon on Friday, Dec. 5 and if the Evangels can win two of the three matches, will play in the semifinal round at either 4:30 or 6:30 p.m. that evening. The NCCAA National Championship match will take place on Saturday, Dec. 6 at noon.
LAST TIME OUT
The Evangels will be competing for the first time in three weeks as Mid-America Christian is coming off a tightly contested 3-2 loss at Southwestern Assemblies of God in the first round of the SAC Tournament in Waxahachie, Texas on Nov. 12.
Despite dropping a couple of tightly contested first and second sets by scores of 25-23 and 25-22, the Evangels stormed back in the third and fourth sets, taking set three 25-21 before grinding out a 30-28 win in set four. Unfortunately, the Evangels SAC Tournament run came to end in the decisive fifth-set as the Lady Lions pulled out a 15-10 win to advance to the SAC Semifinals.
Junior outside hitter Hannah Focker led the MACU attack with 16 kills and Elena Hadzhieva put down 14, her second-highest kill rate of her career. Senior middle blocker Dianne Walter put together one of her finest outings of the season, tallying 12 kills on a .458 attack percentage while also recording a team-high five total blocks. The 45 assists by senior setter Alexa Bass was the 14th most in a single match in program history and also tallied 21 digs while junior libero Maegan Plunk recorded 30 digs for her third 30-plus dig match this season and tying the ninth-most digs in a single match in MACU history.
SCOUTING THE EAGLES
Judson enters the national tournament as the No. 4 seed after being selected as an at-large from the North Central region. The Eagles possess a 22-15 record after falling in five sets in the NCCAA North Central Region Championship match to No. 2 seed Trinity International (25-18, 22-25, 25-18, 21-25, 15-11).
The Eagles attack is led by junior outside hitter Mackenzie Ebert with 404 kills, averaging three kills per set on a .194 attack percentage. Junior middle blocker Katie Valeria has also been an efficient attacker from the middle, knocking down 346 kills on a .237 attack percentage.
Judson will run a 6-2 formation with a pair of strong setters in Natalie Kofie and Stephanie Layne. Kofie, a junior, leads the squad with 572 assists at a 5.5 assist per set rate while Layne has dished out 459 for 4.1 aps.
Defensively, Valeria has been the team's best blocker with 120 total blocks for a 0.87 block per set rate while sophomore libero Enola Varga leads the backline with 489 digs for 3.89 digs per set.
SCOUTING THE LADY LIONS
Southwestern Assemblies of God earned the top seed in the NCCAA National Championships after finishing the season with a 23-9 record and placed fourth in the Sooner Athletic Conference. The Lady Lions make their way into the tournament after a SAC Semifinal loss to No. 16 Oklahoma City, falling in four sets (25-13, 23-25, 25-15, 25-15) on Nov. 15.
The Lady Lions are led by a pair of 300-plus kill attackers in freshman outside hitter Ava Myers and sophomore outside hitter Alexis Mealer. Myers leads SAGU with 381 kills on a .220 attack percentage while Mealer has efficiently laid down 364 kills on a .265 attack percentage.
SAGU is led by one of the top setters in the NCCAA in Sophia Ivy, ranking first in the NCCAA at 10.94 assists per set with the fourth-most total assists with 1214.
Junior libero Nikki Almaguer will lead the defensive backline with 513 digs at 4.4 digs per set while senior middle hitter Madeleine Hartline controls the blocking efforts with a team-best 104 total blocks at 0.9 blocks per game.
SCOUTING THE BRUINS
Piedmont International makes its way into the national tournament as the No. 8 seed with a 16-12 record after defeating Erskine (S.C.) in the NCCAA South Region Championship in five sets (17-25, 20-25, 25-21, 25-20, 15-10) on Nov. 21.
Senior outside hitter Olivia Bullard is the team's best attacker with 296 kills at 3.25 kps on a .164 attack percentage. Much like the Evangels, the Bruins are a strong serving team with 212 service aces, led by senior setter Chelsea Edwards with 38 aces while senior libero Cameron Dubuc has put down 34.
Edwards will look to command the offense with a team-leading 764 assists (8.13 aps) while defensively the Bruins are led by Dubuc (388 digs, 4.08 dps) and junior middle blocker Cydne Moore (59 blocks, 0.63 bps).
WELCOME BACK
Mid-America Christian will be looking forward to its first ever appearance in the NCCAA National Championships since moving up to the Division I level in 2007. The Evangels make their return to the NCCAA National Championship level since going to the Division II tournament in 2004. The Evangels will be seeking just their second NCCAA National Championship after winning the 2001 title against Simpson College 2-0 (30-27, 30-23). Sarah Naylor was named the Most Outstanding Player in that tournament while then MACU Head Coach Jeff Boyland received the All-Tournament Coach Award.
RECORDS TO KEEP AN EYE ON
With the Evangels playing a minimum of three more matches, several season and career records could be eclipsed at the NCCAA National Championships.
For season records, Hannah Focker is climbing up the top 10 in three different categories. With 344 kills, Focker is currently third in the MACU record books and is 63 kills away from tying Jessica Chestnut's 2007 record of 407 kills. Focker is also fifth in the points record book, just nine away from tying Christiane Smith's 2009 mark for third and 22 away from matching Laurel Church's second-best mark set in 2016. With 36 service aces, Focker currently holds the 10th best mark and is three away from joining a three-way tie for sixth with Jordan Batley, Hannah Luedtke and Kamryn Schodt.
Senior setter Alexa Bass could also climb the MACU record books as well as she currently possesses the eighth-most assists in a single season with 642. With 50 more, Bass will climb into seventh with Emily Lynch and 54 will match her own sixth-best record set last season. The Argyle, Texas product is also going serve for serve with Focker from the service line with the ninth-most service aces in a single season with 37.
Junior libero Maegan Plunk has a strong chance of moving into third in the MACU record books for digs in a season as her 446 is just 14 away from tying the Evangels career digs leader Camera Broadnax with 460 set during the 2015 season.
In the career record books, Bass currently holds the third-most assists with 1338 and could climb into third for service aces as she is two away from matching Calle Solie at 91 career aces. Senior middle blocker Dianne Walter will also look to be a strong presence for the Evangels at the net in the tournament. If the Vancouver, Wash. product can come away with 15 total blocks, she will draw even with Taryn Walker for the eighth-most career blocks at Mid-America Christian.
