OKLAHOMA CITY - The Mid-America Christian University volleyball team opened their 2019 campaign on Friday across town at Oklahoma City University in the Sooner Athletic Conference/Red River Athletic Conference crossover. The Evangels began the event with matches against Wiley College (Texas) and the University of the Southwest (N.M.), and after a mid-day break, the Evangels took a split of the two matches.

MACU (1-1) fell to Wiley (2-0) in the first match before bouncing back to oust USW (0-2), with both matches lasting only three sets. Wiley took the first match 25-16, 25-23, 25-15, and the Evangels swept the Mustangs 25-14, 25-16, 25-23.

The first set of the day's opening match was tight early, but midway through, the Wildcats opened a 15-9 lead with a 5-1 run. MACU answered with a 4-1 spurt to close to within three at 16-13, but a 9-3 run from Wiley closed out the set with a 25-16 Wildcat victory. The Evangels started the second set strong, winning seven of the first nine points which included three aces from Dianne Walter. Wiley answered with an 8-1 run to take a 10-8 lead. The teams swapped short runs in the middle stages of the set that left MACU up 17-16 after an ace from Kaylie Walker. The Evangels continued to hold a lead late in the set at 20-19, but Wiley rattled off five straight points to take a 24-20 lead and the Wildcats held on for the 25-23 win. The teams split the first 20 points of the third set evenly, but a 7-1 Wiley run opened a 17-11 lead and the Wildcats never looked back, taking the set 25-15 and the match 3-0.

Elena Hadzhieva led the way with nine kills for MACU, and Ryann Hale - playing her first match since 2017 - dished out a dozen assists with seven digs. Maegan Plunk added 10 digs in the match, and Walter added three aces and three blocks.

Before the nightcap, senior setter Alexa Bass was cleared to return to the lineup, and she did so in a big way. Bass and Hale provided a 1-2 setting punch that helped MACU belt 14 kills in the opening set as Hadzhieva and Walter each had a trio of kills in the opening stanza. MACU used a 9-2 run late in the set to put a bit of distance between themselves and the Mustangs, and MACU cruised to the set win 25-14. The second set was close until the middle stages of the stanza. Leading 14-13, MACU rattled off seven straight points and the Evangels took the set 25-16. The third frame was back and forth, with the Mustangs taking the lead 13-12, but a 6-1 MACU run gave MACU an 18-14 lead. USW managed one more 7-2 run to take a 23-22 lead, but Walter picked up kills for two of the last three points as MACU took the set 25-23 to complete the sweep.

Walter and Hadzhieva each had nine kills each, and Bass, Maddie Callicoat, and Faith Foutch each had six kills. Bass had 22 assists, and Hale dished out 14 helpers, while Plunk pulled up 21 digs in the match. MACU had 43 kills as a team, and they had seven service aces.

The Evangels will be back on the floor at OCU's Abe Lemons Arena on Saturday morning at 9 a.m. against Huston-Tillotson University (1-1), before the Evangels wrap up the tournament with a tilt against Paul Quinn College (0-2) at 3 p.m.