OKLAHOMA CITY - The Mid-America Christian University Volleyball team got some good news on Saturday morning as junior transfer Hannah Focker was cleared to play the final two matches of the Evangels' weekend at the SAC-RRAC Crossover at Oklahoma City University. The transfer from St. John's River State College (Fla.) wasted no time in making an impact on the MACU lineup, as she etched her name in the MACU record book in her first match out.

Focker pounded 27 kills in a 5-set loss to Huston-Tillotson (2-1), tying a record set by Cris Smith in 2010. The Evangels (2-2) bounced back to take down the Paul Quinn College Tigers (0-4) in a dominating straight sets win.

Focker tied Smith's record, which was initially set against Southern Nazarene (Okla.) on September 23, 2010 at the Gaulke Activity Center. Focker, a native of Sudlohn, Germany, started quickly, pounding six kills in the first set, as MACU belted 15 kills in the stanza, but 10 attack errors meant MACU needed extra points to take a 26-24 set win. Focker continued to play well in set two with four kills and three service aces, and she added eight kills in the third set, seven in the fourth, and two in the fifth. She averaged 5.4 kills per set for the match, and she notched a double-double with 10 digs as well.

HTU - the team picked as the preseason favorite in the RRAC - took the second and third sets, as the Rams blocking game proved strong. HTU had three blocks in the second frame, and three more in the third, on their way to a match total of 16 blocks. MACU bounced back in the fourth set to take a 25-19 win to force a decisive fifth stanza, and though MACU led for much of the set, HTU won six of the final eight points to come from behind and take the set 15-13 to win the match 3-2.

In addition to Focker, MACU had several other players stuff the stat sheet in the match. Ryann Hale (19 asst., 20 digs) and Alexa Bass (33 asst., 19 digs) each also posted double-doubles in the match, Elena Hadzhieva pounded 15 kills, and Maegan Plunk pulled up a career-high 36 digs as she came up just short of a MACU single match record. The Evangels posted a team single-match record with 223 total attack attempts, breaking the previous record which was set on September 27, 2016 at Texas Wesleyan University.

More than an hour after they were scheduled to take the floor, the Evangels and Tigers got on the court, and MACU wasted no time in sending a message. The Evangels dominated the match in nearly every way. MACU attacked the ball at a 44.8% clip with 34 kills and only eight errors on 58 swings. They held Paul Quinn to only 13 kills and MACU had the only block of the match. 

Walter and Focker led the way in the match with eight kills apiece, and Skylar Brower added seven terminations. Walter, Focker, and Brower each hit at a 66.7% pace in the match, and Bass dished up 20 assists in the match.

MACU will be off until the evening of September 6 when they head west to take on a pair of teams from the Lone Star State in Plainview, Texas. The Evangels will first battle Our Lady of the Lake University (Texas) (3-0) at 5 p.m. before opening their Sooner Athletic Conference schedule at 7 p.m. against the host Wayland Baptist Pioneers (0-4).