OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian volleyball team will look to stay near the top of the Sooner Athletic Conference standings as the Evangels will host the University of Science & Arts at 7 p.m. on Friday before heading to Siloam Springs, Ark. to play John Brown at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
LAST TIME OUT
Mid-America Christian (7-4, 5-1 SAC) bounced back from its first conference loss of the season with a pair of three-set sweeps at home last week, defeating Langston (25-19, 25-18, 25-12) on Sept. 19 before topping Central Christian (25-17, 25-12, 25-12) on Saturday, Sept. 21.
The Evangels defensively were able to frustrate the Lady Lions in the Thursday bout, holding LU to just a .082 attack percentage while Hannah Focker and Skylar Brower led the MACU attack with nine and seven kills respectively.
MACU put together one of its most dominant performances of the season against the Lady Tigers, outhitting CCC .302 to .081 while tallying 11 aces from the service line. Focker put together a dominant performance, recording 16 kills and three service aces to record 19.5 points, her highest scoring output in a three-set match this season.
SCOUTING THE DROVERS
Science & Arts enters the weekend with a 1-10 record and are 1-6 in Sooner Athletic Conference play. Competing in their third match in five days, the Drovers are coming off a pair of losses after dropping a 3-0 (22-25, 14-25, 17-25) decision to Oklahoma Wesleyan in a non-conference match on Monday before falling 3-0 (16-25, 10-25, 13-25) at John Brown on Wednesday.
The Drovers have struggled on the attack this season, ranking last in the conference in attack percentage at 0.005. Freshman outside hitter Kaitlyn Marth has led the USAO attack during the 2019 season with a team-high 60 kills while setter Hayley Allen will command the Drovers attack with 162 assists, averaging 5.23 assists per set.
On defense, freshman middle blocker Allison Patak has been the Drovers biggest presence at the net, recording 11 of the team's 21 blocks while Alexia Hiles leads the backline with 118 digs.
HISTORY WITH THE DROVERS
Since starting their rivalry in 2016, the Evangels have put together a perfect 6-0 record against USAO. After defeating the Drovers 3-1 back on Sept. 29, 2016, the Evangels have not dropped a single set to Science & Arts over the last five matches.
In their last meeting on Oct. 30, 2018, MACU won 25-16, 25-20, 25-16 in Chickasha, Okla. as Brower led the Evangels with seven kills in the victory.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES
John Brown has been red-hot entering the weekend, winning six straight on their way to a 12-3 overall record and a 6-1 mark in SAC play, just a half-game ahead of the Evangels for the second place spot in the conference. The latest in the Golden Eagles' win streak is a three-set sweep (25-16, 25-10, 25-13) over Science & Arts at home on Wednesday.
John Brown is one of the toughest teams in the league at the net both offensively and defensively, as they are currently tied for the lead league at 2.1 blocks per set with 105 total blocks and rank second in attack percentage at .208.
Middle hitter Jessica Schultz leads the JBU attack with 127 kills at a league-best .341 attack percentage while senior outside hitter Carly McKinney has been a strong contributor with 118 kills on a .199 percentage as well.
Defensively, three players have recorded 20 or more blocks at the net this season for the Golden Eagles, led by Schultz with 47 at 0.9 blocks per set, the third-best clip in the SAC. McKinney has been just as strong on the back line as the front, leading the JBU defense with 206 digs for the fifth-best digs per set ratio in the league at four.
HISTORY WITH THE GOLDEN EAGLES
The Evangels will be looking to snap a 12-match losing streak to John Brown as the Golden Eagles hold a 20-3 edge in the all-time series. Despite the tough stretch, MACU challenged JBU in their two matchups last season, going five sets in each match.
The last time the two teams met in Siloam Springs, Ark., MACU rallied from being two sets down to win set three 25-19 and set four 25-23, to force a decisive fifth set. Unfortunately, the Evangels comeback efforts fell just short as they dropped a 16-14 heartbreaker in the final set.
HIGH BROW-ER
Sophomore middle blocker Skylar Brower is coming off her finest week on the attack with the Evangels. Against Langston and Central Christian combined last week, Brower recorded 14 kills on a .667 attack percentage. Against the Lady Tigers, the Medicine Park, Okla. product recorded seven kills on a career-best .750 attack percentage.
STREAK SNAPPING
The 2019 Mid-America Christian volleyball team is no stranger to snapping long losing streaks. In the Sooner Athletic Conference opener against Wayland Baptist on Sept. 6, the Evangels earned their first ever win over Wayland Baptist, snapping the Pioneers' 27-match win streak.
The following week, the Evangels ended a six-match losing streak to Southwestern Christian as MACU defeated the Lady Eagles 3-1 in its home opener on Sept. 10.
Mid-America Christian will look to add one more long losing streak snapped to that list when the Evangels travel to John Brown, who has won the last 12 matches against MACU.
