OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian volleyball team had its NAIA era record nine-match winning streak snapped on Saturday at the Gaulke Activity Center as the Evangels fell in four-sets to Sooner Athletic Conference rival Wayland Baptist in the non-conference tilt.

 
SCORE

• Wayland Baptist 3, Mid-America Christian 1 (27-25, 18-25, 25-22, 25-16)
  • Mid-America Christian (9-2)
  • Wayland Baptist (2-3)

 

STAT LEADERS

• Hanna Foecker – 16 kills, .182 attack percentage, 15 digs, 2 blocks
• Maddie Callicoat – 11 kills, .227 attack percentage, 2 blocks
• Ryann Hale – 23 assists, 11 digs, 4 service aces
• Maegan Plunk – 22 digs
• Allison Porter – 8 kills, 5 blocks

 

MATCH SUMMARY

• Set One
  • Mid-America Christian jumped out to a fast start out of the gate, opening the set with a 6-1 run, including a string of five unanswered behind kills from Tiana Nihipali, Maddie Callicoat and Hanna Foecker to go with a pair of Pioneers attack errors.
  • MACU maintained a six-point edge at 13-7 before Wayland Baptist went on an 11-4 run to capture an 18-17 lead, prompting MACU Head Coach Holly McKamie to call a timeout.
  • Wayland Baptist was able to put the Evangels' backs against the wall by forcing game-point at 24-22, but MACU was able to hold on by forcing a pair of Pioneers errors on the serve and in the attack to lock it up at 24-all.
  • Despite splitting the next two rallies, WBU was able to put the set away on back-to-back kills by Paxton Patterson to seal the 27-25 defeat for the Evangels.
• Set Two
  • While Wayland Baptist was able to keep it to within one in the first 15 rallies, MACU was able to get some breathing room by stringing together four straight behind a trio of kills from Nihipali, Foecker and Faith Foutch to stretch its lead to 12-7.
  • The Pioneers were able to keep the Evangels from pulling away until late in the set when MACU rattled off three in a row off a WBU service error, a Cierra Guerrero service ace and a Nihipali kill to set the score to 20-13 and force Wayland Baptist to call a timeout.
  • The Pioneers scored four of the next five out of the break, but Mid-America Christian answered right back with a 4-1 run of their own as Allison Porter tallied three of MACU's four kills in closing out the 25-18 set two win.
• Set Three
  • Mid-America Christian got off to a blistering start in the third set, scoring on eight of the first nine rallies. Callicoat, Foecker and Porter each recorded a kill while Ryann Hale and Kaylie Walker were each able to put down a service ace during the run.
  • Wayland Baptist slowly chipped away at the MACU lead over the course of the set, cutting it to two at 20-18 before a Foecker kill was able to give MACU the three-point edge once again.
  • The Pioneers had a strong finish to the set by tallying points on seven of the final eight rallies to hand MACU their second defeat of the match at 25-22.
• Set Four
  • The Evangels were able to get off to another fast start, taking a 10-5 lead off after scoring on three straight rallies behind a Porter kill as well as an assisted block with Nihipali and a Hale service ace.
  • After a Foecker kill pushed the MACU edge to 13-8, the Pioneers once again went on a huge run, winning 13 of the next 15 rallies to put the Evangels down by six at 21-15 before a Morgan Van Meir dump kill briefly halted the run.
  • Wayland Baptist closed out the match by scoring the final four points of the fourth set to wrap-up the 25-16 defeat for the Evangels.

 

MATCH NOTABLES

• Mid-America Christian struggled to slow down the Pioneers attack as Wayland Baptist hit for a .246 attack percentage while MACU could only muster a .120 clip in its attack.
• While the Evangels struggled in the attack, they were able to perform well from the service line and in the reception, recording 11 service aces and committing just two reception errors on the Pioneers serve attempts.
• MACU struggled against the WBU blocking efforts as the Pioneers recorded 13 blocks while the Evangels tallied just five total blocks for the match.
• Senior outside hitter Hanna Foecker led the MACU attack with 16 kills to go along with 15 digs on the defensive end.
• Senior libero Maegan Plunk recorded 22 of the Evangels' 74 digs for the match.
• Kaylie Walker and Ryann Hale each tallied four aces from the service line.

 

NEXT UP

• Mid-America Christian will have a tough test ahead as the Evangels will travel to Goodwell on Friday, Nov. 6 to take on Oklahoma Panhandle State for a 7 p.m. start time.