Women's Volleyball 10/9/2020 3:03:00 PM Adam Stanek - MACU Sports Information

Volleyball Ready To Face Central Christian, Southwestern Christian In Home Tri-Match

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian volleyball team will be hosting its second tri-match of the 2020-21 season as the Evangels will face Sooner Athletic Conference rivals Southwestern Christian and Central Christian at the Gaulke Activity Center on Saturday.

Mid-America Christian (5-1) will open the meet against Southwestern Christian (0-1) at 1 p.m. before returning to the floor at 5 p.m. to take on Central Christian (0-8). The Eagles and Tigers are slated to face each other in the middle match with an estimated start time of 3 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT
The Evangels will be back in-action for the first time in nine days as MACU's last match came on Oct. 1 at home against Arlington Baptist (Texas). In that meeting, Mid-America Christian struggled through the first three sets, but was able to find a rhythm in the fourth to come away with the 3-1 (25-21, 25-19, 23-25, 25-11) victory.

Hanna Foecker led the MACU attack, tying a season-high 23 kills on a .263 attack percentage and recording a season-best 15 digs. Foecker finished just one kill shy of tying Jessica Chestnut's NAIA era four-set kills record of 24 set against Oklahoma Wesleyan all the way back on Oct. 30, 2007.

Redshirt junior setter Ryann Hale also put together one of her best matches ever in a MACU uniform, recording a career-high 29 assists and putting down five service aces.
Senior libero Maegan Plunk continued to play strong on the defensive end, recording 20 digs to mark the fourth straight match that Plunk has recorded 20 or more digs this season.

SCOUTING THE EAGLES
Southwestern Christian will come into the tri-match with an 0-1 record after the Eagles officially opened its season against Dallas Christian last week, falling 3-1 to the Crusaders at home on Oct. 2.

Freshman Airyanna Bly led the Eagles attack in that match, recording 13 kills on a .048 attack percentage and also led the defensive efforts as well with 25 digs. Her former Putnam City North High School teammate Faith DeSouza, a freshman setter led the passing attack with 32 assists. Senior middle blocker Aubrie Sanders will likely lead the Eagles at the net after she posted six assisted blocks against the Crusaders.

HISTORY WITH THE EAGLES
Since the start of the NAIA era in 2007, Mid-America Christian has struggled against Southwestern Christian, as the Eagles have won 10 of the last 16 meetings. However, the Evangels will be looking to swing the series back in their favor after sweeping the season series last year, snapping a six-match losing streak to SCU.

When the two teams last met in the Gaulke Activity Center, the Evangels grounded out a hard-fought 3-1 (25-20, 23-25, 25-13, 25-20) win on Sept. 10, 2019 as Hanna Foecker recorded a team-high 19 kills while Maegan Plunk turned in a 20-dig performance.

In their last meeting on Oct. 19, 2019, Foecker made history by breaking MACU's NAIA era single-match kills record, tallying 30 to lead the Evangels to a thrilling come-from-behind 3-2 victory. It was also a career-day for Maddie Callicoat in the attack, notching a personal best 19 kills while Plunk dug out 21 in the Evangels defense.

SCOUTING THE TIGERS
Central Christian will be trying to seek its first win of the season in this tri-match as the Tigers make their way in with an 0-8 record and have won only one set thus far in the 2020-21 season. The Tigers fought hard in their last meeting at Sterling (Kan.) on Oct. 2, but fell to the Warriors 3-0 (25-13, 28-26, 25-16).

CCC has a balanced attack with four players with 20 or more kills, led by freshman Zola Moore with 36 kills at 1.4 kills per set on a .078 attack percentage. Senior Morgan Cook has also pitched in 33 kills on .036 attack percentage.

Sophomore setter Kiarrah Carlisle will lead the passing attack with a team-best 91 assists at 3.6 assists per set while also leading the team on the defensive end with 79 digs. Senior middle blocker Marissa Waddel will be the team's top presence in the middle of the net turning in 14 blocks for a 0.7 blocks per set average.

HISTORY WITH THE TIGERS
Mid-America Christian and Central Christian will be facing each other for just the eighth time in the last nine seasons, but the Evangels have dominated the series so far with a perfect 7-0 record. The Evangels have only lost two sets to the Tigers in those previous seven matches while coming up with a pair of clean sweeps in last season's meetings.
The last time the two teams played in the Gaulke Activity Center, MACU put together one of its most dominant performances of the year by coming away with a 25-17, 25-12, 25-12 win on Sept. 21, 2019. Foecker turned in 16 kills while Hale finished with a season-best 20 assists and Plunk recorded 18 digs.

In their last matchup in McPherson, Kansas on Oct. 25, the Tigers were able to challenge the Evangels in one set, but MACU was still able to get a comfortable 25-12, 25-23, 25-12 win. Callicoat and Foecker each rattled off 11 kills to lead the Evangels to the road victory.

HALE STORM
Despite splitting time with teammate Morgan Van Meir in the setter position, Ryann Hale is continuing to put up career best numbers in her third season of competition with MACU. Hale currently leads the Sooner Athletic Conference with 114 assists on the season, averaging six per set, a number that is continuing to grow week-in and week-out. The Oklahoma City native is also taking the league by storm from the service line, leading the conference with 12 aces at a 0.6 service ace per set clip. Even in a program that has seen its fair share of phenomenal setters, Hale is the first to ever claim the Sooner Athletic Conference Setter of the Week award in three consecutive weeks.

BEAT THE STREAK
The Mid-America Christian volleyball team will have the opportunity to accomplish something the program has never done during the NAIA era. If the Evangels can win their two matchups against Southwestern Christian and Central Christian, the 2020-21 MACU squad will be the first team to record seven consecutive wins since joining the NAIA in 2007. The previous best streak for the Evangels came during the 2012 campaign, when MACU won six in a row from Aug. 25 through Aug. 31. During that season, the Evangels put together their winningest season during the NAIA era, finishing with an 18-16 record.

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