OKLAHOMA CITY – For the first time in program history, the Mid-America Christian University Athletic Department is proud to announce its MACU Volleyball Team of the Decade.
After carefully evaluating each player's personal, statistical and team accomplishments, the MACU athletic administration tasked with compiling the list selected 10 standouts to the All-Decade Team, with the inclusion of a "Player of the Decade."
For a player to be accepted to the Team of the Decade list, he or she must have graduated from Mid-America Christian with at least a Bachelor's Degree between 2010-2019 and competed for at least one season between the 2009-10 and 2018-19 academic years. Any student-athletes that competed during the last decade that graduated in 2020 or later will be eligible for the 2020-2029 Team of the Decade list.
Listed below are the 10 student-athletes that were selected to the All-Decade Team, including the Player of the Decade…
MACU Team of the Decade | Volleyball
Christiane (Costa) Smith (PLAYER OF THE DECADE)
Position: Outside Hitter/Middle Blocker
Years Competed: 2009-10 (two seasons)
In just two seasons with the MACU Volleyball program, Christiane Smith to this day still holds the program's NAIA era records for career kills (844), kills per set (3.38) and attack percentage (.285) while also finishing sixth in career digs (768) and blocks (183). The two-time NCCAA Second Team All-American and First Team All-Sooner Athletic Conference honoree is the only player in the NAIA era to ever eclipse more than 500 kills in a season (506) while also recording the third-best single season mark for total blocks (111) following the 2010 campaign. On Aug. 28, 2010, Smith established the NAIA era single match kills record with 26 in a 3-2 victory over Loyola (La.) before eclipsing it nearly a month later with 27 in a hard-fought 3-2 loss to Southern Nazarene on Sept. 23, 2010, a mark that held up for more than nine years. To this day, the Sao Paolo, Brazil product is the only Evangel in the history of the program to be named an NAIA All-American Honorable Mention selection.
"I am thankful to God for the opportunity to go to school and play volleyball at Mid-America Christian University," said Smith. "I am grateful for the wonderful faculty and staff who invested in my life. It is such an honor to be selected volleyball Player of the Decade. Thank you to my teammates and coach Nikki Dieball. You all share in this great honor. May God continue to bless Mid-America Christian University."
"Cris (Smith) was one of those athletes that every coach dreams about," said former MACU Head Coach Nikki Dieball. "Every other team we played feared her. She was deadly from anywhere on the floor and was good in every single aspect of the game. Her incredible athletic ability is really only part of the story. She was a great role model for her teammates of what a servant leader should be. She showed them how to be humble, yet tenacious competitors, what it was to be coachable and to work hard every single second. I am beyond proud and excited for her because she is so deserving of this great honor."
Calle Solie
Position: Setter
Years Competed: 2009-12 (four seasons)
In four seasons with the Evangels, Calle Solie recorded every setting record imaginable in the MACU record book. With 3675 career assists, the Glendale, Arizona native holds the NAIA era record by more than 1600 while also holding three of the top five single season assist marks, including the record of 1170 notched during the 2012 campaign. Solie also ranks second in the program for attack percentage (.250) while also possessing the third-most career service aces (91). Solie is the only setter in the NAIA era to record 50 or more assists in a single match, accomplishing the feat five times in her distinguished career. Solie set the record mark of 54 in a 3-2 win at Oklahoma Wesleyan on Aug. 27, 2009 and then matched it in a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over Central Methodist on Oct. 6, 2012. Solie is one of just four players in the history of the program to be a three-time All-SAC honoree, collecting Second Team accolades in 2011 and 2012 was an Honorable Mention in 2010, as well as collected NCCAA Scholar-Athlete honors in 2012.
Camera Broadnax
Position: Libero
Years Competed: 2014-16
Camera Broadnax closed out her three-year career with the Mid-America Christian volleyball program as the team's NAIA era career record holder with 1476 digs at 4.6 digs per set and is the only player in the last 12 years to eclipse the 1000 career digs mark. Broadnax was also one of the strongest servers to ever compete at MACU as her 64 career aces is the eighth-best mark during the NAIA era. Earning All-SAC Second Team honors during her junior and senior years and Honorable Mention accolades during her sophomore campaign, Broadnax holds three of the top five NAIA era single season digs marks, as her career-best 598 recorded during the 2016 campaign is the second-most in a year. In a hard-fought 3-2 loss to Texas Wesleyan on Sept. 27, 2016, Broadnax recorded the second-most digs in a single match with 37, placing just one behind Shelbi Johnson's 2010 record of 38. The Mansfield, Texas native holds MACU's three-set and four-set single match records with 29 at John Brown on Oct. 25, 2016 and 30 at Loyola (La.) on Aug. 26, 2015.
Hannah Luedtke
Position: Setter
Years Competed: 2013-15 (three seasons)
One of the most dynamic all-around players in the history of the program, Hannah Luedtke holds several NAIA era career top five program marks, including the record for service aces (144), second in assists (2056), third in attack percentage (.234), fifth in total blocks (196) and ninth in digs (732). The Hamburg, Germany native's 144 aces is 44 better than the next closest mark in the career record book while her 56 aces in 2014 is still the highest single season aces mark in the NAIA era. After completing the 2015 campaign, Luedtke finished with a career-high 883 assists to claim the second-best mark in the MACU record book while her .325 attack percentage is still the highest mark for any player with 100 or more kills in a season. In a 3-0 sweep over Texas College on Sept. 9, 2013, Luedtke tallied a career-best seven service aces to set the fourth-highest single match total. On Oct. 22, 2013, Luedtke recorded her career-best 47 assists in a 3-1 victory over Southwestern Christian. Overall, Luedtke is a three-time All-SAC honoree, becoming one of just four players in the program to ever earn First Team honors in 2015 while collecting Second Team honors in 2014 and an Honorable Mention nod in 2013. Luedtke was also named an NCCAA Scholar-Athlete in 2015.
Laurel Church
Position: Middle Blocker
Years Competed: 2015-17
A three-time All-SAC honoree, including a First Team accolade in 2016, Laurel Church currently holds the second-most career kills (813), total blocks (228) and points (1010) to go along with the fourth-best career attack percentage (.229) during the NAIA era. During the 2016 season, the Moore, Oklahoma native tallied the fifth-most kills in a single season (332) while also finishing with the sixth-most blocks (94). In a challenging five-set loss to Southwestern Christian on Oct. 27, 2016, Church recorded a career-high 21 kills to go with a season-best seven blocks. In a 3-2 victory over Oklahoma Panhandle State on Oct. 21, 2017, Church finished with a career-best eight blocks at the net. Church led the team to its first win in the NCCAA Central Regional since 2012 with 15 kills in a 3-1 victory over Central Christian on Nov. 20, 2015. Church was a two-time NCCAA Scholar-Athlete recipient as well as named an NAIA Scholar-Athlete.
Becca Anderson
Position: Middle Blocker
Years Competed: 2009-12
Arguably the greatest middle blocker in the program's NAIA era, Becca Anderson holds three of the top five marks for total blocks in a single season, including the record (137, 2012), the fourth-best (107, 2010) and the fifth-best (95, 2011) marks. The Cleburn, Texas product eclipsed the 300-point mark twice in her MACU career, including the ninth-most points (317) in 2010. Over the course of her MACU career, Becca shattered the total blocks record (395) and points record (1076.5), while ranking third in career kills (761) and seventh in attack percentage (.211). Anderson holds three of the top five single match blocks records, including the top two marks with 18 set in a 3-1 win over Oklahoma Wesleyan on Sept. 25, 2012 just two weeks after recording the program record with 13 in a 3-0 sweep over Texas College on Sept. 13, 2012. Anderson eclipsed the 20-point plateau twice in her illustrious career, both coming against Oklahoma Wesleyan in 2012. In a 3-1 win over the Eagles on Aug. 31, 2012, Anderson dropped a career-high 14 kills to go with 10 blocks for 20.5 points only to eclipse it a nearly a month later with 21.5 in the win over OKWU. Anderson was stellar both on the court and in the classroom, earning All-Sooner Athletic Conference accolades twice with Second Team and Honorable Mention honors as well as being selected as a two-time NAIA Scholar-Athlete.
Taryn Walker
Position: Outside Hitter
Years Completed: 2009-12
One of the best all-around performers in the NAIA era, Taryn Walker closed out the decade ranked second in career service aces (100), fourth in kills (682), digs (949) and points (873), as well as eighth in total blocks (159). The two-time All-SAC Honorable Mention selection recorded 42 service aces during the 2010 campaign, the sixth-most in a single season. Walker recorded 175 or more kills in three of the four seasons she competed at MACU, including a career-best 177 notched during the 2010 season while her best defensive year came in 2012 as she finished with 310 digs to go with 45 total blocks. The Moore, Oklahoma native recorded a career-best nine service aces on Oct. 9, 2010 against Tabor (Kan.), setting the third-most aces in a single match during MACU's 12-year NAIA era run. During her freshman season, Walker tallied a career-high 14 kills on a pair of occasions, the first coming in a 3-1 win over Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas) on Sept. 4, 2009 and matched it in the regular season finale against John Brown on Nov. 9, 2009. In a 3-2 win over St. Gregory's (Okla.) on Sept. 18, 2012, Walker turned in a career-high 24 digs.
Larissa Runyan
Position: Outside Hitter/Defensive Specialist
Years Competed: 2013-16
A consistent performer in all four years at MACU, Larissa Runyan ended her MACU career with the third-best mark in the NAIA era in digs (958) while finishing with the fifth-most kills (603) and sixth-most points (689). During her senior campaign, Runyan recorded a career-high 264 kills, the 11th-most in a single season while also turning in a career-best 334 digs. On Oct. 7, 2016, Runyan laid down a career-high 17 kills against the University of the Southwest (N.M.). In a Sept. 12, 2015 match against Southwestern Assemblies of God, the Oklahoma City native tallied a career-high 25 digs. Runyan was selected as an NCCAA Scholar-Athlete twice in her illustrious career.
Shannon Niemeier
Position: Right Side Hitter
Years Competed: 2014, 2016
Despite playing just two seasons with the Evangels, Shannon Niemeier wrapped up the decade ranked sixth in career kills (566), ranking third in career kills per set (3.13) and notched the seventh-most career points (633) in MACU's NAIA era record book. During the 2016 season, the Carlsbad, New Mexico native recorded a career-high 295 kills and 338.5 points, the seventh-most in a single season. Niemeier's 271 kills in 2014 not only set the 10th best mark in the MACU record books, but her 3.76 kills per set during that season is the third-highest clip. On Nov. 4, 2014, Niemeier recorded a career-best 26 kills against Southwestern Christian, which at the time ranked as the second-most kills in a match for a MACU player during the NAIA era. Niemeier eclipsed the 20-kill plateau three times during the 2014 campaign, as her 20 kills recorded against Arkansas Tech on Oct. 16, 2014 is the fourth-most recorded in a four-set match. Niemeier wrapped up her MACU career earning All-Sooner Athletic Conference accolades twice, collecting Second Team honors in 2014 and named an Honorable Mention recipient in 2016.
Kacee Montgomery
Position: Middle Blocker/Right Side Hitter
Years Competed: 2012-13
Rounding out the Team of the Decade is a middle blocker and right side hitter from Norman, Oklahoma, Kacee Montgomery. Competing for the Evangels for two seasons, Montgomery finished her MACU career as the fourth-most prolific blocker at the net during the NAIA era (207). During the 2012 season, Montgomery tied teammate Becca Anderson for the most blocks in a single season (137) while her 1.13 blocks per set that year was the second-highest clip ever recorded in the NAIA era. With 374 career kills, Montgomery finished the decade with the fifth-highest career attack percentage (.228), as her 2012 mark of .274 is the fifth-best mark in a single year. On Aug. 31, 2012, Montgomery tallied a career-high 12 total blocks in a 3-1 win over Oklahoma Wesleyan, ranking as the second-most in a single match during the NAIA era while also setting the fourth-best mark of 12 in a 3-1 win over the Eagles again on Sept. 25, 2012. Anderson earned All-SAC accolades in her two seasons with the program, earning an Honorable Mention in 2011 before being selected to the Second Team in 2012.
Next week, the Mid-America Christian University Athletic Department will be unveiling its inaugural Men's Soccer Team of the Decade on Tuesday, Aug. 11.
