WICHITA, Kan. – The Mid-America Christian volleyball team continued to ride off the momentum of its big win last week with one of its most impressive showings of the fall season at a tri-match hosted by Friends (Kan.) on Tuesday night, sweeping both Bethel (Kan.) and the host Falcons in straight sets.
 

GAME ONE / Mid-America Christian vs. Bethel (Kan.)

• SCORE
  • Mid-America Christian 3, Bethel 1 (25-21, 25-15, 25-15)
    • Mid-America Christian (3-1)
    • Bethel (0-5)

 

• STAT LEADERS
  • Hanna Foecker – 21 kills, .333 attack percentage
  • Maegan Plunk – 28 digs, 9.33 digs per set
  • Ryann Hale – 20 assists, 13 digs, 2 service aces

 

• GAME SUMMARY
  • Set One
    • Evangels had to overcome a slow start when Bethel jumped out to an early 8-4 advantage, but MACU used a 4-0 run featuring a pair of Allison Porter kills midway through the set to take an 11-10 lead.
    • The two teams battled back and forth until the Threshers grabbed a 19-18 edge.
    • Mid-America Christian closed out strong by claiming six of the next eight rallies, as a Faith Foutch kill up the middle on game-point secured the 25-21 opening set victory.
  • Set Two
    • After Bethel claimed two of the first three points, MACU surged in-front with eight unanswered with Foecker rattling off kills on four consecutive rallies to give MACU the 9-2 edge.
    • The Threshers managed to keep it to within five at 12-7 until the Evangels tallied five of the next seven points, featuring a pair of Tiana Nihipali kills and a Kaylie Walker service ace to build the Evangels lead up to 17-8.
    • Mid-America Christian's defense forced three consecutive Threshers attack errors to finish out the set, two of which coming off assisted blocks by Porter and Nihipali as well as Porter once again with Foutch on game-point to seal the 25-15 set two victory.
  • Set Three
    • Despite Bethel jumping out to a 6-2 lead, the Evangels stormed back in the third by scoring seven unanswered thanks to a pair of Foecker kills and a Morgan Van Meir service ace to claim a 9-6 advantage.
    • With the Threshers keeping it to within two at 14-12, Mid-America Christian recaptured the momentum on back-to-back kills by Foutch and Foecker, closing out the set by scoring on 11 of the final 14 rallies to come away with the 25-15 set three win.

 

• MATCH NOTABLES
  • Hanna Foecker tied her own MACU three-set record of 21 kills, matching her efforts in a sweep over Wayland Baptist at the Gaulke Activity Center back on Oct. 14, 2019.
  • Coming off her NAIA Defender of the Week performance last week, Maegan Plunk continued to play at a high level on the backline by recording the program's second-most digs in a three-set match with 28, finishing just one shy of tying Camera Broadnax for the record.
  • By holding Bethel to just 20 kills and forcing 21 attack errors, the Evangels limited the Threshers to a -.008 attack percentage. The last time MACU forced an opponent to commit more attack errors than kills came in a three-set sweep against Science & Arts on Oct. 30, 2018.

 
GAME TWO / Mid-America Christian vs. Friends (Kan.)

• SCORE
  • Mid-America Christian 3, Friends 0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-18)
    • Mid-America Christian (4-1)
    • Friends (4-3)

 

• STAT LEADERS
  • Hanna Foecker – 19 kills, .437 attack percentage, 10 digs, 3 service aces
  • Maegan Plunk – 24 digs, 8 digs per set
  • Ryann Hale – 21 assists
  • Maddie Callicoat – 8 kills, .615 attack percentage, 2 total blocks

 

• GAME SUMMARY
  • Set One
    • Friends jumped out of the gate by claiming an 11-4 lead, including a string of four unanswered to end the run.
    • A pair of kills from Foecker and Porter swung momentum in MACU's favor as the Evangels rattled off a 14-1 run, including a string of 10 unanswered claim a 21-15 edge.
    • The Falcons got a couple of points back late before a Callicoat kill up the middle on game-point allowed MACU to capture the 25-19 win.
  • Set Two
    • The Falcons opened by taking eight of the first 13 rallies before the Evangels surged in-front by scoring on seven of the next eight to make it a 12-9 game. Foecker rattled off three service aces during the run.
    • Mid-America Christian struggled to get any more breathing room midway through the set as Friends kept it to within three at 19-16.
    • MACU scored six of the final seven points as a Callicoat and Porter assisted blocked on game-point gave MACU the 25-17 set two victory.
  • Set Three
    • A Porter kill to start the third set ignited a run of six straight to allow MACU to jump out to a 6-0 lead.
    • Friends pulled it back to within three at 11-8 before the Evangels forced three straight Falcons errors to push the advantage back to six. MACU continued to build its lead until taking its largest of the set on Foecker's kill to force match point at 24-15.
    • The Falcons got three points back late, but couldn't do any more damage when a service error ended the third set in-favor of MACU, 25-18.

 

• MATCH NOTABLES
  • Foecker continued to make marks in the MACU record book as her 19-kill effort was the third-most in a single match after tying the record in the earlier match against Bethel. Foecker now holds the three highest kills marks in a three-set match in the program's record book.
  • The MACU defense held Friends to less than 20 points in all three of its sets for the first time during the 2020-21 season.
  • Facing each other for the first time in 10 seasons, the Evangels picked up their first win over the Falcons since moving up to the NAIA level in 2007.

 
NEXT UP

• Mid-America Christian will return home on Thursday, Oct. 1 to take on Arlington Baptist. The match is slated for a 6 p.m. start inside the Gaulke Activity Center.