OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian volleyball team got its revenge on Oklahoma Panhandle State inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Friday night. After falling in a five-set heartbreaker at OPSU earlier in the season, the Evangels swept Aggies this time around to pick up their 19^th victory, tying the program's NAIA era single season wins record.
 
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 3, Oklahoma Panhandle State 0 (25-18, 25-18, 31-29)
  • Mid-America Christian (19-6, 10-3 SAC)
  • Oklahoma Panhandle State (15-9, 7-6 SAC)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Hanna Foecker – 23 Kills, .333 ATK%, 12 Digs, 3 Aces
• Lena Stockhammer – 43 Assists, 7 Digs, 2 Aces, 2 Kills
• Maddie Callicoat – 13 Kills, .313 ATK%
• Maegan Plunk – 19 Digs, 7 Assists

MATCH SUMMARY

• Set One
  • The two teams were evenly split through the first eight rallies, but an Allison Porter kill ignited a 10-2 Evangels run before a Lena Stockhammer kill gave the Evangels a 14-6 lead, forcing the Aggies to call a timeout.
  • After trading the first four points out of the timeout, Panhandle State rattled off six of the next seven to cut the MACU advantage to 17-14.
  • Maddie Callicoat thwarted the run with a kill as the Evangels tallied three of the next four before a Keera Parks attack error pushed the Evangels' edge to 21-15.
  • The Aggies were able to trim the MACU lead down to four before the Evangels cruised to the finish by taking four of the final five, getting kills from Callicoat and Vanessa Moreira before Kaylie Walker put down a service ace on set-point to seal the 25-18 win.
• Set Two
  • Mid-America Christian appeared to start running away with the second set by stringing together four in a row behind three Aggies errors and a Stockhammer service ace to make it 8-3, but OPSU countered with a six-point surge, taking a 9-8 lead on a block by Essence West and Keera Parks.
  • MACU countered with a six-point run of its own as Foecker followed a kill with a pair of service aces and got kills from Callicoat and Porter before a West attack error brought the Evangels' advantage back to 14-9.
  • The Aggies had one more strong run in them, rattling off scores on eight of the next 10 rallies as a Moreira attack error gave OPSU a 17-16 lead.
  • Foecker followed with a kill to tie it up as the Evangels dominated the final third, scoring nine of the final 10 points. Foecker also ended it with a kill tapped over the OPSU block to secure a second straight 25-18 victory.
• Set Three
  • Mid-America Christian would end up playing its longest set of the season to finish off the match, however, the Evangels were able to get off to another solid start by scoring on nine of the first 14 rallies with Callicoat's put-down bringing the score to 9-5.
  • The Aggies retaliated with a 7-1 run to claim a 12-10 lead midway through the set.
  • The Evangels and Aggies battled the rest of the way as neither team could grab larger than a two-point lead until the very end. However, OPSU looked to be in position to win the set when West's kill gave the Aggies the first set-point at 24-23.
  • MACU survived three set-points on a Foecker kill drew it even at 24 and a pair of Callicoat kills to tied it at 25 and 26 before a Zoe Fry attack error gave the Evangels their first match-point at 27-26.
  • Panhandle State was able to stave off three Evangels match-points before a monstrous Foecker kill gave MACU its final match-point before Eduarda Souza blasted an attack just past the back line to give the Evangels an exhilarating 31-29 victory.

MATCH NOTES

• Mid-America Christian shattered the program's three-set match kills record with 56 kills on a .248 attack percentage, surpassing the previous mark of 50 recorded in a three-set loss at John Brown back on Oct. 25, 2016.
• The Evangels held the 23^rd-best attacking team in the NAIA completely in-check, limiting the Aggies to their fifth-lowest attack percentage of the season with only 31 kills on a .149 hitting clip.
• With 43 assists, Lena Stockhammer shattered Calle Solie's three-set match assists record of 39 that was set at Haskell Indian Nations on Oct. 6, 2012.
• Hanna Foecker continued to cement herself in the MACU record books as her 23 kills notched the second-most kills in a three-set match in the NAIA era.
• Maddie Callicoat tied a season-high 13 kills on a .313 attack percentage while Vanessa Moreira also pitched in nine kills on a .375 clip.
• Maegan Plunk the MACU backline defense with 19 digs on a 6.33 per set average to go with seven assists on the offensive end.
• By getting its 19^th win, Mid-America Christian matched the 2020-21 team that broke the NAIA era single season wins record after picking up a victory over Central Christian on Apr. 2 before seeing its year ended four days later with a three-set loss to Texas Wesleyan in the Sooner Athletic Conference Quarterfinals, wrapping up a 19-15 campaign.
• The Evangels also won their eighth straight match, tying the second-longest streak in the NAIA era with their own eight-match streak earlier in the season from Aug. 24 to Sept. 10.
• Mid-America Christian also notched its 10^th Sooner Athletic Conference victory, reaching double-digit league wins for just the second time in program history. The last time it happened came in 2019, as the Evangels finished fifth in the conference standings with a 12-8 conference mark.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will be back in the Gaulke Activity Center on Saturday as the Evangels host Wayland Baptist in a showdown between two of the top teams in the SAC. The match is currently slated for a 1 p.m. opening serve.