OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian volleyball team suffered its first home loss of the season on Saturday as the Evangels were swept in straight sets by Wayland Baptist inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
 
SCORE

• Wayland Baptist 3, Mid-America Christian 0 (25-16, 25-11, 25-16)
  • Mid-America Christian (19-7, 10-4 SAC)
  • Wayland Baptist (19-5, 12-2 SAC)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Hanna Foecker – 13 Kills, 5 Digs
• Allison Porter – 7 Kills, .294 ATK%, 2 Blocks
• Lena Stockhammer – 26 Assists, 6 Digs
• Maegan Plunk – 14 Digs

MATCH SUMMARY

• Set One
  • Wayland Baptist managed to jump out to an early 9-6 lead, but Mid-America Christian was able to string together a strong run just four rallies later. The Evangels rattled off four unanswered with a pair of kills by Hanna Foecker and Allison Porter to go with a pair of Pioneers attack errors to capture a 12-11 edge.
  • After trading the next two points, Wayland Baptist countered with a string of five straight to reclaim a 17-13 advantage.
  • The Evangels were able to close it to within two after scoring three of the next four points on a pair of Porter kills and a Foecker put-down, but the Pioneers closed out the set with a 7-0 run to claim a 25-16 win.
• Set Two
  • The two teams were relatively even through the first five rallies as a Vanessa Moreira kill gave MACU a 3-2 cushion before Wayland Baptist surged in-front with seven unanswered to claim a 9-3 edge.
  • Following an Ariel Marquez service error, the Pioneers strung together a 7-1 run to hold a commanding 16-5 advantage.
  • The Evangels could do little to slow down the red-hot Pioneers as Wayland Baptist scored nine of the final 15 points to secure a 25-11 win.
• Set Three
  • Mid-America Christian got off to a strong start, scoring five of the first six points all of which off of kills by Foecker, Moreira, Porter and Kaylie Walker.
  • Wayland Baptist once again had a strong counter to the Evangels, scoring eight straight to take back a 9-5 advantage.
  • After a WBU attack error briefly thwarted the run, the Pioneers once again surged away by scoring 10 of the next 13 points to bring the score to 19-9 heading into the final stretch.
  • The Evangels were able to rattle off three in a row behind a Moreira kill, Walker service ace and a Tatijana Markic attack error, but the Pioneers were able to hold off the MACU comeback by scoring six of the final 10 to seal the 25-16 sweep.

MATCH NOTES

• Mid-America Christian struggled in the attack as the Evangels were held to their third-lowest hitting percentage of the season, registering 34 kills on a .133 attack percentage. On the other side, the Evangels struggled to slow down a Wayland Baptist team that boasted the best hitting percentage any team had hit against MACU this season, swatting down 39 kills on a .340 clip.
• Hanna Foecker recorded her 500^th kill of the season in the loss, needing just nine to reach the mark, the Borken, Germany product finished with 13 kills on a .136 attack percentage.
• The Evangels needed the win to stay within striking distance for the SAC title, but after falling to the league leader, MACU now trails Wayland Baptist and Texas Wesleyan by two games in the SAC standings.
• Mid-America Christian also saw its eight-match win streak come to an end. The win over the Aggies yesterday tied the second-longest streak in the NAIA era.
• After going 6-0 in all of their previous matches inside the Gaulke Activity Center, the Evangels dropped their first home match of the 2021 season.

UP NEXT

• The Evangels will look to get back on-track on Friday, Oct. 22 as Mid-America Christian will host Southwestern Assemblies of God for a 7 p.m. match inside the Gaulke Activity Center.