OKLAHOMA CITY – With just three weeks left in the regular season, the Mid-America Christian volleyball team is making its preparations for two of its biggest home matches of the season at the Evangels host Southwestern Assemblies of God for a 7 p.m. match on Friday before taking on Texas Wesleyan at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
 
MACU SEASON REPORT

• Record: 19-7 (10-4 SAC)
• Last Match: Lost vs. (RV) Wayland Baptist (Texas) – 3-0 (25-16, 25-11, 25-16) – Oct. 16, 2021 – Oklahoma City (Gaulke Activity Center)
• Stat Leaders:
  • Hanna Foecker – SR – OH
    • 507 Kills, 5.17 K/S, .285 ATK%, 183 Digs, 1.87 D/S, 38 Blocks, 0.39 BLK/S, 23 Aces, 0.23 SA/S
  • Lena Stockhammer – SO – S
    • 995 Assists, 10.15 AST/S, 171 Digs, 1.74 D/S, 71 Kills, .268 ATK%, 30 Aces, 0.31 SA/S, 25 Blocks, 0.26 BLK/S
  • Maegan Plunk – SR – L
    • 499 Digs, 5.09 D/S, 62 Assists, 0.63 AST/S, 16 Aces, 0.16 SA/S
  • Allison Porter – SO – MB
    • 98 Blocks, 1.03 BLK/S, 97 Kills, 1.02 K/S, .232 ATK%
• Team Notes:
  • Mid-America Christian had its eight-match win streak snapped by Wayland Baptist on Oct. 16, falling in three sets to the Pioneers. The streak tied the program's second-longest streak in the NAIA era, matching an eight-match run earlier this season.
  • In MACU's three-set sweep over Oklahoma Panhandle State last Friday, the Evangels matched the 2020-21 team for the most wins in a single season in the NAIA era with their 19^th victory.
  • The Evangels currently have several players on the precipice of reaching season milestones. Last week, Hanna Foecker became the first player in the NAIA to surpass 500 kills and surged past Christiane Costa for the second-most kills in a single season. Foecker needs just 19 kills to tie her own program record of 526 set last season. Sophomore setter Lena Stockhammer is just five assists away from becoming just the second player since the program joined the NAIA in 2007 to reach 1000 assists in a season. Stockhammer needs 175 assists to catch Calle Solie's 2012 record mark. In the defense, Maegan Plunk needs just one dig to reach 500 digs on the season and 17 to tie her own fourth-best mark in the MACU single season record book.
  • Despite suffering a loss to Wayland Baptist last week, the Evangels are still in the thick of things for the Sooner Athletic Conference title, sitting just two games back of Texas Wesleyan in the standings. The Evangels are currently in fifth in the standings, just a game back of Southwestern Assemblies of God for fourth and 1.5 games back of Oklahoma City and Wayland Baptist tied for second.

SCOUTING REPORT
Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas)

• Record: 18-6 (11-3 SAC)
• Last Match: Won vs. Central Christian – 3-0 (25-9, 25-12, 25-3) – Oct. 16, 2021 – Waxahachie, Texas
• Series vs. MACU (NAIA Era): SAGU leads 31-4
• Last Match vs. MACU: SAGU won 3-2 (22-25, 16-25, 25-23, 25-10, 15-6) – Sept. 18, 2021 – Waxahachie, Texas
• Stat Leaders:
  • Alexis Mealer – JR – OH
    • 272 Kills, 3.58 K/S, .232 ATK%, 109 Digs, 1.43 D/S, 48 Blocks, 0.63 BLK/S
  • Ava Myers – SO – OH
    • 263 Kills, 2.99 K/S, .167 ATK%, 174 Digs, 1.98 D/S, 36 Aces, 0.41 SA/S, 24 Blocks, 0.27 BLK/S
  • Riley Burcham – SO – S
    • 913 Assists, 10.38 AST/S, 229 Digs, 2.60 D/S, 72 Kills, .249 ATK%, 47 Blocks, 0.53 BLK/S
  • Tessa Glick – FR – DS
    • 346 Digs, 3.93 D/S, 34 Assists, 0.39 AST/S, 25 Aces, 0.28 SA/S
  • Emma Tompkins – SO – MH
    • 97 Blocks, 1.10 BLK/S, 187 Kills, 2.13 K/S, .283 ATK%
• Team Notes:
  • SW Assemblies of God enters Friday night's contest with a three-match win streak after defeating Langston and Central Christian in conference play last week to go along with a non-conference win against St. Thomas (Texas).
  • The Lady Lions are a balanced team that rank in the NAIA top 50 in multiple statistical categories, including: assists per set (11.98, 35^th), points per set (16.4, 36^th), digs per set (17.47, 37^th), kills per set (12.63, 40^th) and blocks per set (1.95, 49^th).
  • The matchup with SAGU will be an important one for the Evangels as a win over the Lady Lions would draw the two teams even in the SAC standings.
  • MACU will be looking to get some revenge on the Lions after SAGU rallied from two sets down, pulling out a tightly contested third set before running away with the final two to hand the Evangels a 3-2 defeat on Sept. 18 in Waxahachie. The last time the two teams met in the Gaulke Activity Center, the Evangels picked up their first win against the Lions since 2012 with a thrilling 3-2 victory on Mar. 8.

Texas Wesleyan

• Record: 17-5 (12-2 SAC)
• Last Match: Won at Huston-Tillotson (Texas) – 3-0 (25-18, 25-12, 25-19) – Oct. 19, 2021 – Austin, Texas
• Series vs. MACU (NAIA Era): TWU leads 20-0
• Last Match vs. MACU: TWU won 3-1 (20-25, 25-16, 25-17, 25-17) – Sept. 17, 2021 – Fort Worth, Texas
• Stat Leaders:
  • Sydney Charlton – JR – RS
    • 190 Kills, 2.84 K/S, .340 ATK%, 36 Blocks, 0.54 BLK/S
  • Bailey Foy – SR – MB
    • 183 Kills, 3.45 K/S, .442 ATK%, 56 Blocks, 1.06 BLK/S
  • Morgan Burns – SR – S
    • 660 Assists, 10.00 AST/S, 147 Digs, 2.27 D/S
  • Skylar Warde – JR – OH/DS
    • 207 Digs, .276 D/S
• Team Notes:
  • Despite getting off to just a 1-4 start to the 2021 season, Texas Wesleyan has been on-fire since Sept. 4, winning 16 of its last 18 matches. The Lady Rams are coming off a 3-0 sweep at Huston-Tillotson on Tuesday.
  • The Lady Rams are statistically one of the best attacking teams in the NAIA, ranking eighth in team hitting percentage (.269), 13^th in assists per set (12.75) and 18^th in kills per set (13.29).
  • The Evangels will need to contest with a balanced attacking front line that features one of the best in the nation in senior middle blocker Bailey Foy. This season, Foy ranks second in the NAIA in hitting percentage at .442 and is the team's leader in blocks with 56 while ranking second in kills with 183 at a team-best 3.45 per set clip.
  • Mid-America Christian will be seeking its first ever win against Texas Wesleyan as the Lady Rams have taken the first 20 in the series since MACU joined the SAC in 2007. The last time the two teams met, MACU got off to a strong start by taking a 25-20 opening set, before falling in the final three in a 3-1 defeat in Fort Worth, Texas on Sept. 17.