OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian volleyball team ended the regular season on a high note, coming away with a dominant three-set sweep over Central Christian on Senior Day inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Saturday.
 
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 3, Central Christian 0 (25-7, 25-13, 25-12)
  • Mid-America Christian (23-9, 14-6 SAC)
  • Central Christian (1-31, 1-19 SAC)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Hanna Foecker – 18 Kills, .452 ATK%, 11 Digs, 2 Aces
• Lena Stockhammer – 37 Assists, 6 Kills, .750 ATK%, 6 Digs
• Kaylie Walker – 14 Digs, 4 Aces, 2 Kills
• Vanessa Moreira – 7 Kills, .538 ATK%, 2 Blocks

MATCH SUMMARY

• Set One
  • Mid-America Christian started out hot out of the gate, scoring the first six points to jump out to a 14-3 lead through the first half of the set. Hanna Foecker led the Evangels with four of MACU's nine kills while Vanessa Moreira chipped in a pair to go with one apiece from Maddie Callicoat, Allison Porter and Lena Stockhammer.
  • MACU was nearly unstoppable the rest of the way, as the Evangels utilized a five-unanswered run entering the final third, bringing the score to 21-5 behind a Moreira kill followed by a McKenzie Cook setting error.
  • The Evangels scored four of the final five as Moreira put down an excellently placed service ace on set-point to wrap up the 25-7 victory.
• Set Two
  • Foecker was nearly unstoppable in the early going as MACU jumped out to an 8-2 advantage. The senior from Borken, Germany put down four kills to go along with an ace apiece from Kaylie Walker and Stockhammer during the run.
  • After Central Christian tallied a pair of points to briefly thwart the Evangels, Mid-America Christian was able to utilize a 7-1 run that featured a two Foecker service aces and a pair of Cloie Mitchell kills to extend the Evangels' edge to 15-5.
  • MACU took its largest lead of the set following a string of four unanswered, as kills from Foecker, Moreira and Stockhammer followed by an ace from Walker made it a 21-8 score. The Evangels closed out the set nine rallies later, as a Foecker kill on set point ended it at 25-13.
• Set Three
  • The start of the final set was very similar to the beginning of the second as the Evangels opened with an 8-2 run through the first 10 rallies. Foecker put down two more kills alongside one apiece from Callicoat, Moreira and Stockhammer during this stretch.
  • Central Christian tried to fight its way back by tallying three of the next four, but MACU essentially put the game out of reach after a Callicoat slam ignited seven unanswered streak. Callicoat notched a kill at the tail-end of the run to make it a 16-5 Evangels advantage.
  • On the final rally, Kalyn Cormier made a fantastic diving dig that led to a Stockhammer setter dump kill on match point wrap up the 25-12 victory for MACU in set three.

MATCH NOTES

• Mid-America Christian finished the match with 47 kills on a very efficient .383 attack percentage while limiting Central Christian to just 10 kills on a .029 clip. The 10 kills recorded by the Tigers were the fewest the Evangels have given up all season and were the fewest MACU had conceded in a fully completed three-set match in the NAIA era.
• Competing in her final regular season home match, senior outside hitter Hanna Foecker put together another fantastic outing, swatting 18 kills on a .452 attack percentage while also recording 11 digs and two service aces. In the match, Foecker became the first player in the NAIA to reach 600 kills on the season (615) as well as reached the 1500-kill milestone at MACU.
• Sophomore setter Lena Stockhammer finished just an assist shy of tying her three-set career high with 37 while having her best match of the season in the attack, finishing with six kills on a .750 attack percentage to go with six digs in the defense. Stockhammer became the first setter since the program joined the NAIA in 2007 to eclipse 1200 assists in a season (1211).
• In her final regular season match in the Gaulke Activity Center, Kaylie Walker led the defensive efforts with 14 digs and also recorded a team-high and season-high four service aces. With 142 career aces, Walker needs just two more to tie Hannah Luedkte for the most career service aces in the NAIA era.
• Prior to the start of the match, Mid-America Christian honored its three seniors: Hanna Foecker, Maegan Plunk and Kaylie Walker. The three players have been part of the winningest seasons since the program joined the NAIA.
• By getting the win compounded by a Wayland Baptist loss to Oklahoma City, Mid-America Christian ended the regular season in a tie for fourth place with the Pioneers in the Sooner Athletic Conference standings, its highest finish in the league table in program history.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will be seeking another win at Wayland Baptist in the SAC Quarterfinals on Tuesday, Nov. 9 as the Evangels will face the Pioneers at 7 p.m. inside the Hutcherson Center in Plainview, Texas.