POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. – The fourth-seeded Mid-America Christian volleyball team had an excellent start in its third straight trip to the NCCAA National Championships as the Evangels grinded out a five-set win over Judson before sweeping Warner at Keeter Gym on Thursday.
Not only did the Evangels win at least two matches at the NCCAA National Championships for the first time since moving up to the Division I level, but also took the lead in Pool A after Judson upset top-seeded Bethel later in the afternoon.
GAME ONE / Mid-America Christian vs. Judson
SCORE
- Mid-America Christian 3, Judson 2 (25-16, 18-25, 25-18, 18-25, 15-12)
- Mid-America Christian (25-10)
- Judson (23-12)
TOP PERFORMERS
MATCH SUMMARY
- Set One
- The two teams were even through the first six rallies, but Maddie Callicoat's kill jumpstarted a 4-1 run as three Cloie Mitchell kills gave MACU an early 7-4 lead.
- Judson battled back to tie it up at 9-all, but the Evangels were able to prevent the Eagles from taking the lead over the next 12 rallies as Kara Wicklund's kill drew it back even at 15.
- Following a Katie Valeria attack error on the ensuing play, another Cloie Mitchell helped Mid-America Christian stem a dominant 8-0 streak as another Valeria attack error wrapped up the run at 23-15.
- Wicklund finally ended the run with a kill, but the Evangels closed out strong as kills from Mitchell and Faith Foutch ended the set in MACU's favor by a score of 25-16.
- Set Two
- Judson jumped out to an early 4-1 lead before a Skylar Cavil service error started a 6-1 MACU surge, including a string of four unanswered as a Hanna Foecker kill gave MACU the 7-5 edge.
- The Eagles briefly drew it back even at 8-8 before three JU errors allowed the Evangels to secure another 11-8 cushion.
- JU responded with three unanswered of their own before a Mitchell kill gave MACU the lead back. However, the Eagles picked up two more to take back a 13-12 advantage.
- An Eagles service error and Foecker kill swung the lead back to MACU's side, but Judson closed out the second half of the set with an overpowering 12-4 run to draw the match even with the 25-18 set win.
- Set Three
- The two evenly placed seeds played to the billing with a dead split between the first 12 rallies, but Mid-America Christian took advantage of three Eagles errors to go with a Foecker kill to hold a 10-6 lead.
- JU cut the deficit in half before three more Foecker kills, a Vanessa Moreira kill and three Eagles miscues swelled the MACU advantage to 17-9.
- Following a late timeout, Judson strung together five unanswered to close it to 20-17, but the Evangels closed out by scoring five of the final six, getting two Maegan Plunk service aces before Mitchell put down a kill on set-point to seal the 25-18 win.
- Set Four
- MACU was prolific in its attack at the start of set four, getting six kills with four coming off the hand of Foecker along with Foutch and Mitchell to grab the 6-3 edge.
- Following Foecker's service error, the Eagles rattled off five in a row as Enola Varga's ace made it 8-6 in favor of Judson.
- A service error by Varga only briefly halted the JU run as the Eagles tallied five more to extend the Judson lead to 13-7 at the midway point.
- The Evangels tallied four of the next five behind kills from Callicoat, Mitchell and Walker to close it to 14-11, but Judson countered with a 5-1 streak of its own to put it back out to a 19-12 advantage.
- Mid-America Christian was unable to chip away at the Judson lead over the final 12 rallies as the Eagles forced a fifth-set with the third-straight 25-18 decision.
- Set Five
- The Evangels notched the first four points off of two JU attack errors along with a Foecker kill and Walker service ace.
- After Judson scored two of the next three, MACU took its largest lead of the set following kills from Foecker and Allison Porter before Callicoat and Porter teamed up on a block to bring it to 8-2.
- The Eagles didn't go down without a fight as two rallies later, the Eagles went on a massive seven-point swing, taking a 10-9 lead off of Emmaline Davey's kill.
- MACU managed to swing the momentum back in its favor on the following rally as Porter slapped down a kill prior to Mitchell getting a kill and Danielle Gibson committing a service error to make it a 12-10 Evangels' edge.
- Kills from Davey and Valeria tied it up once again at 12, but Callicoat and Mitchell countered with kills to bring it to match point at 14-12. On the final play of the game, Valeria's attack went into the right side of the net and dropped on Judson's side for an error to wrap up the 15-12 final.
MATCH NOTES
- Mid-America Christian outhit Judson for the match with 59 kills on .247 attack percentage while the Eagles finished with 55 kills on a .214 clip. The Evangels also finished with the edge from the service line with nine aces to just seven for Judson.
- Senior outside hitter Hanna Foecker notched her 11th double-double of the season and her fourth in the last five matches as she put down 25 kills on a .308 attack percentage to go with 13 digs in the defense.
- Running a 6-2 rotation for the first time this season, sophomore setter Lena Stockhammer led the way with 25 assists to go with seven digs. In her first match at the setter position, Faith Foutch recorded a double-double with 21 dimes to go with 11 digs and five kills on a .231 attack percentage.
- Maegan Plunk led the defense with 25 digs while Kaylie Walker also notched 15 digs in the MACU back row.
- Junior right side hitter Maddie Callicoat recorded a career-high four service aces to go with five digs and three kills at the net.
- Mid-America Christian got its revenge against Judson in just the second meeting between the two programs. The Eagles defeated the Evangels 17-25, 25-21, 27-25, 27-25 in a tightly contested match at the NCCAA National Championships in Point Lookout, Mo. back on Dec. 5, 2019.
- The Evangels improved to 5-5 in five-set matches on season with the win.
GAME TWO / Mid-America Christian vs. Warner
SCORE
- Mid-America Christian 3, Warner 0 (25-14, 25-14, 25-16)
- Mid-America Christian (26-10)
- Warner (6-23)
TOP PERFORMERS
MATCH SUMMARY
- Set One
- Mid-America Christian got off to a commanding start, outscoring Warner 11-3 through the first half of the set. Maddie Callicoat, Hanna Foecker and Allison Porter each recorded a pair of kills during the run while Porter also notched a solo block with an assisted block from Vanessa Moreira and Faith Foutch.
- The Evangels maintained their three-point cushion for the next 14 rallies before Warner rattled off three straight to close it to 18-13.
- MACU finished strong by outscoring the Royals 7-1 down the stretch. Porter and Mitchell each tallied a pair of kills during the run before Callicoat smacked down the kill on set-point to seal the 25-14 win.
- Set Two
- After conceding the first two points, the Evangels surged in-front with an 11-3 outpouring as a Becca Mack miscue extended the MACU edge to six. Foecker and Porter again each notched two kills while also teaming up on blocks during consecutive points.
- Warner kept it to within five over the next several rallies as a Mindy Manduley kill made it 15-10 before the Evangels tallied back-to-back points on a service error and Porter kill.
- The Royals once again found a groove, getting three in a row to close to four before Mid-America Christian ended the set with a strong streak. The Evangels scored eight of the final nine points as a Kalyn Cormier kill ended another 25-14 decision in favor of MACU.
- Set Three
- Two Foecker kills and a Kaylie Walker service ace allowed the Evangels to jump out to a 4-1 cushion before Warner fought back to tie it up at 7-apiece following a three-point swing.
- Mid-America Christian once again strung together a dominant 11-3 run as a kill from Foutch pushed it out to an 18-10 Evangels edge.
- Three in a row from the Royals allowed them to close it to five, but MACU finished strong by tallying seven of the final 10 points, which included getting the final three points to secure the 25-16 final.
MATCH NOTES
- Mid-America Christian finished with 44 kills on an efficient .310 attack percentage while limiting Warner to only 21 kills at a .037 hitting rate.
- Hanna Foecker notched her second straight double-double at the NCCAA National Championships with a team-high 11 kills on a .276 clip to go with 10 digs and a pair of blocks.
- Allison Porter was also a big time presence at the net for MACU with nine kills at a .400 attack percentage with a team-high three blocks.
- Faith Foutch narrowly missed getting her second straight double-double with her move to the setter position, turning a team-high 22 assists and nine digs to go with three kills in the attack.
- Maegan Plunk continued to play at an excellent rate in the MACU defense with 19 digs, averaging 6.3 digs per set.
- By getting the win, it marked the first time since the program moved up to the NCCAA Division I level that the team won two matches at the National Championships.
UP NEXT
- Mid-America Christian will have the opportunity to win its pool on Friday as the Evangels will face top-seeded and nationally 24th-ranked Bethel (Ind.) for a 1 p.m. match. MACU currently leads Pool A with a 2-0 record heading into the final day of pool play.
