POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. – For the first time in program history, the Mid-America Christian volleyball team will be advancing to the NCCAA Division I National Championship Semifinals as the Evangels won Pool A with a three-set sweep over top-seeded and nationally 24
th-ranked Bethel (Ind.) inside Keeter Gymnasium on Friday afternoon.
SCORE
- Mid-America Christian 3, Bethel 0 (25-23, 25-18, 25-23)
- Mid-America Christian (27-10)
- Bethel (29-11)
TOP PERFORMERS
MATCH SUMMARY
- Set One
- Senior outside hitter Hanna Foecker was on-fire right out of the gate, recording four kills on Mid-America Christian's first five points as the Evangels jumped out to an early 8-4 lead on Allison Porter's first put-down of the match
- Bethel rattled off three in a row to close it to within one, but the Evangels were able to hold the Pilots from tying point for the next eight rallies.
- Midway through the set, BU rattled off a 10-4 run to take its largest lead of the set at 20-16 on an Isabelle North and Cheyanne Seymour assisted block.
- Three rallies later, it was Foecker that stemmed the tide as MACU notched four in a row with a Porter kill and two Pilot attack errors to bring it 21-all.
- Bethel reclaimed a 23-22 edge, but Mid-America Christian finished strong as Cloie Mitchell's kill following a service error brought it to set-point before a ball-handling error by the Pilots secured the 25-23 set victory.
- Set Two
- To start the second set, Foecker slapped down four more kills to push MACU out to an 8-3 advantage.
- The Pilots managed to claw it back to within three midway through, but back-to-back kills from Foecker and Vanessa Moreira started a 4-1 swing that Faith Foutch finished off with an ace to bring it to 15-9.
- After calling a timeout, Bethel notched a pair of points off of kills from Maddy Payne and Caroline Mullet, but the Evangels countered with a stifling 5-1 run as MACU took its largest lead of the match on a Moreira kill to make it 20-12.
- Bethel fought back by taking four of the next five, but the Evangels did score three of the final four points to put away the Pilots by a score of 25-18 an assisted block by Maddie Callicoat and Moreira.
- Set Three
- Bethel came out with the momentum to start set three by scoring the first three points and held on to a 7-4 cushion before the Evangels got three in a row off of two attack errors and a Maegan Plunk ace to tie it up.
- However, the Pilots were able to take advantage of four MACU attack errors during a 6-2 surge to hold a 13-9 edge at the midway point.
- A kill by Mitchell swung the momentum back in Mid-America Christian's favor as the Evangels went on an impressive 7-1 run to take a 16-14 lead. Foecker again played a big role during the surge by notching three more kills.
- Pilots fought back to tie it at 17, 18, 20 and 22, but Mid-America Christian would not relinquish the lead to Bethel at any moment during the run.
- Mid-America Christian went to Foecker consistently late in the set as the Borken, Germany native tied her own three-set match record with her 25th kill to break the 22-all tie and then broke it on the ensuing rally to bring it to match-point at 24-22. Following a service error, Foecker finished off the match with a left-side slam toward the back line to secure the 25-23 win.
MATCH NOTES
- Both defenses performed well in the match as the Evangels were held to 40 kills on a .208 hitting clip, but the MACU defense was even stronger, limiting a Bethel squad with one of the nation's top-hitters to just 36 kills on its third-lowest attack percentage of the season at .108.
- The victory over the Pilots is MACU's fourth against a team with at least 20 wins on the season. Mid-America Christian has also posted wins against Southwestern Assemblies of God (26-9), Wayland Baptist (23-11) and Oklahoma Panhandle State (20-12).
- Hanna Foecker put together one of the best matches of her career as her 27 kills eclipsed her previous three-set match record of 25 notched against College of the Ozarks in the NCCAA Central Region Championship on Nov. 18. Foecker finished the match with a .426 attack percentage and also recorded her sixth double-double in the last seven matches as her 15 digs was the most she's turned in in a three-set match in her MACU career.
- Cloie Mitchell also came up with seven kills in the attack, getting some well-timed putdowns with Foecker playing in the back row.
- Lena Stockhammer led the setting efforts with 22 assists with five digs while Faith Foutch tallied 12 assists to go with seven digs in the defense.
- Maegan Plunk, who broke her own MACU single season digs record in last night's win over Warner, had another big day in the defense with 18 digs to go along with a pair of service aces. The Mineola, Texas native has been on a tear from the service line as of late, recording at least two aces in all four matches of NCCAA postseason competition.
- With the win, it is the first time the Mid-America Christian volleyball program has advanced out of NCCAA National Championship pool play since moving up to the Division I level in 2007. The last time the Evangels won their pool, it came all the way back in 2001 as MACU went on to win the NCCAA Division II National Championship with a five-set thriller over Clearwater Christian.
UP NEXT
- Mid-America Christian will face the second-place team out of Pool B in the NCCAA Semifinal on Saturday. The determination will be made upon the completion of the Trinity International/College of the Ozarks match on Friday night. The semifinal match is slated for a 10 a.m. opening serve inside Keeter Gymnasium.
