OKLAHOMA CITY – Senior libero Maegan Plunk broke the Mid-America Christian volleyball program's career digs records and surpassed the 2000 collegiate career digs milestone, but the Evangels fell in straight sets to the University of the Southwest on Wednesday night at the Gaulke Activity Center.
 
SCORE

• Southwest (N.M.) 3, Mid-America Christian 0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-21)
  • Mid-America Christian (16-14)
  • Southwest (5-9)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Maegan Plunk – 28 Digs, 9.33 Digs/Set, 2 Service Aces
• Kaylie Walker – 15 Digs, 5.0 Digs/Set, 1 Service Ace
• Maddie Callicoat – 7 Kills, .227 Atk%
• Morgan Van Meir – 23 Assists, 6 Digs, 2 Kills
• Desiree Brewer – 4 Kills, 3 Blocks

MATCH SUMMARY

• Set One
  • After Southwest jumped out to an early 5-3 advantage, Mid-America Christian rattled off scores on six of the next seven rallies as a Desiree Brewer kill along with service aces from Hanna Foecker and Maegan Plunk pulled the Evangels out to a 9-6 lead.
  • MACU maintained a three-point cushion over the next 12 rallies, but the Mustangs mustered a 5-1 run to recapture a 17-16 edge.
  • The Evangels fought back late to take a 20-19 lead on Faith Foutch's service ace, but USW scored six of the final eight points to take set one, 25-22.
• Set Two
  • The Mustangs opened the second set by scoring on the first five rallies, but MACU utilized a four unanswered run to pull it to within one at 7-6 behind a pair of kills from Foecker and Morgan Van Meir.
  • Four rallies later, it was Southwest that regained the momentum, tallying seven straight points to take a commanding 16-8 advantage in the set.
  • Mid-America Christian fought its way back, pulling it back to within three after taking six of the next seven thanks to a trio of kills from Tiana Nihipali as well as one from Desiree Brewer to make it a 17-14 deficit.
  • Southwest managed to hold on to its lead over the next eight rallies, but kills from Brewer and Foecker during a late four-point surge by the Evangels gave MACU a 22-21 edge.
  • The Mustangs closed out the set by taking four of the final five points to grab a 2-0 advantage with a 25-23 set two win.
• Set Three
  • Southwest once again got off to a fast start, scoring five of the first six points before MACU swung back with four in a row to draw the set even at 5-all.
  • Two rallies later, the Mustangs went on a four-point run that was countered by an 8-2 Evangels run with MACU capturing a 14-12 lead on Maddie Callicoat's kill.
  • The Evangels maintained a three-point cushion over the next seven rallies, but the University of the Southwest closed out the match by outscoring MACU 9-3 down the stretch to secure a three-set sweep with the 25-21 victory.

MATCH NOTES

• Southwest finished with 40 kills on a .140 attack percentage while the Evangels were held to 31 kills on a .065 clip.
• Maegan Plunk was the highlight of the match for the Evangels. Her 28 digs tied her own record for the second-most digs in a three-set match, allowing her to surpass Camera Broadnax as the program's NAIA era career digs leader with 1498.
• Plunk also moved into second on MACU's single season digs list with 617, placing her just eight back of Shebi Johnson's record set during the 2010 season.
• Including her one season competing at Randall, Plunk surpassed a personal milestone as well, recording more than 2000 digs in her collegiate career.
• Hanna Foecker led the MACU attack with eight kills while Maddie Callicoat notched seven kills on a .227 attack percentage and Tiana Nihipali chipped in seven kills as well.
• Morgan Van Meir turned in 23 assists to go with six digs while Desiree Brewer led the defense at the net with three blocks to go with four kills.

NEXT UP

• Mid-America Christian will be back at home on Monday, Mar. 29 as the Evangels will host Langston at 6 p.m. in a crucial Sooner Athletic Conference matchup.