OKLAHOMA CITY – Despite facing one of the top teams in the Sooner Athletic Conference shorthanded, the Mid-America Christian volleyball team took Oklahoma Panhandle State to the wire, falling in five sets at the Gaulke Activity Center on Friday night.
 
SCORE

• Oklahoma Panhandle State 3, Mid-America Christian 2 (25-22, 25-21, 23-25, 23-25, 15-12)
  • Mid-America Christian (11-10, 1-2 SAC)
  • Oklahoma Panhandle State (8-1, 3-0 SAC)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Hanna Foecker – 23 kills, .266 attack percentage, 19 digs, 1 block
• Maddie Callicoat – 13 kills, .163 attack percentage
• Faith Foutch – 10 kills, .207 attack percentage, 6 digs
• Morgan Van Meir – 45 assists, 15 digs, 2 service aces
• Maegan Plunk – 23 digs, 1 service ace

MATCH SUMMARY

• Set One
  • Oklahoma Panhandle State controlled the early momentum, scoring points on 13 of the first 19 rallies to hold a commanding 13-6 edge midway through.
  • Mid-America Christian continued to fight its way back, countering with a 10-3 run to take an 18-17 lead on Eduarda Souza attack error. Morgan Van Meir and Maegan Plunk came up with aces during the comeback while Hanna Foecker and Maddie Callicoat notched a kill apiece.
  • After trading blows over the next four rallies, the Aggies pulled away by scoring six of the final eight points to pull out a late 25-22 win.
• Set Two
  • The two squads split the first six rallies, but much like the first set, OPSU seized control by scoring 12 of the following 18 points, which included a string of five in a row to start the run to maintain a huge 15-8 advantage.
  • Callicoat and Foecker helped jumpstart MACU's largest rally of the night, as back-to-back kills from Callicoat followed by three straight kills by Foecker started a string of seven unanswered, capped off on a Kaylie Walker service ace to tie it up at 15-all.
  • Despite breaking even over the next 10 rallies with Foecker's kill tying it up at 20, the Aggies once again finished strong by scoring five of the final six points to secure a 25-21 win and a two-set advantage overall.
• Set Three
  • Neither team could gain more than a three-point margin through the first half of the set before a block by Desiree Brewer and Van Meir ignited a five unanswered run to pull the Evangels out to an 18-14 lead, forcing the Aggies to call a timeout.
  • OPSU had a strong response out of the break, notching five of the following six points to draw the set back even at 19-all.
  • Mid-America Christian countered with a 5-1 run of their own, featuring a Van Meir service ace to go with kills from Callicoat and Foecker to bring it to game point at 24-20.
  • Panhandle State rattled off three straight to pull it back to within a point, but Foecker came up with the clutch kill on the fourth game-point to grab its first set win of the match at 25-23.
• Set Four
  • Mid-America Christian seized control in the early going, scoring the first four points and led by as much as five over the 25-rally stretch as a Foecker kill and an OPSU setting error allowed MACU to hold the 15-10 lead midway through.
  • After swapping points on consecutive rallies, Panhandle State found its way back into the set by taking six of the next eight from the Evangels to pull it to within one at 18-17, prompting MACU head coach Holly McKamie to call a timeout.
  • The Evangels responded well to the break, as a Callicoat kill started a three unanswered run before the Aggies answered with three straight of their own to pull it back to 21-20.
  • OPSU went toe-to-toe with the Evangels down the stretch. Another kill from Callicoat gave the Evangels game-point at 24-22 before OPSU's Essence West tallied a kill to make it a one-point game once again. However, on the second game point, the Aggies made a costly error to allow the Evangels to draw the match even with a 25-23 set four victory.
• Set Five
  • The decisive fifth-set was a back-and-forth affair through the first 10 rallies with neither team gaining larger than a one-point cushion before OPSU got another strong kill from West followed by a pair of MACU errors to grab an 8-5 edge, forcing MACU to call a timeout.
  • The Evangels were able to close it back to within one at 13-12 behind a 3-1 run that featured back-to-back Faith Foutch kills, forcing the Aggies to use one of their timeouts.
  • OPSU finished off the match on consecutive kills from Rebecca Candido and West to upend the Evangels' upset bid by score of 15-12.

MATCH NOTES

• Ever since Oklahoma Panhandle State's season-opening loss to Tabor (Kan.), the Evangels are the only team to take the Aggies to five sets.
• Oklahoma Panhandle State managed to outhit the Evangels by a .185-to-.135 margin, but MACU performed well against an Aggies defense and blocking scheme that was averaging 3.0 blocks per set, but could only muster 1.6 against the MACU attack while the .135 attack percentage was the third-highest clip hit against OPSU this season.
• Hanna Foecker led the MACU attack by tying a season-high 23 kills, the sixth time she's tallied 20 or more kills this season on a strong .266 attack percentage. The Sudlohn, Germany product also had her best defensive game in an Evangels uniform, notching a career-high 19 digs.
• Junior setter Morgan Van Meir also put together a career day as her 45-assist match was a new career-high, topping the 43 she recorded at John Brown on Feb. 22.
• For the second straight match, Maddie Callicoat tied her season-high with 13 kills on a .163 attack percentage.
• Faith Foutch finished with a career-high 10 kills on a .207 attack percentage, her most kills in a match since tallying eight against Oklahoma City Oct. 17, 2019.
• Senior libero turned in her eighth 20-plus dig performance of the season, leading the defense with 23 digs.

NEXT UP

• Mid-America Christian will play its third match in four days as the Evangels will host Wayland Baptist for an 11 a.m. matchup on Saturday inside the Gaulke