OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian volleyball team pulled off a major upset on Monday night as the Evangels topped Southwestern Assemblies of God 3-2, defeating the Lady Lions for the first time since 2012 and its first win against SAGU in the Gaulke Activity Center since 2010.

SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 3, SW Assemblies of God 2 (27-25, 25-23, 16-25, 15-25, 15-13)
  • Mid-America Christian (12-11, 2-3 SAC)
  • SW Assemblies of God (7-4, 3-2 SAC)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Hanna Foecker – 18 kills, .113 attack percentage, 11 digs, 3 blocks
• Maddie Callicoat – 14 kills, .294 attack percentage, 6 blocks, 3 digs
• Morgan Van Meir – 43 assists, 11 digs, 1 service ace, 1 block
• Maegan Plunk – 29 digs

MATCH SUMMARY

• Set One
  • Southwestern Assemblies of God sprinted out to a 6-1 run and maintained a six-point advantage until it was 11-5 at the midway point.
  • The Evangels strung together six unanswered behind kills from Tiana Nihipali, Faith Foutch and Maddie Callicoat to draw it even at 11.
  • SAGU recaptured the momentum on back-to-back Emma Tompkins kills, starting a 5-1 run to grab a 16-12 lead once again, but the Evangels were quick to counter as three more kills from Nihipali, Callicoat and Hanna Foecker to go with an assisted block form Callicoat and Foutch brought it back to even once again at 16-16.
  • After the two teams traded 3-1 runs, the Lady Lions darted out in-front with three unanswered and maintained it up to game-point at 24-21.
  • With the Evangels' backs against the wall, Callicoat came up with a huge solo block off a free attack from SAGU on an overpass before Nihipali added another kill and Morgan Van Meir was able to get a service ace to tie it all up at 24-all.
  • Despite giving up a point on the ensuing possession to put game-point back in SAGU's favor, Callicoat continued to step up as MACU scored the final three points, two of which coming off the hand of the sophomore right side hitter to pull out the 27-25 victory.
• Set Two
  • Mid-America Christian was the one that gathered the early momentum in the second set with four of the Evangels' first six points coming off of kills. Foecker notched two of while Callicoat and Nihipali each tallied one to give MACU the early 6-2 edge.
  • After SAGU briefly brought it to within one, the Evangels and Lady Lions traded 3-0 and 4-0 runs to bring it to a 10-all tie, forcing MACU head coach Holly McKamie to call a timeout.
  • The two teams traded the next 12 rallies before the Lions pulled out in-front with three straight to make it a 19-16 Evangels deficit.
  • MACU got a spark from two of its freshmen off the bench in Ashlin Punneo and Cierra Guererro. Punneo's kill jumpstarted a 5-1 Evangels run that was capped off on Guererro's service ace to reclaim a 21-20 edge.
  • Despite SAGU's Ava Myers and Nikki Almaguer coming up with a pair of big kills, Callicoat was clutch down the stretch, registering three kills and then came up with a big assisted block with Foutch on game-point to secure a 25-23 win.
• Set Three
  • Despite the Evangels scoring the first two points, Southwestern Assemblies of God rattled off points on 11 of the next 15 rallies to grab an 11-6 lead at the midway point.
  • A pair of kills from Callicoat and Foecker helped pull it back to two, but the Lady Lions retaliated with a four-unanswered run of their own to extend the advantage to 15-9.
  • MACU was unable climb any closer than five the rest of the way as SAGU tallied six of the final eight points to close out a 25-16 victory to cut its deficit to 2-1.
• Set Four
  • Mid-America Christian managed to grab a narrow 5-4 advantage through the first nine rallies before the Lady Lions found five in a row to pull out to a four-point edge.
  • Even though Foecker came up with two kills on the next three points, SAGU blew the doors open in the fourth set with an 8-2 run stretch the Lady Lions lead to 18-9.
  • MACU was unable to string together a late rally as Southwestern Assemblies of God drew the match even with the 25-15 set four win.
• Set Five
  • The decisive fifth set was a back-and-forth struggle through the first eight rallies with neither team garnering more than a one-point lead before MACU took advantage of a pair of SAGU errors to start a 4-1 run. A Nihipali kill and a Guerrero service ace capped off the run, giving MACU an 8-5 cushion and forcing the Lady Lions into calling a timeout.
  • Southwestern Assemblies of God managed to get a pair back out of the break, but the Evangels answered with three of the next four to reclaim a three-point lead at 11-8.
  • The Lady Lions managed to fight their way back, tying it at 13-all, but the Evangels were able to take advantage of a SAGU ballhandling error to force match point before Desiree Brewer blasted a kill up the middle to secure the Evangels' 15-13 win for the 3-2 victory.

MATCH NOTES

• While Southwestern Assemblies of God outhit the Evangels for 60 kills on a .178 attack percentage to 54 kills for a .136 clip, MACU hit for a better clip in three of the five sets it won.
• A bulk of the MACU scoring came from Hanna Foecker and Maddie Callicoat. Foecker finished with 18 kills on a .113 attack percentage to go with three block assists and 11 digs. Meanwhile, Callicoat had her best match of the season both offensively and defensively by turning in 14 kills and six total blocks.
• Morgan Van Meir led the passing efforts with her third 40-plus assist match in the last four, turning in 43 to go with 11 digs for a double-double while Maegan Plunk led the backline with 29 digs.
• Even though the Evangels have had some close calls in the past, Mid-America Christian picked up its first win over SAGU since Nov. 15, 2012, when MACU went into Waxahachie, Texas and came away with a three-set sweep over the Lady Lions.
• The victory also snapped an 11-year drought for MACU at home against SAGU. The last time the Evangels defeated Southwestern Assemblies of God inside the Gaulke Activity Center came on Nov. 20, 2010 as MACU pulled out a 3-1 win.

NEXT UP

• Mid-America Christian will have another tough road test on Thursday as the Evangels will head to Fort Worth, Texas to take on Texas Wesleyan for a 6 p.m. match.