HUTCHINSON, Kan. – The Mid-America Christian volleyball team picked up its first win of the 2021 season on Saturday afternoon, pulling out a 3-2 victory over Tabor (Kan.) before wrapping up the event with a 3-1 loss to McPherson (Kan.) at the KCAC Fall Fling at the Hutchinson Sports Complex.
 

GAME ONE / Mid-America Christian vs. Tabor

• SCORE
  • Mid-America Christian 3, Tabor 2 (22-25, 25-20, 25-23, 26-28, 15-6)
    • Mid-America Christian (1-2)
    • Tabor (0-4)
• TOP PERFORMERS
  • Hanna Foecker – 18 Kills, 7 Digs, 3 Blocks
  • Maddie Callicoat – 13 Kills, .270 Atk%, 3 Blocks
  • Lena Stockhammer – 40 Assists, 5 Kills, 9 Digs, 2 Aces
  • Maegan Plunk – 21 Digs, 2 Aces
  • Allison Porter – 6 Blocks
• MATCH SUMMARY
  • Set One
    • After conceding the first point, Mid-America Christian rattled off six straight, getting a pair of kills from Hanna Foecker, a kill apiece from Clara Zuehlke and Vanessa Moreira to go along with a Madalyn Shurley service ace.
    • With the Evangels holding a three-point lead midway through, Tabor went on a 6-1 run to capture a 13-11 lead.
    • MACU was able to keep it close for the remainder of the set, even tying it at 21-all on kills from Zuehlke and Maddie Callicoat.
    • The Bluejays scored four of the final five points to close out a 25-21 set one win.
  • Set Two
    • MACU got off to a stellar start in the second set, rattling off nine unanswered at the start. Zuehlke notched a pair of kills while Van Meir tallied both a kill and an ace.
    • The Evangels were able to hold a comfortable lead for most of the set, but Tabor strung together a late 8-4 run to cut the MACU lead to 23-19.
    • After trading the next two points, Moreira was able to take advantage of a bad Bluejays pass over the net, slamming a kill down from the middle of the net to secure the 25-20 victory.
  • Set Three
    • The Evangels had an identical start to set three, opening with a 9-0 run that included kills from Hanna Foecker and Lena Stockhammer along with a Foecker and Moreira assisted block.
    • MACU maintained their lead before the Bluejays went on a six unanswered run to draw the set even at 18-all before taking their first lead in the set moments later with two straight following their own service error to bring it to a 20-19 game.
    • Following another TC service error, the tide turned in the set when a pancake dig led to a Callicoat kill to give MACU the lead and the Evangels received another point following a yellow card to the Tabor head coach, setting the score to 22-20.
    • The two teams traded the next five rallies, making it 24-23 before Foecker closed out the set by tooling a kill off the Tabor block on the left side to seal the 25-23 win.
  • Set Four
    • The fourth set was a game of runs for both teams. After MACU opened with a 5-1 run, the Bluejays countered by taking five of the next six to draw it even at six. After trading three-point runs, the Evangels pieced together four straight to make it 13-9.
    • Tabor gained control with the biggest run of the set, sprinting out on a 6-0 run to claim a 16-14 advantage.
    • Despite trailing 21-18 late in the set, the Evangels continued to battle, getting three in a row from a service error, a Stockhammer ace and an assisted block by Callicoat and Allison Porter to draw it back even.
    • The Evangels eventually ended up surviving three game points with Callicoat getting a kill to tie it at 24, a TC attack error drawing it even at 25 and a Foecker kill brought it to 26-all before the Bluejays eventually claimed the final two points to draw the match even.
  • Set Five
    • Mid-America Christian got off to a very important strong start, scoring the first four points behind a Zuehlke kill, a TC attack error, a Foecker kill followed by a Foecker and Moreira assisted block.
    • After Tabor closed it to within two at 6-4, another Foecker kill jumpstarted a string of five straight for MACU. Callicoat came up with two big kills while Shurley put down a service ace during the run.
    • After splitting the next four points, the Evangels finished strong as Porter recorded her sixth block of the match to set up match-point before Maegan Plunk dropped a service ace in for the match-winning point.
• MATCH NOTES
  • Mid-America Christian hit for a better clip despite not recording as many kills, as MACU recorded 52 kills on a .159 attack percentage while Tabor turned in 60 kills on a .135 rate.
  • Where MACU made the biggest difference was at the net and the service line, out-blocking TC 9-4 and recording seven aces to just four for the Bluejays.
  • Three Evangels finished with double-digit kills with Hanna Foecker turning in 18, Maddie Callicoat finishing with 13 and Clara Zuehlke notching 10.
  • For the third straight match, Lena Stockhammer finished with 40 or more assists, narrowly missing a double-double with nine digs, five kills and two aces.
  • Defensively, Maegan Plunk led the backline with 21 digs while Allison Porter finished with a season-high six blocks at the net.
  • It was the third straight match that the Evangels played that went to five sets, the first time that has ever happened since the MACU volleyball program joined the NAIA in 2007.

 
GAME TWO / Mid-America Christian vs. McPherson

• SCORE
  • McPherson 3, Mid-America Christian 1
    • Mid-America Christian (1-3)
    • McPherson (2-1)
• TOP PERFORMERS
  • Hanna Foecker – 13 Kills, 13 Digs
  • Lena Stockhammer – 25 Assists, 5 Digs, 2 Aces
  • Maegan Plunk – 14 Digs
• MATCH SUMMARY
  • Set One
    • While Mid-America Christian was able to hold a 5-4 lead in the early onset, McPherson put together a dominant run, scoring 10 straight points to capture a 14-5 advantage.
    • A Maddie Callicoat kill managed to close the gap to 16-8, but the Bulldogs built their largest lead of the set moments later by winning the next four rallies to make it a 20-8 game.
    • The Evangels could climb no closer as McPherson held on for the 25-13 win.
  • Set Two
    • MACU captured the early momentum, utilizing a four unanswered run with a kill and an ace off the hand of Foecker to give MACU the 10-4 edge.
    • The Evangels maintained a five-point advantage until McPherson made another commanding run following the midway point. With the score at 17-12, the Bulldogs tallied seven in a row to jump in-front 19-17.
    • Mid-America Christian fought back to tie it twice, the first coming at 21 on Foecker's kill and then again at 22 off a McPherson service ace. However, the Bulldogs won the final three rallies to take set two, 25-22.
  • Set Three
    • Despite the Evangels getting off to another strong start with a 7-4 lead, MC once again retaliated by winning eight of the next 11 rallies to grab a 12-9 advantage.
    • With McPherson maintaining a three-point cushion, it was MACU that regained the momentum by forcing the Bulldogs into committing several miscues during a six-point run to give the Evangels the 18-15 edge.
    • While McPherson was able to pull it back to one at 19-18, the Evangels finished the set on a high note, winning six of the final nine rallies as Madalyn Shurley scored a service ace on game-point to give MACU the 25-21 victory.
  • Set Four
    • The Bulldogs dominated the first half of the set, jumping out to a 14-8 lead at the midway point.
    • MACU managed to score four straight featuring a kill from Clara Zuehlke and a service ace from Morgan Van Meir to pull it back to two at 14-12, but McPherson scored six of next eight points to push its advantage back out to 20-14.
    • Mid-America Christian could only close the gap to four the rest of the way as McPherson held on for the 25-19 win for the 3-1 match victory.
• MATCH NOTES
  • Mid-America Christian struggled against the aggressive blocking defense of McPherson, being held to just 30 kills on a .037 attack percentage while the Bulldogs turned in 54 kills on a .210 percentage.
  • The Bulldogs also scored nine aces to MACU's seven while finishing with eight blocks to just two for the Evangels.
  • Hanna Foecker turned in a double-double with 13 kills and 13 digs.

 
NEXT UP

• Mid-America Christian will prepare for its home-opening tri-match on Thursday, Aug. 26. The Evangels will open the meet against Kansas Christian at 2 p.m. before wrapping up against Bethany (Kan.) at 6 p.m. at the Gaulke Activity Center.