GOODWELL, Okla. – The Mid-America Christian volleyball team put together a tough fight in its second five-set match in an 18-hour stretch, but the Evangels were unable to stop Oklahoma Panhandle State from coming back in a 3-2 defeat at the Anchor D Arena on Saturday afternoon.
 
Mid-America Christian at Oklahoma Panhandle State

• SCORE
  • Oklahoma Panhandle State 3, Mid-America Christian 2 (20-25, 19-25, 25-22, 25-21, 16-14)
    • Mid-America Christian (9-4, 3-1 SAC)
    • Oklahoma Panhandle State (10-3, 4-0 SAC)
• TOP PERFORMERS
  • Hanna Foecker – 21 Kills, .210 ATK%, 5 Digs
  • Maddie Callicoat – 13 Kills, .242 ATK%
  • Vanessa Moreira – 11 Kills, .222 ATK%, 6 Digs, 4 Blocks
  • Lena Stockhammer – 51 Assists, 9 Digs, 4 Kills
  • Maegan Plunk – 27 Digs
• MATCH SUMMARY
  • Set One
    • After falling behind 6-3 early in the set, Mid-America Christian rattled off four in a row started by an Allison Porter kill and ended by a Porter block to take a 7-6 edge.
    • The Evangels and Aggies traded the next seven points before MACU broke a 10-all tie by going on a five unanswered run. Hanna Foecker turned in three kills while Lena Stockhammer also chipped in a kill as well before the run ended on a Stockhammer and Vanessa Moreira block.
    • Just past the midway point, Panhandle State scored three straight to close it to 18-15.
    • MACU and OPSU traded scores on 10 straight rallies before the Evangels finished off the Aggies with a Stockhammer kill and an Essense West attack error to close out the 25-20 victory.
  • Set Two
    • OPSU opened the set by scoring four of the first five points before Mid-America Christian streaked out in-front with six consecutive points, four of which came off Foecker kills to grab a 7-4 lead.
    • The Aggies countered with a 5-1 run of their own to recapture a 9-8 advantage on an Alanys Ruiz kill.
    • After battling to an 11-all time, MACU finally captured the lead for good by scoring on six of the next seven rallies. Moreira put down a pair of kills while Foecker turned in a pair of kills to end the run at 17-12.
    • Panhandle State chipped the MACU edge down to three at 20-17 before the Evangels closed out by scoring five of the next seven to seal a 25-19 win.
  • Set Three
    • Mid-America Christian utilized an early 3-0 run that included a Stockhammer kill and a Kaylie Walker service ace to eventually hold an 11-7 advantage at the midway point.
    • The Aggies countered with six unanswered to gain a 13-11 edge.
    • After the Evangels took two of the next three, OPSU gained some breathing room by tallying points on six of seven rallies stretch its lead to 20-14.
    • Mid-America Christian fought back with four in a row to pull it to within two, but Panhandle State wouldn't allow MACU to climb any closer as the Aggies held on for their first set win at 25-22.
  • Set Four
    • The two teams traded early runs before OPSU utilized a string of four straight points to claim an 8-5 advantage.
    • The Aggies grew their lead to as much as six at 14-8 before the Evangels fought their way back. MACU tallied for of the following five points before grinding the OPSU lead down to 18-16 on a Porter and Madalyn Shurley block.
    • Panhandle State countered by taking five of the next six before eventually hanging on for a 25-21 set four victory to tie the match up.
  • Set Five
    • Mid-America Christian found itself at a huge disadvantage when the Aggies tallied six straight to hold a 7-2 lead at the halfway point.
    • The Evangels swung back with a 6-0 run of their own, getting a pair of kills from Maddie Callicoat to take back a 9-8 edge.
    • The two squads traded a pair of leads before MACU put the Aggies on the brink with three unanswered as a Faith Foutch service ace brought it to 13-11.
    • Once again, the Aggies had a three-point counter to put the Evangels in danger at 14-13, but MACU survived match point with a block from Moreira and Cloie Mitchell.
    • However, the Evangels were unable to scratch across another point as the Aggies managed to scrounge a kill on the ensuing point before blocking Moreira's attack up the middle to seal the 16-14 win.
• MATCH NOTES
  • Even though Mid-America Christian was able to outhit Panhandle State with 59 kills on a .182 attack percentage to 55 kills on a .133 clip, the Aggies were much stronger at the net on the defense, registering 13 blocks to just six for the Evangels.
  • Hanna Foecker once again led the MACU attack with 21 kills on a .210 attack percentage while Maddie Callicoat and Vanessa Moreira joined Foecker in double-digits with 13 and 11 kills respectively.
  • After breaking the program's single match assists record the night before, Lena Stockhammer once again found herself in the record books by tying the fifth-most assists in a match with 51.
  • Maegan Plunk the MACU defense with 27 digs while Moreira led the blocking efforts with four for the match.
  • With the first conference loss of the season, MACU fell into a four-way tie for third with Oklahoma City, Texas Wesleyan and Wayland Baptist.
  • After picking up a five-set victory at Wayland Baptist on Saturday, the Evangels played already their fifth five-set match of the season, moving to 2-3 in such contests.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will return to non-conference play on Wednesday as the Evangels will compete at a tri-match hosted by Bethel in North Newton, Kan. MACU will first face Bethel at 4 p.m. before closing out the meet against Sterling (Kan.) at 6 p.m.