OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian volleyball team put together a dominant offensive and defensive performance inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Saturday afternoon as the Evangels smashed Central Christian 3-0 in straight sets.
SCORE
- Mid-America Christian 3, Central Christian 0 (25-13, 25-12, 25-22)
- Mid-America Christian (12-9, 6-4 SAC)
- Central Christian (6-15, 1-9 SAC)
TOP PERFORMERS
MATCH SUMMARY
- Set One
- Mid-America Christian got off to a strong start, scoring the first five rallies off of kills from Annabeth Fehrle, Cloie Mitchell and Vanessa Moreira as well as a Sydney Martin service ace, but the Tigers countered with a string of four straight just a few rallies later to close the gap to 7-6.
- MACU got a much-needed sideout from Sarah Jones to start a 10-2 Evangels run as Moreira and Miriam Nardi assisted block extended the Evangels' edge to 17-8.
- The Evangels scored seven of the final nine points in the set as Mitchell's kill down the left sideline secured the 25-13 victory in the opening set.
- Mid-America Christian dominated the attack with 16 kills on a .268 hitting percentage while the Evangels defense clamped down on the Tigers, allowing just three kills on a -.097 attack rate.
- Six different Evangels recorded multiple kills in the first set, led by Cloie Mitchell with four on a .364 clip.
- Marlee Hunter was defensively dominant in the back row during the first set, tallying 10 digs and a team-high four serve receptions with no receiving errors.
- Set Two
- Central Christian put together an early run to take a 5-4 lead through the first nine rallies, but MACU responded in dominant fashion following a Joselin Rodriguez service error as the Evangels rattled off a 10-2 surge to extend the advantage to 15-7 on Fehrle's termination.
- MACU put together a dominant finish to the set as MACU scored on eight of the final 10 rallies following a Moreira kill to seal a 25-12 set two victory.
- The Evangels were even more efficient in the attack in set two, tallying 14 kills on a .344 hitting clip while defensively limiting Central Christian to only six kills at a -.033 attack rate.
- Mitchell had her most dominant offensive set of any player in the match, recording six kills on a .385 percentage.
- Set Three
- The Tigers didn't go down without a fight as Central Christian opened set three by scoring on nine of the first 15 rallies to grab a three-point advantage.
- A Lena Stockhammer sideout slam ignited a stellar Evangels streak, as MACU rattled off six in a row capped off on a Mitchell kill to make it a 13-10 Evangels' edge.
- CCCK battled back to tie it up at 14-all before Mid-America Christian swung the set back in its favor by scoring six of the next eight points to reclaim a 20-16 lead.
- Mid-America Christian brought it to match-point on an assisted block by Moreira and Stockhammer at 24-20. The Tigers kept it close with a pair of points, but a Kamryn Vanatta attack error ultimately sealed the 25-22 MACU victory.
- Even though the Tigers kept the set close, the Evangels still controlled the attack with 13 kills at a .250 attack percentage while MACU contained CCCK to its third straight negative attack rate with only seven kills at a -.034 hitting clip.
- MACU was balanced across the board with three different players tallying three kills in Moreira, Nardi and Stockhammer.
MATCH NOTES
- Overall, Mid-America Christian finished the match by tying its highest attack percentage of the season at .286 with 43 kills while limiting the Tigers to fewer than 20 kills for the first time this season with just 16 on a season-low -.056 hitting percentage.
- The lone area MACU struggled in was in service. The Evangels did tally seven aces, but committed 12 errors while the Tigers tallied four aces to only three miscues.
- The MACU blocking efforts played a large role in CCCK's struggles offensively as MACU tied a season-high nine blocks, the squad's highest output in a three-set match this season. Leading the blocking efforts was Lena Stockhammer with a career-best seven assisted blocks to go with a team-high 19 assists, six kills and six digs. Vanessa Moreira also tied a career-best six assisted blocks.
- Cloie Mitchell led MACU offensively with 12 kills on a .294 attack percentage along with six digs in the back row. Miriam Nardi also put together a stellar bounce-back match with eight kills on a blistering .500 attack rate.
- Marlee Hunter led the MACU back row defense with 16 digs and was also phenomenal in serve receive with 14 receptions and no receiving errors.
- MACU improved to 12-0 against Central Christian since the 2011 season while also recording the squad's 10th shutout against the Tigers in that time frame.
- With the win, Mid-America Christian finished the first half of Sooner Athletic Conference play with a 6-4 league mark to stay in a tie with Oklahoma Panhandle State for fifth in the standings.
- Prior to the start of the match, Mid-America Christian honored its 2001 NCCAA Division II National Championship team.
UP NEXT
- Mid-America Christian will be back at home next weekend as the Evangels will open the second half of SAC play against Oklahoma Panhandle State on Friday, Oct. 7. Opening serve is slated for 7 p.m. inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
