OKLAHOMA CITY – Coming off a pair of crucial Sooner Athletic Conference victories over Oklahoma Panhandle State and Wayland Baptist over the weekend, the Mid-America Christian volleyball team will face another challenging opponent to open the week. The Evangels will head uptown to Oklahoma City University to take on the Stars at 6 p.m. on Tuesday before heading to Bethany, Okla. on Thursday for a 6 p.m. matchup against Southwestern Christian.
 
MACU SEASON REPORT

• Record: 14-9 (8-4 SAC)
• Last Match: Won vs. Wayland Baptist (Texas) – 3-1 (26-24, 27-29, 25-23, 25-21) – Oct. 8, 2022 – Chickasha, Okla.
• Top Performers:
  • Kills: Lena Stockhammer (237), Cloie Mitchell (183), Miriam Nardi (171)
  • Attack Percentage: Vanessa Moreira (.323), Miriam Nardi (.267), Lauryn Walters (.168)
  • Assists: Casady McKinney (471), Lena Stockhammer (417)
  • Aces: Casady McKinney (38), Faith Foutch (38), Sydney Martin (27)
  • Digs: Marlee Hunter (456), Sydney Martin (239), Lena Stockhammer (202)
  • Blocks: Vanessa Moreira (46), Lena Stockhammer (45), Miriam Nardi (41)
• Team Notes:
  • By getting the wins over Oklahoma Panhandle State on Friday and Wayland Baptist on Saturday, Mid-America Christian moved alone into fourth place in the Sooner Athletic Conference standings with an 8-4 league mark and 14-9 overall. The Evangels are just a game back of John Brown (14-5, 9-3) for third and are a game ahead of the Aggies (14-7, 7-5) and Oklahoma City (9-10, 7-5), who are tied for fifth.
  • For the first time this season, Mid-America Christian had two players named to the SAC Player of the Week list. Casady McKinney was named the league's setter of the week after dishing out 56 assists over the seven sets of action, averaging eight dimes per set. McKinney also tallied 18 digs and put down five service aces between the two contests. The Oklahoma City product recorded a double-double with 23 assists and 12 digs to go with two aces in the victory over OPSU before dishing out a career-high 33 assists as well as putting down three service aces, including the set-point ace in the third set against the Pioneers to give MACU the 25-23 win in the set as well as a vital 2-1 lead in the match.
  • Marlee Hunter earned the SAC defender of the week after putting together a phenomenal defensive effort in the back row. The sophomore libero tallied a total of 50 digs on the week, shoveling out 7.14 digs per set to go with nine assists over the seven sets of work. The Del City, Okla. native dug out 20 at a 6.67 per set rate in the win over the Aggies before recording her second 30-dig match of the season against Wayland Baptist, averaging an astounding 7.5 digs per set. Hunter also recorded the match-point service ace in the fourth set against the Pioneers to secure the 25-21 win in the set and the 3-1 victory for the Evangels. As a result of her efforts, Hunter was also named the NCCAA Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week while Lena Stockhammer collected the NCCAA Offensive Student-Athlete of the Week.
  • Mid-America Christian is currently just one of two teams in the SAC to rank in the top three in both attack percentage and digs per set. The Evangels are hitting .184 coming into the week, placing them in a tie for third while also ranking third in digs per set at 18.44. John Brown is the only other team in the league to rank in the top three in both categories with a .216 attack percentage (1^st) and 18.80 digs per set.

SCOUTING REPORT
Oklahoma City

• Record: 9-10 (7-5 SAC)
• Last Match: Lost at John Brown (Ark.) – 3-0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-22) – Oct. 7, 2022 – Siloam Springs, Ark.
• Series vs MACU (2006-): OCU leads 32-3
• Last Match vs. MACU: MACU won 3-1 (23-25, 25-20, 25-19, 25-23) – Sept. 8, 2022 – Gaulke Activity Center
• Players to Watch:
  • Ruby Kelley – SO – MB
    • 198 Kills (2.71 K/S), .170 ATK%, 20 Aces (0.27 SA/S), 226 Digs (3.10 D/S), 51 Blocks (0.70 B/S)
  • Emma Vance – JR – S
    • 330 Assists (4.52 A/S), 22 SA (0.30 SA/S), 155 Digs (2.12 D/S)
  • Kaitlyn Dunlap – SO – L
    • 313 Digs (4.67 D/S)
  • Rylee Steward – JR – MB
    • 85 Blocks (1.16 B/S), 145 Kills (1.99 K/S), .283 ATK%
• Team Notes:
  • Oklahoma City split a pair of SAC road matches last week. After picking up a three-set sweep at Southwestern Christian on Tuesday, the Stars ran into a buzz saw at John Brown on Friday as the Stars were swept by the Golden Eagles for just the second time in the all-time series against JBU.
  • Since suffering a nail-biting 3-2 defeat to Texas Wesleyan at home on Sept. 23, the Stars have struggled by losing three of their last five, including getting swept by the aforementioned Golden Eagles and at Wayland Baptist on Oct. 1.
  • The young OCU squad has been challenged in the attack, ranking just sixth in the league in attack percentage (.146) and seventh in kills per set (11.16). However, the Stars are a strong blocking team as one of only three teams in the conference averaging more than two blocks per set, ranking third at 2.03.
  • Even though OCU has held a commanding lead in the all-time series, the Evangels have had some recent success against the Stars by winning two of the last three matchups. In the matchup earlier this season, MACU broke the team's NAIA Era (2007-present) four-set match kills record with 67 terminations on a blistering .282 attack percentage to pick up a 3-1 victory on Sept. 8. However, Mid-America Christian is still seeking its first ever win against OCU inside Abe Lemons Arena, as OCU is 18-0 all-time against MACU in the venue.

Southwestern Christian (Okla.)

• Record: 6-14 (1-11 SAC)
• Last Match: Lost at John Brown (Ark.) – 3-1 (25-17, 25-19, 21-25, 25-18) – Oct. 5, 2022 – Siloam Springs, Ark.
• Series vs. MACU (2003-): MACU leads 21-10
• Last Match vs. MACU: MACU won 3-0 (26-24, 25-17, 25-9) – Sept. 6, 2022 – Gaulke Activity Center
• Players to Watch:
  • Mina Iboni – FR – OH
    • 204 Kills (2.79 K/S), .182 ATK%
  • Faith Desouza – JR – S
    • 516 Assists (7.27 A/S), 66 Kills (0.93 K/S)
  • Treasure Mozon – SO – L
    • 354 Digs (4.85 D/S)
  • Tessa Ortiz – JR – MB
    • 38 Blocks (0.52 B/S), 108 Kills (1.48 K/S), .146 ATK%
• Team Notes:
  • Southwestern Christian has struggled in Sooner Athletic Conference play as the Eagles currently sit in a three-way tie for last place in the league at 1-11 while holding a 6-14 overall record. Since starting off the season with a 4-1 record, SCU has lost 13 of its last 15 matches.
  • Despite the Eagles record, SCU has put up a tough fight against some of the stronger teams in the SAC, which includes taking Oklahoma City to five sets on Aug. 30 as well as suffering a five-set defeat at Wayland Baptist on Sept. 30.
  • Offensively, Southwestern Christian ranks eighth in the SAC in kills per set (10.74) and ninth in the conference in hitting percentage (.128). While defensively the Eagles are fifth in the SAC in digs per set (17.38), they have struggled at the net by ranking 10^th blocks per set (1.12).
  • While MACU is 21-10 against the Eagles since the 2003 season, the Evangels have dominated the recent series. MACU has won eight straight matches against SCU and have performed well inside Pickens-Springer Gymnasium, holding an 8-4 mark inside the venue, including the last three meetings.