OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian volleyball team found itself down, but far from out after dropping the first set as the Evangels battled back to defeat Oklahoma City 3-1 on Tuesday night, notching the program's first ever victory against the Stars inside Abe Lemons Arena.
SCORE
- Mid-America Christian 3, Oklahoma City 1 (25-27, 25-21, 25-20, 25-17)
- Mid-America Christian (15-9, 9-4 SAC)
- Oklahoma City (9-11, 7-6 SAC)
TOP PERFORMERS
MATCH SUMMARY
- Set One
- After Oklahoma City jumped out to an early 5-4 lead, Mid-America Christian scored three straight to recapture the lead before utilizing a 4-1 run midway through the set to hold a 14-10 lead off a Cloie Mitchell kill.
- With the Evangels leading by three, the Stars went on a strong surge in the second half as Oklahoma City tallied five in a row as OCU took a 19-17 lead on a Michaela de Stefano kill.
- MACU made a late push, even claiming the first set-point off back-to-back kills by Casady McKinney and Mitchell to make it 24-23, but the Stars streaked back by winning four of the last five rallies to secure the 27-25 victory in the opening set.
- While the Evangels finished with 18 kills to 16 for the Stars, OCU was more efficient in the attack with a .212 attack percentage while nine MACU attack errors held the Evangels to just a .145 clip.
- Four different MACU players tallied three or more kills as Mitchell and Miriam Nardi led the Evangels' attack with four apiece.
- Set Two
- OCU jumped out in-front and did not concede the lead through the first 23 rallies before a Mitchell kill followed by a Sarah Jones and Nardi assisted block gave Mid-America Christian its first lead of the set at 13-12.
- MACU utilized a 5-1 run a few rallies later, utilizing a pair of Annabeth Fehrle terminations and a Nardi kill before McKinney's service ace brought it to an 18-15 game.
- The Stars fought back to close it to one on two different occasions, but the Evangels took advantage of three OCU miscues to close out a 25-22 win to bring the match back even.
- Mid-America Christian was efficient in its attack, tallying 17 kills on a .314 attack percentage while Oklahoma City turned in 12 kills on a .212 hitting clip.
- Nardi continued to pace the MACU attack in the set with five kills on a .500 attack rate while Lena Stockhammer turned in four kills at a .285 percentage.
- Marlee Hunter was stellar for MACU in defense with nine digs after recording eight in the opening set.
- Set Three
- The two teams traded leads three times before MACU streaked out in-front as a McKinney kill ignited a five-unanswered run as another Stockhammer slam set the score to 9-5.
- OCU briefly closed it to one by taking four of the next five before the Evangels swung back with a 4-1 run of their own to stretch the advantage back out to 15-10.
- The Stars fought back to bring it to a one-point game once again at 16-15, but Mid-America Christian pulled away over the final 14 rallies as a ball-handling error on set-point sealed the 25-20 MACU win.
- Despite Oklahoma City out-hitting MACU with 14 kills at .196 percent to the Evangels' 13 kills at a .184 attack rate, the Evangels were able to take advantage of great play from the service line as MACU tallied three aces and committed only one error, the Stars made three miscues and did not record an ace in the set.
- Set Four
- Oklahoma City started the fourth set with a 10-6 edge, but the Evangels scored five unanswered midway through set featuring kills from Stockhammer, Mitchell and Hunter to claim a 14-12 lead.
- Following a Sydney Martin service error, Mid-America Christian took command of the set as a Vanessa Moreira kill ignited a seven-point Evangels streak capped off on a Stockhammer termination to swell the MACU lead to 21-13.
- OCU could climb no closer than seven the rest of the way as a Sarah Jones and Miriam Nardi assisted block on match-point secured the dominant 25-17 victory.
- Mid-America Christian finished with 14 kills, but hit a blistering .343 in the attack while the Stars were held to 11 kills on an .098 attack percentage.
MATCH NOTES
- Overall, Mid-America Christian was solid in the attack, tying the program's fourth-most kills in a four-set match in the NAIA Era (2007-) with 62 kills on an efficient .227 attack percentage while holding OCU to 53 kills at a .180 hitting clip.
- Miriam Nardi put up one of her best offensive matches of the season, leading the Evangels attack with 16 kills on a .419 attack percentage to go with three assisted blocks while Cloie Mitchell chimed in 13 kills at a .222 rate.
- MACU's setter duo each put up double-doubles while Lena Stockhammer narrowly missed a triple-double with 18 assists, 15 kills and nine digs while SAC Setter of the Week Casady McKinney dished out a team-high 23 assists and shoveled 19 digs to go with a trio of service aces.
- SAC Defender of the Week Marlee Hunter continued to perform excellently in the back row and was the third MACU player to record a double-double with 27 digs, averaging 6.75 per set to go with a career-high 11 assists.
- Mid-America Christian came into the night with an 0-18 record all-time inside Abe Lemons Arena before coming out with the team's first win in the venue. As a result, the Evangels also recorded their first ever series sweep over the Stars after defeating OCU 3-1 inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Sept. 8.
- With the win, MACU improved to 15-9 overall and 9-4 in Sooner Athletic Conference play while extending its win streak to five. The victory also marked the fourth straight 15-win season for the volleyball program.
- The victory also allowed MACU to stretch its lead to 1.5 games over Oklahoma Panhandle State for fourth place in the league standings while moving to just a half-game back of John Brown for third. The loss for the Stars dropped them to 9-11 overall and 7-6 in SAC play, falling to sixth in the league standings.
UP NEXT
- Mid-America Christian will be back in-action on Thursday night as the Evangels will face another crosstown rival in Southwestern Christian. Opening serve is slated for 6 p.m. inside the Pickens-Springer Gymnasium in Bethany, Okla.
