OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian volleyball team took care of business on its three-match home stand as the Evangels picked up a pivotal Sooner Athletic Conference sweep against Oklahoma Panhandle State on Friday night inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
SCORE
- Mid-America Christian 3, Oklahoma Panhandle State 0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-21)
- Mid-America Christian (13-9, 7-4 SAC)
- Oklahoma Panhandle State (13-7, 6-5 SAC)
TOP PERFORMERS
MATCH SUMMARY
- Set One
- After falling behind 4-1 early, a Vanessa Moreira kill ignited a six-unanswered Mid-America Christian run before Lena Stockhammer's termination made it a 7-4 Evangels' lead.
- MACU added to their lead midway through the set when the Evangels rattled off six straight, capping off the streak on three straight kills by Sarah Jones, Miriam Nardi and Annabeth Fehrle to set the score to 15-7.
- The Aggies battled back to bring it to within three on two different occasions, scoring five straight to make it 17-14 before eight straight sideout scores brought it to 21-18.
- A pair of Nardi kills along with an assisted block with Moreira brought it to set-point before the Evangels eventually closed out the set with a 25-20 win on Nardi's third set-point kill.
- MACU tallied 15 kills on a .160 attack percentage in the set while the defense stifled the Aggies attack, holding OPSU to only nine kills at a .089 attack percentage.
- Nardi led the Evangels in the set with four kills on a .300 hitting clip.
- Set Two
- Mid-America Christian scored the first four points of the set on kills from Stockhammer and Moreira along with an Aggies attack error and a Sydney Martin service ace. The Evangels' lead never shrank below three in the first half as three straight MACU kills from Nardi and a pair from Moreira stretched the edge to 11-5.
- Panhandle State utilized a four-unanswered and a string of three straight to battle back as a Stockhammer attack error closed the gap to 15-14.
- MACU answered by scoring four straight off of OPSU errors and held a five-point lead until a Fehrle kill made it 23-18.
- The Aggies once again utilized a strong run, scoring on four straight rallies to close it 23-22, but MACU finished out by getting kills from Moreira and Stockhammer on two of the final three rallies to seal a hard-fought 25-23 win.
- The Evangels were able to get into a stronger offensive swing in the second set, tallying 17 kills on a .185 attack percentage while the Aggies also performed better in the attack, tallying 12 kills on a .182 clip.
- Moreira and Stockhammer each put together a stellar set as the two players each finished with five kills on a .364 and .300 attack percent respectively.
- Set Three
- The third set was a close battle in the early going, but the Evangels scored four straight following an OPSU service error as kills by Moreira, Nardi and Lauryn Walters stretched the MACU advantage to 12-7.
- Oklahoma Panhandle State closed it to a one-point game on four different occasions, the last coming on a Walters attack error to make it 19-18, but the Evangels were able to prevent OPSU from taking the lead down the stretch.
- Mid-America Christian finished the match strong, scoring three of the final four points on kills from Cloie Mitchell, Stockhammer and Jones to seal the 25-21 victory.
- MACU once again out-hit the Aggies, recording 16 kills on a .151 attack rate while OPSU tallied 12 kills at a .116 attack percentage.
- Nardi and Stockhammer paced the Evangels' attack with four kills apiece.
MATCH NOTES
- Overall, Mid-America Christian notched 48 kills, averaging 16 kills per set on a .166 attack percentage, while the Aggies tallied 33 kills, finishing below their season average at 11 kills per set on a .129 attack percentage. The 48 kills for MACU was its highest production in a three-set match this season while tying the fourth-most in a three-set match in the NAIA era (2007-present).
- The Evangels also incredibly recorded an assist on every single one of its kills, tying for the second-most assists in a three-set match in the NAIA era.
- The MACU defense also frustrated the Aggies in serve receive, allowing OPSU a season-low one ace the entire match.
- The Evangels have now won four of their last five matches at home against Oklahoma Panhandle State with the last two victories being three-set sweeps. MACU avenged a 3-1 loss suffered in Goodwell, Okla. on Sept. 3.
- Mid-America Christian placed three different players in double-digit kills in the three-set sweep. Lena Stockhammer led the attack with a match-high 12 kills and narrowly missed a triple-double with 19 assists and nine digs. Vanessa Moreira also chipped in 10 kills on a .320 attack percentage while Miriam Nardi finished with 10 terminations to go with four blocks in the defense.
- Cloie Mitchell also put together one of her most effective matches of the season from the outside, tallying eight kills and didn't commit a single attack error while hitting a season-best .381 attack percentage.
- Casady McKinney the Evangel passing efforts with 23 assists and recorded a double-double with 12 digs while Marlee Hunter led the MACU back row with 20 digs, averaging 6.67 per set.
- For the second straight match, Mid-America Christian averaged more than two blocks per set as Sarah Jones recorded five total rejections with a solo and four assisted blocks.
- With the win and an Oklahoma City loss at John Brown on Friday, Mid-America Christian moved to fourth in the Sooner Athletic Conference standings with a 7-4 league mark and a 13-9 record overall. The defeat dropped the Aggies to 13-7 overall and 6-5 in conference play.
UP NEXT
- Mid-America Christian will travel down to Chickasha, Okla. on Saturday as the Evangels will face off against Wayland Baptist in a neutral site match. Opening serve is slated for 3 p.m. inside the USAO Fieldhouse.
