POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. – The No. 3 seed MACU volleyball team made an improbable comeback from two-sets down against the top-seeded and defending National Champions in Columbia International, but the Evangels saw their season come to a tough end as the Rams advanced in five sets in the NCCAA Semifinal inside Keeter Gymnasium on Friday night.
SCORE
- Columbia International 3, Mid-America Christian 2 (25-18, 25-23, 23-25, 17-25, 15-13)
- Mid-America Christian (20-16)
- Columbia International (38-8)
TOP PERFORMERS
- Lena Stockhammer – 16 Kills, 5 Digs, 3 Blocks
- Cloie Mitchell – 11 Kills, 3 Blocks, 2 Digs
- Sarah Jones – 8 Kills, .240 ATK%, 5 Blocks, 3 Digs
- Casady McKinney – 41 Assists, 21 Digs
- Marlee Hunter – 27 Digs, 3 Assists, 2 Aces
MATCH SUMMARY
- Set One
- Mid-America Christian overcame a sluggish start by putting together a 6-3 run behind kills from Lena Stockhammer, Sarah Jones, Cloie Mitchell and Vanessa Moreira to go along with an assisted block by Jones and Miriam Nardi to give the Evangels an 8-7 lead.
- After a Moreira termination and a Kamelia De Jesus attack error drew it even at 11, Columbia International put together a six-unanswered streak to take a commanding lead.
- The Evangels could climb no closer than five for the remainder of the set as CIU came away with the 25-18 win.
- Mid-America Christian registered a 12-10 kill differential, but the Rams out-hit the Evangels by a .207 to .171 attack percentage.
- Columbia International was able to take advantage of some strong serving as the Rams notched four aces and committed just one error while the Evangels were unable to record an ace and tallied three service miscues.
- Set Two
- The Evangels were the dominant team in the first half. After CIU took a one-point lead on a Hadassah Davis kill, MACU rattled off an 8-3 run to take an 11-7 lead on a Cloie Mitchell termination.
- After Columbia International won three of the next four rallies to close it to a two-point contest, the Evangels scored three unanswered as a Marlee Hunter service ace gave MACU its largest lead of the set at 15-10.
- The Rams battled back behind a 7-2 run to draw it back even at 17-all on a Lydia Gustafson and De Jesus assisted block.
- Following a three-unanswered run by Columbia, MACU utilized a late 3-1 run of its own to take a 23-22 lead on a Faith Foutch back row kill.
- However, the Evangels were unable to contain the Rams at the end as CIU scored on the final three rallies to come away with a 25-23 win.
- The Rams were a challenge to contain in the attack as CIU hit 16 kills for a .288 hitting clip while MACU registered 14 kills on .127 attack rate.
- Set Three
- Once again, the Evangels were the better team through the first half as MACU stretched its lead out to three at 12-9 on a Stockhammer slam and a Kira Rymer attack error.
- Columbia International worked its way back to draw it even after scoring three straight points, but MACU struck back with three straight of its own following a pair of kills from Jones and Stockhammer along with a Hadassah Davis attack error to make it a 15-12 contest.
- The Rams worked their way back to take a late 23-22 lead on a pair of Mardi Scutchings kills.
- After Lena Stockhammer recorded a huge side-out on a kill, the Evangels defense came up big on the final two rallies as Jones and Miriam Nardi teamed up on a block before Jones and Cloie Mitchell matched up on the next point for an assisted block to secure the 25-23 victory.
- While the Evangels were held to only 11 kills on a .156 attack percentage in the set, MACU was defensively stout as Columbia International's 15 kills came with 11 errors for an .074 attack rate.
- Set Four
- After Columbia International scored the first point of the set, Mid-America Christian went on one of its strongest runs of the season as the Evangels scored 12 straight points to grab a commanding 12-1 lead. During the run, MACU registered five kills with Stockhammer notching a pair while Vanessa Moreira, Faith Foutch and Casady McKinney each tallied one while Sydney Martin put down three service aces.
- The two teams traded the next two rallies before Columbia International went on a run as well, scoring six in a row as Davis' termination brought it to a 13-8 game.
- With both teams splitting a pair of points, the Evangels built their lead back up to eight at 18-10 after taking advantage of three straight CIU attack errors.
- Columbia International could climb no closer than six the rest of the way as the Evangels scored on three of the final four rallies, securing the 25-17 win on a Jones tap kill up the middle.
- For the second straight set, Mid-America Christian was more efficient in its attack, notching 12 kills on a .146 hitting clip while defensively frustrating the Rams into just nine kills on a .108 attack rate.
- Set Five
- Mid-America Christian conceded the first three points before bouncing back with a three-unanswered run of its own behind a pair of Stockhammer terminations to go with a Jones kill.
- The Evangels kept it close until midway through but with the Evangels trailing by one, Columbia International rattled off three straight as back-to-back Abbey Kleist kills stretched the CIU edge to 11-7.
- A kill apiece from Mitchell and Stockhammer trimmed the deficit in half, but Columbia International was able to force immediate side outs over the final seven rallies as Davis' kill from the left side sealed the 15-12 win for the Rams.
MATCH NOTES
- Overall, the two teams were relatively evenly matched in the attack as MACU finished with 56 kills on a .142 attack percentage while Columbia International tallied 61 kills on a .173 hitting rate.
- One area the Evangels were able to dominate was in service and serve receive as MACU tallied eight aces and committed just five errors while Columbia International's seven aces were accompanied by 14 miscues.
- The Evangels tied a season-high 18 assisted blocks for their second-highest block total of the season at nine.
- The MACU back row defense also put together a stellar defensive performance as the 117 scoops ranks as the fourth-most in a single-match since the program joined the NAIA in 2007. It was a balanced effort as three Evangels broke the 20-dig threshold with Marlee Hunter turning in 27, Faith Foutch added 24 and Casady McKinney tallied 21. The Evangels also got strong production out of its freshman defensive specialists as Sydney Martin scooped 17 while Ryley Bowden pitched in 14 digs.
- Lena Stockhammer led the MACU attack with 16 kills and three assisted blocks while Cloie Mitchell was the only other Evangel to crack double-digits with 11 kills on a .194 attack percentage.
- Sarah Jones also broke into double-digit scoring with 10.5 points after putting down eight kills on a .240 attack rate to go with a team-leading five assisted blocks.
- For the second straight match, McKinney broke her own career-high in the distribution department as she notched 41 assists to also finish with her first 40-20 match. By recording a service ace as well, McKinney finished the season with 58 dimes to tie Hannah Luedtke (2016) for the most aces in a single-season in the NAIA Era.
- Mid-America Christian sends off two seniors in Cloie Mitchell and Vanessa Moreira, who each played their last match with the Evangels.
- After closing out the year with a 20-16 record, Mid-America Christian notched back-to-back 20-plus win seasons after going 30-9 during the 2021 campaign. The Evangels also advanced to the NCCAA Semifinals in back-to-back seasons for the first time since moving up to the Division I level.
