POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. – The MACU volleyball team was able to overcome a shaky start to NCCAA National Championship pool play on Thursday. After suffering a 3-1 defeat to Trinity International (Ill.) in the morning match, the Evangels were able to bounce back with a hard-fought 3-0 sweep over host College of the Ozarks inside Keeter Gymnasium, allowing the Evangels to lock up a spot in Friday's semifinals.
Mid-America Christian vs. Trinity International
SCORE
- Trinity International 3, Mid-America Christian 1 (25-19, 22-25, 25-14, 25-20)
- Mid-America Christian (19-15)
- Trinity International (27-9)
TOP PERFORMERS
MATCH NOTES
- Mid-America Christian trailed by as much as six in the opening set, but managed to fight back with a late 4-1 run behind a pair of Lena Stockhammer terminations and a Vanessa Moreira kill to make it a 22-19 game. However, the Evangels were unable to put any more of a dent in the Trojans lead as TIU scored the final three points to grab a 25-19 win.
- It looked as though Trinity International was going to run away with set two as well after taking a 15-9 lead on a Brianna Torres termination, but the Evangels put together a dominant second half by outscoring TIU 16-7 to come away with the 25-22 victory to draw the match even.
- In the third set, MACU kept it close early as the Evangels rattled off three unanswered off of a pair of Miriam Nardi kills and a Sarah Jones slam to tie it at 8-all, but Trinity International quickly gained the momentum back as the Trojans outscored the Evangels 17-6 down the stretch to secure a 25-14 win to take the lead in the match.
- The fourth and final set was a back-and-forth battle as MACU utilized three Stockhammer scores during a 5-2 run to it up at 18-all, but the Evangels were unable to contain the Trojans as TIU pulled away down the stretch to seal a 25-20 win.
- Mid-America Christian struggled against the Trinity International defense, registering just 41 kills on a .128 attack percentage while the Trojans tallied 58 kills on a .194 hitting clip.
- The Evangels put together one of their best matches of the season at the net, tallying eight blocks while TIU recorded just four, but MACU struggled to put the ball down against the Trojans back row as TIU recorded 108 digs to just 93 for the Evangels.
- Lena Stockhammer was the lone Evangel to crack into double-figure kills with 17 on a .204 attack percentage while Casady McKinney notched another double-double with 32 assists and 16 digs. Marlee Hunter led the MACU back row defense with 27 digs, averaging 6.75 per set.
- The match marked the first ever meeting between Mid-America Christian and Trinity International.
- The loss put the Evangels' backs against the wall as they were then placed into a must-win situation against College of the Ozarks in their second match of pool play to advance.
Mid-America Christian vs. College of the Ozarks
SCORE
- Mid-America Christian 3, College of the Ozarks 0 (26-24, 25-21, 25-22)
- Mid-America Christian (20-15)
- College of the Ozarks (18-15)
TOP PERFORMERS
MATCH NOTES
- Mid-America Christian overcame improbable odds in the first set. Trailing 23-16, MACU tallied three straight with a pair of kills from Cloie Mitchell and a termination from Casady McKinney, but a Grace Hancock kill for CofO brought it to game-point at 24-19. Still, the Evangels would not be denied as Lena Stockhammer recorded kills on five consecutive kills following a Bobcats service error to give MACU the lead before McKinney and Vanessa Moreira teamed up to block Hancock's attack to secure a thrilling 26-24 victory.
- The Evangels jumped out to a commanding 11-2 lead, which included scoring on nine straight points behind the serve of McKinney, but the Bobcats clawed their way back to bring it to a one-point game at 20-19 behind back-to-back kills from Brooklyn Crawford and Hancock. However, MACU was able to clamp down defensively, forcing CofO to commit three errors while Mitchell and Stockhammer scored kills during a 5-3 run to close out the 25-22 win.
- College of the Ozarks held the momentum through the first half, taking a 13-10 lead at the midway point on a Mica Chadwell service ace. However, a Sarah Jones kill on the ensuing rally started a 7-1 MACU streak as the Evangels made it a 17-14 lead on a Cloie Mitchell score. The Bobcats briefly fought back to take the lead back after scoring five of the next six, but the Evangels closed out on a 7-2 surge capped off on Jones' match-winning kill to secure the 25-21 final.
- Mid-America Christian put together one of its most prolific offensive matches in program history. With 51 kills, the Evangels set the second-most kills in a three-set match during the NAIA Era (2007-present) as MACU hit for a .230 attack percentage. Defensively, MACU limited Ozarks to only 34 kills on a .113 attack rate.
- Once again, Lena Stockhammer led the MACU attack with 15 kills, nine of which came in the opening set on a .250 attack percentage.
- Overall, four Evangels tallied nine or more kills as Sarah Jones finished with a career-high 11 kills on a .391 hitting percentage while Miriam Nardi and Cloie Mitchell each tallied nine on .316 and .286 attack percentages respectively.
- Casady McKinney dished out a career-best 40 assists to go with seven digs in the defense. With a pair of service aces, the freshman setter boosted her season total to 57, marking just one shy of tying Hannah Luedtke's NAIA Era single-season record.
- Marlee Hunter once again led the MACU back row defense with 20 digs, on a 6.67 per set rate. As a result, the sophomore libero became just the second player in the NAIA Era to record 700 or more digs in a season at 702, sitting just 36 back of Maegan Plunk (2021) for the single-season record.
- Mid-America Christian improved to 3-0 all-time against College of the Ozarks with all three victories coming in the last two seasons and two of which came inside Keeter Gymnasium, the home of the Bobcats.
- With the win and Trinity International sweeping College of the Ozarks in one of the later matches, the Evangels locked up a spot in the NCCAA Division I National Championship Semifinal round for just the second time in program history.
UP NEXT
- Mid-America Christian will see a familiar foe in the semifinal round on Friday as the Evangels will face top-seeded Columbia International (S.C.) in a rematch of the 2021 NCCAA Championship match. Opening serve is slated for 3 p.m.
