OKLAHOMA CITY – Coming off the program's first ever appearance in the NCCAA Division I National Championship game, the Mid-America Christian volleyball team has signed eight standouts to compete for the 2022 season.
The Evangels added four collegiate transfers who will look to make an immediate impact on the team along with four freshmen who will also add strong depth as well as build toward the future of the program.
"I am very excited for our deep and talented signing class who I expect will come in and compete for us right away this upcoming season," said MACU head coach Holly McKamie. "Last season's success is the catalyst for our future. We graduated record setting players who left behind a legacy for our future players. We have strong returners who were a major part of our historical season, but this incoming class will have the opportunity to step right in to build upon that success. Each of our newcomers played major roles at their respective schools and are coming in hungry to do the same here at MACU."
Of the four transfers, three of which come to MACU after competing at Seminole State College during the 2021 season, including: junior Sarah Jones, sophomore Annabeth Fehrle and sophomore Marlee Hunter.
Jones, a 6-1 blocker from Moore, Okla., will look to provide some stout blocking for MACU in the middle. Last year, Jones led Seminole State with 72 total blocks, averaging 0.65 blocks per set while also putting down 204 kills, averaging 1.85 kills per set on a team-leading .268 attack percentage. In her two seasons with the Belles, Jones has amassed 137 total blocks over 169 sets, averaging a stellar 0.81 blocks per set.
Fehrle, a 5-11 outside hitter and opposite side hitter from Mustang, Okla. comes to the Evangels after a stellar freshman campaign with SSC. Fehrle led the Belles in kills with 289, averaging 2.63 kills per set on a .148 attack percentage to go with 75 digs and 25 blocks in 110 sets played.
In her high school career, Fehrle was an All-State and All-Conference honoree in 2020, leading the Mustang High School to a runner-up position in the Class 6A State Championships.
In her first year with Seminole, Hunter made some strong contributions from the back row and the service line. The 5-6 defensive specialist from Del City, Okla. ranked second on the team in aces with 24 and recorded the fourth-most digs on the squad 255, averaging 2.52 digs per set.
Previously, Hunter amassed a great high school career at Carl Albert High, competing in All-State games and earning All-Conference honors while also guiding the Titans to a third-place finish at State her senior year.
Adding some additional depth in the middle, Miriam Nardi is a sophomore middle blocker makes her way to MACU after competing for another NAIA institution in Hannibal-LaGrange (Mo.). In her lone season with the Trojans, the 5-10 Verona, Italy product made some solid contributions at the net, finishing with 34 blocks, averaging 0.61 blocks per set and 88 kills on a .292 attack percentage in 56 sets of action. Due to the impact she made during the second half of the season, Nardi was selected as an All-American Midwest Conference Second Team performer.
While the four transfers provide strong experience, the four incoming freshmen in Lauryn Walters, Casady McKinney, Sydney Martin and Ryley Bowden are also expecting to be competing for starting positions in the 2022 campaign.
A 5-7 outside hitter from Owasso, Okla., Walters will bring excellent depth to the outside while contending with MACU senior outside hitter Cloie Mitchell and Fehrle for playing time on the outside in 2022.
Walters was named an All-Tulsa World News Honorable Mention selection while leading Owasso High School to back-to-back regional championships.
While the Evangels brought in an All-Sooner Athletic Conference setter in Lena Stockhammer a season ago, MACU added even more depth at the setter position with McKinney. Joining her former high school teammate in Fehrle, the 5-8 setter from Yukon, Okla. was the catalyst of the Mustang High School state runner-up team as she wrapped up her illustrious Broncos career with more than 2500 career assists along with a Second Team All-Conference selection.
While the Evangels are replacing two fundamental pieces in the back-court success in Maegan Plunk and Kaylee Walker, Martin is expecting to make strong contributions in her first season with the program. The 5-2 defensive specialist from Krum, Texas comes to MACU after earning All-State and First Team All-District honors her senior year as well as Second Team All-District accolades her junior year with Krum High School. By the end of her four-year high school career, Martin finished with more than 1300 digs.
Rounding out the signing class is yet another Mustang High School standout in Bowden. The 5-3 defensive specialist competed at Westmoore High School as a freshman and sophomore before playing her final two years at Mustang, as she garnered 2019 All-Area Honorable Mention accolades.
With a strong mix of experience and youth, the 2022 Mid-America Christian volleyball team will be looking to replicate the success of a 2021 squad that notched an NAIA Era record 30 wins, finishing the year with a 30-9 overall record and a program-record best 15-5 mark in Sooner Athletic Conference play.
The Evangels also won their first NCCAA Central Region Championship after defeating College of the Ozarks 3-0 on Nov. 18. MACU followed it up with a sensational showing at the NCCAA Division I National Championships, winning a thrilling 3-2 battle against Judson (Ill.) in pool play before sweeping Warner (Fla.) and top-seeded and nationally 24th-ranked Bethel (Ind.). Mid-America Christian then topped No. 2 seed Campbellsville (Ky.) 3-1 in the semifinal before losing a very hard-fought three-set match to third-seed Columbia International (S.C.) 3-0 (25-23, 26-24, 25-20) in the championship game.
