OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian volleyball team gave the No. 10 Southwestern Assemblies of God Lady Lions one of its toughest tests of the season, but the Evangels came up just a little bit short in a 3-1 defeat inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Friday night.
SCORE
- SW Assemblies of God 3, Mid-America Christian 1 (23-25, 25-20, 25-21, 25-20)
- Mid-America Christian (9-5, 3-2 SAC)
- SW Assemblies of God (13-0, 5-0 SAC)
TOP PERFORMERS
MATCH SUMMARY
- Set One
- It was a close battle through the first 18 rallies as MACU rattled off three straight points to tie it up at nine before Southwestern Assemblies of God scored five unanswered to take a 14-9 lead midway through the first set.
- Despite the Lions maintaining a five-point cushion through the next 10 rallies, the Evangels battled back behind the serve of Faith Foutch and Ryley Bowden as the MACU went on a powerful 10-2 run as a Karena Tipton attack error brought it to set-point at 24-21.
- The Lady Lions tallied the next two points to close it to one, but Lena Stockhammer finished off the set by powering a kill through the block to secure the 25-23 victory.
- Lauryn Walters and Stockhammer led the Evangels' attack with four kills apiece as MACU out-hit SAGU with 15 kills on a .224 attack percentage while the Evangels limited the Lions to just 12 kills on an .083 clip.
- Set Two
- After Mid-America Christian opened the second set with a 10-8 advantage, the Lady Lions surged in-front with a 7-1 rally to take a 15-11 lead midway through the set.
- SAGU grew its lead out to as much as six as a late 3-1 Lions surge pushed it out to a 22-16 edge.
- MACU closed it to three as a SAGU service error was followed by kills from Walters and a Casady McKinney service ace, bringing the score to 22-19.
- The Lady Lions scored three of the final four points of the set to close out the 25-20 win for SAGU.
- Southwestern Assemblies of God was able to slow down the MACU attack, limiting the Evangels to only eight kills on a .088 clip, but the Evangels were also able to prevent SAGU from getting into an offensive rhythm as the Lady Lions were held to only 10 kills on an .068 attack percentage.
- Set Three
- Mid-America Christian got off to a fast start in the third set as a pair of Stockhammer kills and a Cloie Mitchell sparked a 7-1 MACU surge to take a 9-5 lead.
- With MACU holding a 14-11 edge, the Lady Lions surged their way back by scoring on five of the next six rallies to jump out in-front, 16-15.
- The Evangels briefly took the lead back on a Mitchell kill and a Lions ball-handling error, but won back the momentum to claim a late 21-19 edge.
- Back-to-back kills by Vanessa Moreira and Miriam Nardi brought it back to a tied match, but the Lady Lions scored on the final four rallies to secure the 25-21 win.
- SAGU was able to score 15 kills to just 11 for the Evangels, but MACU still managed to hit for a higher attack rate with a .159 attack percentage while the Lady Lions were limited to .132.
- Set Four
- Southwestern Assemblies of God started out strong, tallying scores on 10 of the first 15 rallies before the Evangels battled back 4-1 run as a pair of Walters kills between a Stockhammer smack-down closed it to an 11-9 deficit.
- After SAGU was able to push its lead back out to five at 14-9, the Evangels slowly fought their way back, utilizing a late 4-1 surge as back-to-back Walters kills tied the set up at 19-all.
- Both teams exchanged points on a Lilly Hanna kill and a Karena Tipton attack error to bring it to 20-all, but the Lions finished strong as the Lady Lions scored the final five points, featuring a pair of aces from Tessa Glick to seal the 25-20 final.
- Once again, despite suffering the loss, Mid-America Christian fared better in the attack, notching 11 kills on a .150 hitting clip while SAGU was limited to only nine kills at a .114 attack percentage.
- The Lady Lions were able to win the set from the service line, recording five aces to only three errors while the Evangels tallies just one ace to five service errors.
- Walters put up a strong set for MACU, notching five kills on a .308 attack percentage.
MATCH NOTES
- Overall, Mid-America Christian finished with 45 kills on a .162 attack percentage while SAGU tallies 46 kills on a .101 hitting clip. The Evangels held the Lions to a season-low attack percentage with the previous low being .128 in a 3-2 win over No. 6 Corban (Ore.).
- MACU was also the first team to take a set away from the Lady Lions in Sooner Athletic Conference play. SAGU was 12-0 in sets during SAC play over its first four conference matches.
- The Evangels struggled from both the service line and in serve receive as the MACU tallied just three aces and committed 16 service errors while the Lady Lions tallied 13 aces to go with nine miscues.
- Leading the Mid-America Christian attack was Lauryn Walters with 13 kills on a .231 attack percentage while Miriam Nardi was the only other Evangel to crack double-digits with 10 kills on a .212 rate.
- Lena Stockhammer narrowly missed her third triple-double of the season as she notched nine kills to go with a team-high 18 assists and 18 digs to go with three blocks at the net.
- Casady McKinney also notched a double-double with 16 digs and 15 assists while Marlee Hunter led the back-row defense with 27 digs.
- It was the first time MACU lost to Southwestern Assemblies of God since Nov. 13, 2020. In the previous two meetings inside the Gaulke Activity Center, the Evangels were able to come away with two thrilling five-set victories.
UP NEXT
- Mid-America Christian will get one more opportunity to upset an NAIA Top 25 opponent on Saturday as the Evangels will host No. 24 Texas Wesleyan. Opening serve is slated for 1 p.m. inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
