OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU volleyball team gave No. 14 Texas Wesleyan its toughest test in Sooner Athletic Conference play this season, battling the Lady Rams to their first five-set match of the season, but the Evangels rally came up just short inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Friday night.
 
SCORE

• Texas Wesleyan 3, Mid-America Christian 2 (25-16, 21-25, 25-14, 13-25, 15-7)
  • Mid-America Christian (13-9, 9-4 SAC)
  • Texas Wesleyan (18-3, 13-0 SAC)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Sawyer Franz – 18 Kills, .295 ATK%, 13 Digs
• Annabeth Fehrle – 9 Kills, .389 ATK%, 2 Blocks
• Ludmilla Souza – 22 Assists, 11 Digs
• Marlee Hunter – 19 Digs, 5 Assists

MATCH SUMMARY

• Set One
  • Texas Wesleyan opened the match in dominant fashion, scoring the first seven points before taking a 12-1 lead midway through the set.
  • After trading the next two rallies, Mid-America Christian started to find its footing in the match as a Sawyer Franz kill started a 6-1 run featuring a pair of aces from Franz herself and Casady McKinney before Annabeth Fehrle capped the run with a kill to set the score to 14-8.
  • The two squads battled back-and-forth over the next 12 rallies as a kill by Franz and a Hanna Rubis attack error brought it back to six at 20-14, but the Lady Rams ended the set by putting together a 5-2 run to close out a 25-16 opening set victory.
• Set Two
  • Unlike the first set, set two was a back-and-forth tug of war for control as the two squads exchanged lead seven times and drew even 16 times through the first 40 rallies as the final draw came on an assisted block by Sydney Charlton and Carly Unruh to make it a 20-20 contest.
  • Back-to-back Texas Wesleyan attack errors gave MACU late control of the set as the Lady Rams were forced to call a timeout to regroup.
  • Even though a Marlee Hunter service error briefly brought serve back to the Lady Rams, Mid-America Christian finished the set strong as a Miriam Nardi side-out kill preceeded back-to-back Lauryn Walters terminations to seal the 25-21 win.
• Set Three
  • The Lady Rams began set three much like the opening of the match, scoring on the first five rallies to seize control as Texas Wesleyan took a 13-6 lead at the midway point following a Kendal King kill.
  • Mid-America Christian tried to stem the tide after getting the next two points off a Walters kill and a Rams setting error, but TWU swung back with a 10-2 surge to all but seal away the set at 23-10.
  • MACU tried to make a late run gain a bit of momentum heading into the fourth set, scoring four of the next five on a Sarah Jones and Nardi assisted block, a Hunter ace and a pair of kills from Franz and Fehrle, but the Lady Rams sealed the set on a Sydney Alexander kill to wrap-up the 25-14 final.
• Set Four
  • A similar start to set two, Mid-America Christian and Texas Wesleyan battled back-and-forth through the first 20 rallies with six ties and four lead changes.
  • The Evangels seized control on a Lena Stockhammer side-out termination, scoring seven of the next nine to grab a 17-12 advantage.
  • An Alexander kill briefly brought it to a four-point game, but the Evangels refused to be denied the set win as MACU rattled off eight-unanswered as Casady McKinney's serve hit the back line for an ace to wrap-up the 25-13 victory and force the decisive fifth set.
• Set Five
  • MACU briefly captured an early 2-1 lead behind a Stockhammer slam and an Unruh attack miscue, but TexWes swung back with four-straight to capture a 5-2 advantage.
  • The Evangels tried to keep it close as the next five rallies came via side-out scoring, but the Lady Rams stuck a dagger in MACU's comeback chances with six-unanswered points at the side change to make it a 13-5 game.
  • Mid-America Christian tried to muster a rally behind a Fehrle termination and a Lady Rams attack error, but a service miscue brought it to match point before King closed it out the match-point kill to set the 15-7 score.

MATCH NOTES

• Despite suffering the defeat, Mid-America Christian was the slightly more effective team in the attack, finishing with 51 kills on a .199 attack percentage while Texas Wesleyan recorded 50 kills on a .185 hitting rate.
• The biggest determining factor in the outcome was the play from the service line as the Lady Rams finished with 14 aces to just four service errors while MACU registered just six aces to seven miscues, creating a 21-10 scoring difference from line.
• The MACU attack was spearheaded by freshman outside Sawyer Franz, notching a match-high 18 kills on a .295 attack percentage to go with 13 digs for a double-double while Annabeth Fehrle also finished with nine kills on a stout .389 hitting clip.
• MACU's setters Ludmilla Souza and Casady McKinney also turned in double-doubles with Souza dishing out a team-high 22 assists to go with 11 digs while McKinney finished with 17 assists and 10 digs.
• Marlee Hunter led the MACU back row defense efforts with 19 digs and five assists.
• Mid-America Christian was the first team in Sooner Athletic Conference play to win two sets from Texas Wesleyan with the last team to take two sets against the Lady Rams being Vanguard (Calif.) at the Summer Slam Tournament in Fullerton, California on Aug. 25.
• The match marked the first time the Evangels took the powerhouse program to five sets since suffering a 3-2 defeat in Fort Worth on Aug. 27, 2016 while also marking the first time MACU had ever taken the Lady Rams to five sets inside the Gaulke Activity Center.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will try its hand at another NAIA Top 25 upset on Saturday afternoon as the Evangels will host No. 24 Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) for a 1 p.m. first serve inside the Gaulke Activity Center.