OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU volleyball team will be looking to get back on the winning track with a pair of midweek road matches as the Evangels open the slate with a Tuesday night match at Langston inside C.F. Gayles Arena at 7 p.m. before making way to McPherson, Kansas for a 7 p.m. match at Central Christian on Thursday night at 7 p.m. inside Jerry E. Alexander Arena.
 
SEASON REPORT

• Record: 13-10 (9-5 SAC)
• Last Match: Lost vs. No. 24 SW Assemblies of God (Texas) – 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 25-14) – Oct. 14, 2023 – Gaulke Activity Center
• Stat Leaders:
  • Kills: Sawyer Franz (298, 3.59 K/S), Lena Stockhammer (241, 2.90), Annabeth Fehrle (127, 1.53 K/S)
  • ATK% (K-E-A, %): Sawyer Franz (298-116-801, .227), Miriam Nardi (116-52-304, .211), Sarah Jones (122-54-341, .199)
  • Assists: Casady McKinney (538, 6.64 A/S), Ludmilla Souza (295, 4.54 A/S)
  • Aces: Casady McKinney (37, 0.46 SA/S), Marlee Hunter (35, 0.42 SA/S), Ludmilla Souza (28, 0.43 SA/S)
  • Digs: Marlee Hunter (396, 4.77 D/S), Sawyer Franz (191, 2.30 D/S), Sydney Martin (166, 2.00 D/S)
  • Receive Percentage (RE-TA, %): Marlee Hunter (22-439, .950), Sydney Martin (21-305, .931), Sawyer Franz (31-434, .929)
  • Blocks: Sarah Jones (54, 0.65 B/S), Annabeth Fehrle (37, 0.45 B/S)
• Team Notes:
  • Mid-America Christian suffered back-to-back losses against two teams ranked in the NAIA Top 25 last weekend, falling in five sets to No. 14 Texas Wesleyan on Friday night before No. 24 Southwestern Assemblies of God came away with a three-set sweep on Saturday.
  • After entering the weekend as the NAIA's 12^th-most prolific serving team, the Evangels struggled to score from the service line in the matchups against the Lady Rams and Lady Lions. The Evangels tallies just six aces and committed seven errors in the defeat to TexWes while SAGU held MACU to a season-low two aces to go with four service errors. Meanwhile, MACU struggled to contain both teams in-service as the Lady Rams turned in 14 service aces while SAGU came away with 10, marking just the second and third matches this season the Evangels conceded double-digit points in serve receive.
  • The pair of defeats moved MACU into a tie with Oklahoma City four fourth in the SAC standings at 9-5 with six matches left on the conference schedule. The Evangels currently hold the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Stars after defeating OCU in straight sets on Sept. 28.

SCOUTING REPORT
Langston (Okla.)

• Record: 1-20 (0-14 SAC)
• Last Match: Lost at Wayland Baptist – 3-0 (25-10, 25-14, 25-11) – Oct. 14, 2023 – Plainview, Texas
• Series vs MACU (2013-): MACU leads 13-3
• Last Match vs MACU: MACU won 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-10) – Sept. 16, 2023 – Gaulke Activity Center
• Series Streak: MACU won 12
• Players to Watch:
  • Lauren Collier – SO – OH
    • 105 Kills (1.78 K/S), .043 ATK%, 90 Digs (1.53 D/S)
  • Poliana West – FR – S
    • 190 Assists (3.02 A/S), 126 Digs (2.00 D/S)
  • Leah McCall – FR – DS/L
    • 190 Digs (3.58 D/S), .885 RCV%
  • Brooklyn Cross – FR – MB
    • 42 Blocks (0.67 B/S), 61 Kills (0.97 K/S), .152 ATK%
• Team Notes:
  • Langston is still seeking its first Sooner Athletic Conference win of the season as the Lady Lions are coming off a tough western road trip to Oklahoma Panhandle State where LU lost 3-1 to the Aggies and 3-0 to the Pioneers.
  • The Lady Lions have struggled greatly in the attack during the 2023 season as LU ranks fourth-to-last in the NAIA in kills per set (6.78) while its .020 attack percentage also ranks fourth-to-last in the NAIA. Langston has also been challenged in serve receive as LU also ranks fifth-to-last nationally in receive errors (210) while posting an .867 receive percentage.
  • Sophomore outside Lauren Collier is the only Lady Lion to break triple-digit kills this season with 105 terminations, averaging 1.78 kills per set on a .043 attack percentage. Defensively, Leah McCall leads the defensive efforts by averaging 3.58 digs per set.
  • Since Langston joined the Sooner Athletic Conference in 2016, the Evangels have been very successful against the Lady Lions, winning 13 straight in the series. During that 13-match win streak, the Evangels have only lost one set. The Evangels took care of business in straight sets against LU back on Sept. 16 inside the Gaulke Activity Center while the last time MACU played inside C.F. Gayles Arena, they came away with a 25-15, 25-11, 25-21 sweep on Nov. 3, 2022.

Central Christian (Kan.)

• Record: 6-17 (3-11 SAC)
• Last Match: Lost at Oklahoma Panhandle State – 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-19) – Oct. 14, 2023 – Goodwell, Okla.
• Series vs MACU (2011-): MACU leads 13-1
• Last Match vs MACU: MACU won 3-0 (27-25, 25-12, 25-13) – Sept. 15, 2023 – Gaulke Activity Center
• Series Streak: MACU won 1
• Players to Watch:
  • Amanda Dotter – SR – OH
    • 225 Kills (3.13 K/S), .090 ATK%, 27 Aces (0.38 SA/S), 233 Digs (3.24 D/S)
  • Zoe Smith – SO – S
    • 347 Assists (4.23 A/S), 31 Aces (0.38 SA/S), 137 Digs (1.67 D/S)
  • Jacque Freeman – SR – DS
    • 290 Digs (3.63 D/S), .941 RCV%
• Team Notes:
  • Central Christian is also coming off the tough west road trip to Wayland Baptist and Oklahoma Panhandle State, suffering a pair of three-set sweeps against the Pioneers (25-21, 25-11, 25-17) on Oct. 13 and the Aggies (25-21, 25-12, 25-19) on Oct. 14.
  • The Tigers have also been a team that has struggled in the offensive attack this season, ranking second-to-last in the SAC in hitting percentage (.065) while averaging the third-fewest kills per set (9.37). However, Central is one of the stronger serving teams in the conference, ranking fourth in the league in kills per set 1.99.
  • CCC is led in the attack by senior outside Amanda Dotter, who is averaging the fifth-most kills per set in the SAC at 3.13 on a .090 attack percentage while also beind very strong on the defensive end, averaging 3.24 digs per set. Jacque Freeman is the Tigers back row leader with 3.63 digs per set while turning in a solid .941 in serve receive.
  • While Mid-America Christian has dominated the all-time series, the Evangels will be looking to bounce back from its first ever loss against Central Christian inside Jerry E. Alexander Arena last season. In that match on Nov. 1, 2022, the Evangels fought back from a set down to force a fifth set, but MACU dropped a 15-13 heartbreaker in the final set.