OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU volleyball team will open the second half of Sooner Athletic Conference competition at home as the Evangels take on Science & Arts (Okla.) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
 
SEASON REPORT

• Record: 11-8 (7-3 SAC)
• Last Match: Won at Oklahoma City – 3-0 (25-9, 25-16, 25-21) – Sept. 28, 2023 – Oklahoma City (Abe Lemons Arena)
• Stat Leaders:
  • Kills: Sawyer Franz (239, 3.81 K/S), Lena Stockhammer (205, 3.20 K/S), Sarah Jones (110, 1.64 K/S)
  • ATK% (K-E-A, %): Sawyer Franz (239-94-656, .221), Sarah Jones (110-47-299, .211), Lena Stockhammer (205-89-585, .198)
  • Assists: Casady McKinney (479, 7.37), Ludmilla Souza (194, 3.96)
  • Aces: Marlee Hunter (31, 0.45 SA/S), Casady McKinney (27, 0.42 SA/S), Ludmilla Souza (22, 0.45 SA/S)
  • Digs: Marlee Hunter (316, 4.72 D/S), Sawyer Franz (159, 2.37 D/S), Sydney Martin (134, 2.00 D/S)
  • Blocks: Sarah Jones (45, 0.67 B/S), Annabeth Fehrle (30, 0.45 B/S)
• Team Notes:
  • After dropping a five-set heartbreaker to John Brown last Wednesday, Mid-America Christian got a massively important win at Oklahoma City on Thursday as the Evangels went into Abe Lemons Arena and came away with a three-set sweep over the Stars, 25-9, 25-16, 25-21).
  • In the win, MACU held the Stars to a season-low -.009 attack percentage, which marked just the second time Oklahoma City had hit in the negatives in a match since 2016 and is the lowest hitting clip OCU has hit for since a 3-0 loss to Park (Mo.) on Aug. 26, 2016.
  • The win for MACU was a pivotal one to close out the first half of SAC play as it allowed MACU to move into a three-way tie for third in the SAC standings with Oklahoma City and John Brown.
  • As MACU enters the second half of conference competition, it's play in service has played a big role in the Evangels improvements. In the match against JBU, MACU recorded 14 service aces, marking a season-high 14 reception errors for the Golden Eagles while MACU committed just eight reception miscues in the five-set affair. Similarly, MACU tallied eight aces in a three-set sweep against the Stars while finishing with just one reception error for a single OCU ace. Since Sept. 16, the Evangels have only committed more service errors than aces in one match, averaging 2.95 aces and just 1.29 service errors per match. Meanwhile, MACU has been averaging only 1.29 reception errors per set over the last three weeks while the Evangels were averaging 1.76 miscues per set in the previous 13 matches.

SCOUTING REPORT
Science & Arts (Okla.)

• Record: 7-8 (4-6 SAC)
• Last Match: Lost vs. John Brown (Ark.) – 3-2 (26-24, 23-25, 14-25, 25-22, 15-8) – Sept. 28, 2023 – Chickasha, Okla.
• Series vs MACU (2016-): MACU leads 17-0
• Last Match vs MACU: MACU won 3-0 (25-12, 25-15, 25-22) – Aug. 29, 2023 – Chickasha, Okla.
• Series Streak: MACU won 17
• Players to Watch:
  • Victoria Southerland – JR – OH
    • 147 Kills (2.63 K/S), .093 ATK%, 17 Aces (0.30 SA/S), 131 Digs (2.34 D/S)
  • Kalaya Pierce – JR – S
    • 245 Assists (4.38 A/S), 86 Digs (1.54 D/S)
  • Yaiza Larrauri – JR – DS
    • 160 Digs (4.10 D/S), .963 RCV%
  • Samantha Perez – JR – MB
    • 50 Blocks (0.89 B/S), 115 Kills (2.05 K/S), .260 ATK%
• Team Notes:
  • Science & Arts is coming off one of its best played matches of the season on Thursday as the Drovers battled John Brown to five sets, even holding 2-1 set lead at one point in the match, but the Golden Eagles managed to force a fifth set after coming away with a 25-22 win in set four before running away with a 15-8 victory in the fifth.
  • In the attack, the Drovers rank in the middle of the pack in the SAC, hitting for the sixth-best clip of .148 to go with the sixth-most kills per set at 10.29. One of the big weaknesses for USAO this season has been its defense as the Drovers rank second-to-last in the conference in digs per set (14.61) while also recording the third-worst receiving percentage in the SAC at .895.
  • Most of the Drovers attack will run through junior outside Victoria Southerland and junior middle blocker Samantha Perez. Southerland enters with a team-high 147 kills on an .093 hitting clip while Perez has mashed 115 kills at an efficient .260 attack rate. Perez has also been one of the most valuable players for USAO at the net defensively, leading the team with 50 blocks on a 0.89 per set rate.
  • Since the establishment of the Drovers volleyball program in 2016, Mid-America Christian has had USAO's number in the series, winning all 17 of their previous meetings. In their previous matchup inside the USAO Fieldhouse on Aug. 26, the Evangels controlled the match from beginning to end to come away with a 25-12, 25-15, 25-22 victory. Lena Stockhammer had an especially solid match in the attack, tallying 11 kills on a .364 attack percentage while MACU's middles Annabeth Fehrle and Sarah Jones performed very well, combining for 12 kills for a .407 hitting clip.