OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU volleyball team will take its momentum uptown for a Sooner Athletic Conference road match on Saturday as the Evangels head to Bethany, Oklahoma for a 1 p.m. match against rival Southwestern Christian inside Pickens-Springer Gymnasium on Saturday.
 
SEASON REPORT

• Record: 12-8 (8-3 SAC)
• Last Match: Won vs. Science & Arts (Okla.) – 3-2 (25-16, 24-26, 22-25, 25-15, 15-13) – Oct. 3, 2023 – Gaulke Activity Center
• Stat Leaders:
  • Kills: Sawyer Franz (259, 3.60 K/S), Lena Stockhammer (219, 3.04 K/S), Sarah Jones (113, 1.57 K/S)
  • ATK% (K-E-A, %): Sawyer Franz (259-104-710, .218), Sarah Jones (113-48-308, .211), Lena Stockhammer (219-91-617, .207 ATK%)
  • Assists: Casady McKinney (499, 7.13 A/S), Ludmilla Souza (233, 4.31 A/S)
  • Aces: Marlee Hunter (33, 0.46 SA/S), Casady McKinney (31, 0.44 SA/S), Ludmilla Souza (26, 0.48 SA/S)
  • Digs: Marlee Hunter (347, 4.82 D/S), Sawyer Franz (165, 2.29 D/S), Sydney Martin (145, 2.01 D/S)
  • Blocks: Sarah Jones (50, 0.69 B/S), Annabeth Fehrle (32, 0.44 B/S)
• Team Notes:
  • Facing a Science & Arts squad that has been playing some very strong volleyball as of late, Mid-America Christian managed to fight back from a 2-1 deficit on Tuesday night inside the Gaulke Activity Center, coming away with a 25-15 win in set four to force a fifth set before surviving a Drovers rally in set five for the 15-13 set win for the 3-2 victory.
  • After being held to single-digit kills the entire season, junior right side hitter Miriam Nardi had a breakout match against the Drovers, registering a career-high 20 kills on a blazing .457 attack percentage and also tallied five digs and four blocks defensively, tying her career-best blocking effort as well.
  • One of the big factors in the win for the Evangels was their continued phenomenal play from the service line. In the win over USAO, MACU tied the second-most aces (14) in a single match this season and only committed eight service miscues. Mid-America Christian not only leads the SAC in aces per set (2.21), but it also ranks 15^th in the entire NAIA.
  • A big reason for that increased efficiency in service is due to the presence of Ludmilla Souza at the line. In the last three matches, Souza has tallied 11 of her 26 aces on the season, averaging 0.84 aces per set in that time frame. Marlee Hunter has also been clutch from the service line lately as well, tallying nine aces (0.69 per set) in that same time frame while

SCOUTING REPORT
Southwestern Christian (Okla.)

• Record: 4-14 (1-10 SAC)
• Last Match: Lost at Science & Arts (Okla.) – 3-1 (22-25, 25-21, 25-12, 25-23) – Oct. 5, 2023 – Chickasha, Okla.
• Series vs MACU (2003): MACU leads 22-11
• Last Match vs MACU: MACU won 3-0 (25-12, 25-15, 25-14) – Aug. 31, 2023 – Gaulke Activity Center
• Series Streak: MACU won 1
• Players to Watch:
  • Dasia Ingram – FR – OH/MB
    • 134 Kills (2.27 K/S), .076 ATK%, 98 Digs (1.66 D/S), 29 Blocks (0.49 B/S)
  • Faith DeSouza – SR – S
    • 336 Assists (5.79 A/S), 143 Digs (2.47 D/S)
  • Treasure Mozon – SR – L/DS
    • 244 Digs (4.14 D/S), .935 RCV%
  • Tessa Ortiz – SR – MB
    • 31 Blocks (0.53 B/S), 120 Kills (2.03 K/S), .203 ATK%
• Team Notes:
  • Southwestern Christian went to Science & Arts on Thursday and against a gritty Drovers squad the last two weeks, the Eagles gave USAO a tough fight in a 3-1 defeat.
  • SCU has struggled in the attack during the 2023 season as the Eagles rank ninth in the Sooner Athletic Conference in attack percentage (.076) and have also been challenged to produce points in-service, recording the second-fewest total aces in the league at 83, averaging just 1.41 per set.
  • With the Eagles scoring just 11.1 points per set, most of the offensive and defensive scoring comes from the trio that is Dasia Ingram, Tessa Ortiz and Paige McGee. Ingram leads the way for SCU, averaging 2.8 pts/s on 2.27 kills for a .076 attack percentage 0.19 aces and 0.49 blocks
  • While MACU holds a 22-11 lead in the all-time series since 2002, the Evangels have been especially great against Southwestern Christian the last five years, winning of the last 11 meetings. However, the one loss MACU has faced in that time frame came last season inside Pickens-Springer Gymnasium as the Evangels will be looking to avenge a heartbreaking 3-2 defeat last season on Oct. 13. In that match, the Evangels had a 2-1 set led over SCU, but the Eagles battled back to win the last two sets to come away with the win.