WAXAHACHIE, Texas – The Sooner Athletic Conference announced its 2023 All-Conference Team at the SAC Semifinals inside the Sheaffer Center on Friday night as the MACU volleyball team had four players earn accolades while
Sawyer Franz garnered the league's Freshman of the Year honor and
Rachael Self was named the league's Assistant Coach of the Year. The Evangels also challenged No. 23 Texas Wesleyan in the late game of the SAC semis, but the Evangels fell 3-1 to the Rams.
ALL-SAC AWARDS
ALL-SAC NOTES
- In her first year as the assistant to head coach Holly McKamie, Rachael Self has helped the Evangels put together their highest finish ever in SAC play, placing third in the standings with a 15-5 mark while the program notched its third-straight 20-win season as it entered the SAC semis with a 20-10 overall record.
- Coming to MACU after a stellar club-level career at Oklahoma Peak Performance, outside hitter Sawyer Franz has proven to be one of the best strikers in the SAC, leading the conference with 418 kills as well as kills per set at 3.60 while hitting a team-best .223 attack percentage. Franz currently sits in fifth on MACU's NAIA Era (2007-present) single-season kills list, needing just 10 more to catch teammate Lena Stockhammer (428, 2022) for fourth. Franz is the first MACU rookie to ever be named the SAC Freshman of the Year.
- Lena Stockhammer earned her third straight All-SAC accolade and was named to the All-SAC First Team for the second consecutive year. This year, the senior outside has put down 349 kills on 3.01 kills per set rate on a .210 hitting percentage. After recording the fourth-most kills in a season a year ago, the Klagenfurt, Austria native has put together another top 10 kills mark season as her current season mark is the eighth-most in one year and needs just 22 more to catch Hanna Foecker for seventh (371, 2019).
- Earning All-SAC Second Team accolades for the second-straight year, junior libero Marlee Hunter has once again led MACU's back row defensive efforts with 549 digs, averaging 4.73 digs per set and has also put together a very strong .951 receive percentage. The Del City, Oklahoma native has currently shoveled the sixth-most digs in a single season during the NAIA Era and needs just 49 to match Camera Broadnax for the fifth-most in the book. Hunter has also been outstanding in-service for MACU this season, tallying the second-most aces on the team with 44 to sit just two away from breaking into the program's single-season top 10.
- Casady McKinney rounded out MACU's accolades with her first All-SAC Second Team honor. The Yukon, Okla. native leads the team with 696 assists at 6.11 assists per set, the second-highest mark in the league this season. McKinney has also tallied 42 aces from the line this season as her ace in MACU's SAC Semifinal loss to Texas Wesleyan tonight marked the 100th of her two-year career.
- Earning All-SAC Honorable Mention acclaim was senior setter Ludmilla Souza. During conference play, Souza has been a key piece of MACU's success as the team's starting setter, dishing out 481 assists (4.91 per set) while also leading the team from the service line with 45 aces, needing just one more to break into the single-season top 10 list.
SCORE
- Texas Wesleyan 3, Mid-America Christian 1 (25-23, 25-19, 20-25, 25-13)
- Mid-America Christian (20-11)
- Texas Wesleyan (25-5)
TOP PERFORMERS
MATCH SUMMARY
- Set One
- Mid-America Christian got off to a sensational start, jumping out to an 8-2 advantage before eventually stretching out its lead to 13-6 midway through the set on a service ace by Ludmilla Souza.
- Over the course of the set, Texas Wesleyan chiseled away at the MACU lead before stringing together a 6-1 run to tie it up at 18-all on an Andrea Malek ace.
- The Evangels swung the momentum briefly back in their favor as back-to-back kills by Annabeth Fehrle and Sarah Jones before a Malek attack error made it a 21-18 game.
- Unfortunately, the Evangels were unable to contain the Rams the TexWes scored seven of the last nine points to seal away a 25-23 set win from MACU.
- Set Two
- Texas Wesleyan controlled the pace through the first half of the set, utilizing a three-unanswered run to stretch its lead to 12-5 on a Kendal King kill.
- The Evangels didn't go quietly as MACU chipped its way back over the next 13 rallies as consecutive Fehrle kills and a Casady McKinney service ace closed it to a 16-14 game.
- MACU managed to keep it to a three-point game on multiple rallies down the stretch, but the Rams were able to notch the final three points to pull out the 25-19 set win to put the Evangels against the ropes.
- Set Three
- MACU captured the momentum through the first half by going on a five-unanswered and 7-1 rally run as kills by Sarah Jones and Sawyer Franz sandwiched a Marlee Hunter service ace to give the Evangels a commanding 16-7 lead.
- The Evangels managed to hold its nine-point edge all the way out to 22-13, but Texas Wesleyan put together a mad scramble over the next eight rallies by outscoring MACU to close it to 23-20.
- Mid-America Christian was finally able to put the set away on back-to-back kills by Lena Stockhammer and Miriam Nardi to close the gap to one with 25-20 win.
- Set Four
- Texas Wesleyan refused to allow the Evangels to battle back and force a fifth set as the Rams scored the first four points and while MACU did score four of the next six behind a pair of Stockhammer terminations and a Fehrle kill to go with a Faith Foutch service ace, Rams countered with a powerful 9-2 run to give Texas Wesleyan a nearly insurmountable 15-6 advantage.
- MACU did put in one more last gasp effort late as the Evangels went on a 5-1 surge, finished off on a Stockhammer kill to close it to 20-13.
- However, the Evangels were unable to slow down a red-hot Makenna Gantt from the service line as she tallied three aces during a five-unanswered run by TexWes to close out a 25-13 final.
MATCH NOTES
- In the defensively grueling match, Texas Wesleyan was just slightly more effective with its attack, tallying 47 kills on a .158 attack percentage while the Evangels notched 46 kills on a .119 hitting rate.
- The service line played a major factor in the result as Texas Wesleyan recorded nine aces to six for MACU while nine Evangels service errors to just six for the Rams allowed TWU to outscore MACU 18-12 in-service.
- The Texas Wesleyan blocking scheme also frustrated the MACU attack into committing 25 attack errors, eight of which came off of blocks while the Evangels could only muster a pair of blocks on the Rams' 22 attack errors, 10 of which came in the third set.
- MACU had an overall balanced attack with three players recording nine kills as Annabeth Fehrle turned in a .261 attack percentage while Miriam Nardi and Lena Stockhammer also finished with nine kills. Sawyer Franz also chipped in eight kills in MACU's attack.
- Ludmilla Souza led the distribution efforts with 22 assists and narrowly missed a double-double with nine digs while Casady McKinney did record a double-double behind 18 assists and 13 shovels.
- Marlee Hunter led MACU's back row defense with 25 digs, averaging an astonishing 6.25 digs per set.
- The Evangels were unable to get their first ever win over the powerhouse Texas Wesleyan program.
UP NEXT
- Mid-America Christian will now prepare for NCCAA postseason play as the Evangels will likely play in a Central Region Tournament. The location, dates and teams competing in the region will be determined early next week.
