OKLAHOMA CITY – For the second straight year, the MACU volleyball will advance to the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament Semifinal following a quarterfinal victory inside the Gaulke Activity Center as the Evangels rallied from a set down to defeat Wayland Baptist 3-1.
 
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 3, Wayland Baptist 1 (16-25, 25-14, 25-22, 25-23)
  • Mid-America Christian (20-10)
  • Wayland Baptist (14-14)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Lena Stockhammer – 12 Kills, 3 Digs
• Miriam Nardi – 8 Kills, .280 ATK%
• Ludmilla Souza – 23 Assists, 6 Digs, 2 Aces
• Casady McKinney – 17 Assists, 10 Digs
• Marlee Hunter – 21 Digs, 3 Assists

MATCH SUMMARY

• Set One
  • Mid-America Christian captured the early lead after scoring three-unanswered points early on, but the Pioneers utilized a three-point run of their own to grab the lead before stretching it out to three on a Sawyer Franz attack error midway through to make it 12-9.
  • The Evangels grabbed the lead back following back-to-back Franz terminations as well as a kill each from Miriam Nardi and Annabeth Fehrle off WBU net violations as MACU captured the 14-12 advantage.
  • However, MACU lost all its momentum following a Marlee Hunter service error as the Pioneers went on to score 13 of the final 15 points in a dominant second half for WBU, sealing the 25-16 win on Alyssa Vasquez's set-point kill.
• Set Two
  • Even though MACU conceded the first point when Lena Stockhammer hit the opening rally into the net, the Evangels rebounded well by scoring six of the next seven as aces from Sydney Martin and Marlee Hunter, a pair of kills from Franz and Nardi to go along with two WBU attack errors made it a 6-2 game.
  • Wayland Baptist wasn't able to reduce the MACU advantage to less than two following eight consecutive side-out rallies until the Evangels built their lead back stronger following a 6-1 surge capped on Fehrle's finishing kill to a long rally to make it a 16-9 MACU edge.
  • The Evangels closed out the set strong by scoring on eight of the last 11 rallies as Ludmilla Souza's serve found the back-left corner for an ace to close out the dominant 25-14 final.
• Set Three
  • Mid-America Christian started off strong in the third, doubling up the lead on Wayland Baptist through the first 15 rallies as back-to-back kills by Franz and Fehrle preceded a Carlee Heidebrect attack error to make it a 10-5 MACU lead.
  • The Pioneers worked their way back in the match by scoring eight of the next 11 as Vasquez's termination from the left side tied the set up at 13-all, prompting MACU head coach Holly McKamie to call a timeout.
  • A Nardi side-out kill and a Fade Ogunbade attack error briefly put MACU back in-front, but the Pioneers scored five of the next six to capture an 18-16 lead on a Selma Sutaj kill.
  • Souza's side-out setter dump kill lit a fire under the Evangels attack as MACU scored eight of the next nine points, featuring four-straight kills as a Gabreya Garcia attack error brought it to set point at 24-19.
  • The Pioneers clawed it back to a two-point game by scoring the next three, but Stockhammer finally finished off the set by tapping a middle kill over the block to wrap-up the 25-22 win.
• Set Four
  • Both teams traded multiple big runs through the first half as four-straight by Wayland was followed by five in a row by MACU to make it 6-4 on Ferhle's termination. The Pioneers grabbed the lead again by scoring five of the next six, but the Evangels swung back with five in a row capped on Stockhammer's kill off the WBU block to make it 12-9 MACU.
  • The Evangels eventually worked their lead out to four at 15-11 on another Stockhammer cross-court slam, but Wayland Baptist fought its way back by outscoring MACU 8-4 over the next 12 rallies as Heidebrect's kill drew it even at 19-all.
  • The two teams traded side-out points before the Evangels put the Pioneers on the brink behind a 4-1 run as another net violation on WBU on Nardi's attack brought it to match-point at 24-21.
  • Back-to-back kills by Ogunbade and Vasquez made things interesting at the end, but MACU eventually got the win when Vasquez put a swing into the net for a match-ending attack error to wrap-up the 25-23 final.

MATCH NOTES

• Both teams struggled in the offensive attack as Mid-America Christian boasted 53 kills on a .145 hitting percentage while Wayland Baptist was held to just 42 kills on a .118 attack rate.
• The Evangels were unable to get much offense going against a Pioneers blocking scheme that was responsible for 13 of MACU's 29 attack errors while MACU as a team registered just four blocks for the match.
• Sawyer Franz and Lena Stockhammer led MACU's attack with 12 kills apiece, but both players were kept relatively in-check as Franz finished with a .023 hitting rate while Stockhammer registered a .073 attack percentage.
• However, the Evangels were also just as effective as shutting down the Pioneers two strongest attackers in Selma Sutaj and Fade Ogunbade. Sutaj recorded a match-high 15 kills but on just a .160 attack percentage while Ogunbade, who ranked in the top five in the SAC in both kills per set and hitting percentage was held to just seven kills on a -.034 attack clip
• MACU's success came from its balanced attack as four players finished with eight or more kills with Miriam Nardi effectively getting her eight terminations on a .280 hitting clip while Sutaj for the Pioneers was the only Wayland player to record more than seven kills.
• Ludmilla Souza led MACU's distribution efforts with 23 assists and six digs while Casady McKinney turned in a double-double with 17 assists and 10 digs.
• Marlee Hunter led MACU's back-row defense with 21 digs while Ryley Bowden shoveled a career-high 16 digs.
• With the victory over the Pioneers, Mid-America Christian has now won eight-straight matches in the series dating back to a 3-2 victory inside the Hutcherson Center back on Sept. 10, 2021.
• The win for the Evangels also marked just the program's second ever win in the SAC Quarterfinal. The team's first quarters win came last season inside the Gaulke Activity Center when fourth-seeded MACU swept No. 5 seed Oklahoma Panhandle State 25-12, 25-22, 27-25 on Nov. 8, 2022.
• The Evangels are currently riding a seven-match win streak on the tail end of a stretch where MACU has won 14 of its last 17 matches with two of those losses coming to NAIA Top 25 teams as well as two defeats coming in five sets.
• By getting its 20^th win of the season, Mid-America Christian has now won 20 or more matches in each of the last three seasons following a 19-15 campaign in 2020.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will make the trip to Waxahachie, Texas on Friday to compete in the SAC Semifinals inside the Sheaffer Center. The Evangels will be matched up against second-seeded and nationally 13^th-ranked Texas Wesleyan for a 6 p.m. first serve.