OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU volleyball team battled back from two-sets down in a crucial Sooner Athletic battle against John Brown (Ark.) on Wednesday night, but the Evangels were unable to stop a late Golden Eagles surge as MACU fell 3-2 inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
 
SCORE

• John Brown 3, Mid-America Christian 2 (25-23, 25-22, 14-25, 21-25, 15-12)
  • Mid-America Christian (10-8, 6-3 SAC)
  • John Brown (13-7, 6-3 SAC)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Sawyer Franz – 21 Kills, .186 ATK%, 3 Digs
• Ludmilla Souza – 25 Assists, 18 Digs, 4 Aces
• Marlee Hunter – 24 Digs, 12 Assists, 5 Aces
• Casady McKinney – 22 Assists, 14 Digs, 3 Aces

MATCH SUMMARY

• Set One
  • The opening set was a back-and-forth affair between the two evenly-matched squads as the Evangels and Golden Eagles traded five lead chances and seven ties before a four-unanswered MACU run ignited by three straight kills, including two Lena Stockhammer terminations before Annabeth Fehrle and Lauryn Walters teamed up on a block of Cora Roweton made it a 20-17 Evangels lead.
  • Following a JBU timeout, the two squads traded the next four rallies before the Golden Eagles found their stride behind a string of five-unanswered points brought it to set-point at 24-22 on Savanna Riney's kill.
  • An attack error by Riney allowed MACU to survive one set-point, but Riney made up for it with a termination on the ensuing rally to wrap-up the 25-23 win for John Brown.
• Set Two
  • After conceding the first point, Mid-America Christian was able to capture the momentum behind a 6-2 surge in the first half before MACU captured the 13-8 advantage at the midway point following a 4-1 Evangels run behind a pair of Miriam Nardi kills, a Sarah Jones termination and a Marlee Hunter service ace.
  • A timely Golden Eagles timeout swung the momentum in-favor of JBU by winning six of the next eight rallies, capturing a 16-15 edge following a Stockhammer attack error before MACU took it right back following a Lauryn Walters kill and a Faith Foutch ace.
  • With the Evangels holding a 20-18 lead late, JBU head coach Ken Carver rallied his troops after his second timeout as the Golden Eagles rattled off six in a row at the break to once again force set-point at 24-20.
  • MACU managed to survive two set points on a Sawyer Franz kill and a Riney attack error, but a Delaney Barnes kill finally finished off the set at 25-22.
• Set Three
  • While John Brown held the momentum through the first two sets, MACU stemmed the tide with a dominant third set. With the teams being close through the first nine rallies, a kill apiece by Franz and Stockhammer to go with pair of JBU miscues stretched the Evangels' edge to 9-4.
  • John Brown battled back to bring it to within three on multiple occasions during the midway portion of the set with the last rally bringing it to three coming on a Taylor Golmen solo block on Fehrle's try up the middle to make it 14-11.
  • Back-to-back Franz finishes allowed MACU to put together a dominant finish over the second half as the Evangels outscored the Golden Eagles 11-3 before Ludmilla Souza wrapped it up with a service ace on set-point to close out the 25-14 final.
• Set Four
  • A back-and-forth affair featuring three lead changes and seven ties before MACU grabbed the advantage midway through following four in a row off kills by Foutch and Stockhammer as well as an ace from Souza before Erin Mullins hitting miscue made it 15-12 MACU.
  • Another four-unanswered sprint by the Evangels allowed MACU to build a 19-14 advantage off of three Golden Eagles errors, but JBU refused to go away with three straight points to close to a two-point game.
  • Trading a pair of two-point swings, MACU put John Brown against the ropes when two Franz terminations sandwiched a Roweton attack error to bring it to set point at 24-19.
  • The Golden Eagles survived a pair of set points with kills from Golmen and Roweton, but Casady McKinney managed to finally end the set with a setter dump kill to seal the 25-21 win and force a decisive fifth set.
• Set Five
  • Mid-America Christian captured the early momentum by scoring four of the first five as a Franz outside firing made it a 4-1 contest before three in a row by the Golden Eagles during a 6-1 allowed John Brown to capture a 7-5 edge nearing the side chance.
  • Kills by Nardi and Franz brought it even, but Barnes' termination allowed JBU to take the 8-7 lead heading into the side switch.
  • It appeared the Evangels were setting themselves up for a strong finish when a Fehrle kill ignited a five-straight surge that was capped off on a Stockhammer kill to make it 12-8.
  • Unfortunately, the Evangels momentum came to a crashing halt following a service error as the Golden Eagles went on a remarkable 7-0 run to close out the match as Sarah Graham's match-winning kill closed out the 15-12 final.

MATCH NOTES

• Even though Mid-America Christian outscored the Golden Eagles in the attack with a 62-52 edge in kills, the Golden Eagles were slightly more efficient in their attack as 30 MACU attack errors to only 22 for JBU allowed John Brown to finish with a slightly better attack percentage at .179 to .168.
• Despite the tough result, the Evangels proved to be the better team in service as MACU notched 14 aces and committed just eight errors, marking a season-high in reception errors for John Brown as JBU finished with just six aces to seven errors.
• Remarkably, three different MACU players finished with double-doubles in the match. Senior setter Ludmilla Souza led the passing efforts with 25 assists and shoveled 18 digs to go with a season-high four service aces while sophomore setter Casady McKinney also turned in 22 assists to go with 14 digs and tallied three aces.
• Junior libero Marlee Hunter was the third double-double with a team-high 24 digs and dished out a career-high 12 assists to go with another career-high in five aces. The match marked the second career double-double for the libero with her last coming in a 27-dig, 11-assist effort at Oklahoma City on Oct. 11.
• Once again, Sawyer Franz led the MACU attack, setting a new career-high in kills with 21 on a .186 attack percentage while Lena Stockhammer was the only other MACU player to break double-digits with 15 kills on a .205 hitting clip.
• Unfortunately, the loss for Mid-America Christian dropped the Evangels into a tie with the Golden Eagles for fourth in the SAC standings, sitting a half-game ahead of Wayland Baptist and a game back of Oklahoma City for the No. 3 spot.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will now brace itself for one of its most important matches as it wraps up the first half of SAC competition as the Evangels will head uptown to Abe Lemons Arena on Thursday night to battle their crosstown rival Stars. The match is slated for a 6 p.m. first serve.