OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU Volleyball team is on the road once again this week as the Evangels are in the midst of a five-match road stand. The Evangels will open their slate this week with a 7 p.m. match inside C.F. Gayles Field House at Langston on Thursday night before closing out the weekend at Central Christian on Saturday with a 1 p.m. first serve inside Jerry E. Alexander Arena.

SEASON REPORT 

• Record: 12-8 (8-5 SAC) 
• Last Game: Lost at (RV) Nelson – 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-19) – Oct. 12, 2024 – Waxahachie, Texas
• Stat Leaders: 
  • Kills: Miriam Nardi (208, 3.01 K/S), Alica Obusekova (163, 2.36 K/S) 
  • Attack Percentage (%, K-E-A):  Sarah Jones-Stafford (.271, 88-21-247), Natalia Rodriguez (.268, 69-20-183) 
  • Assists: Casady McKinney (436, 6.32 A/S), Madison Lee (228, 3.80 A/S) 
  • Aces: Ryley Bowden (29, 0.42 SA/S), Casady McKinney (24, 0.35 SA/S) 
  • Digs: Ryley Bowden (304, 4.41 D/S), Alica Obusekova (226, 3.28 D/S) 
  • Receive Percentage (RE-R): Alica Obusekova (.935, 27-418), Ryley Bowden (.918, 30-365)  
  • Blocks: Sarah Jones-Stafford (48, 0.71 B/S), Annabeth Fehrle (26, 0.48 B/S) 
• Team Notes:
  • Mid-America Christian is coming off a weekend split where it snapped its 28-match losing streak to NAIA powerhouse Texas Wesleyan as the Evangels came away with a three-set sweep last Friday before dropping a hard-fought three-set affair at SAC leader Nelson on Saturday.
  • MACU stepped into the Sid Richardson Center on Friday night winless against the Lady Rams in program history. However, that narrative was changed with a stunning 3-0 sweep with all three sets decided by 25-22 scores. The Evangels put up a great team effort that limited the Lady Rams to a mere .100 attack percentage, marking TXWES' second-lowest attack percentage in SAC competition this season.
  • In that win, Miriam Nardi led the Evangels attack with 12 kills on a .300 hitting percentage while the MACU front line defense tallied seven blocks, its second-most in a three-set match this season. Sarah Jones-Stafford was especially great at the net, notching six assisted blocks to go with three apiece from Annabeth Fehrle and Alica Obusekova.
  • Saturday afternoon was a hard-fought match for the Evangels as they limited Nelson to an attack percentage of only .144 and held the lead in the last half of the first two sets. However, Nelson was resilient, putting together big runs late in those first two sets to still away with a 3-0 sweep by scores of 25-23, 25-20 and 25-19. 
  • Coming off an extremely tough weekend on the road against the SAC's top two teams, the Evangels will look to be battle-tested for two opponents on the opposite end of the spectrum at Langston (2-12 SAC) and Central Christian (1-13 SAC), who currently sit as two of the bottom three teams in the league.   

SCOUTING REPORT

Langston

• Record: 3-9 (2-12 SAC)
• Last Match: Won vs. Central Christian (Kan.) – 3-2 (25-22, 23-25, 13-25, 25-23, 16-14) – Oct. 15, 2024 – Langston, Okla.  
• Series vs MACU (2013-): MACU leads 15-3 
• Last Match vs MACU: MACU won 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-20) – Sept. 14, 2024 – Oklahoma City
• Series Streak: MACU won 14 
• Players to Watch: 
  • Alycia Shaw – S – OH 
    • 108 Kills (1.59 K/S), .054 ATK%, 12 Aces (0.18 SA/S)
  • Meagan Anderson – SO – S 
    • 176 Assists (5.03 A/S), 52 Digs (1.49 D/S) 
  • Leah McCall– SO – DS 
    • 279 Digs (3.72 D/S), 24 Aces (0.32 SA/S) 
  • Lianna Payton – FR – MB 
    • 49 Blocks (0.68 B/S), 83 Kills (1.15 K/S), .070 ATK% 
• Team Notes: 
  • Langston has had a tough go at it this season with an overall record of 3-19 and 2-13 in conference play. However, LU has been playing some better volleyball as of late with two of its last three matches being decided in five sets.
  • Despite its tough season so far, the Lady Lions did see some bright moments with a comeback victory in a five-set match rally against Central Christian Tuesday night in the C.F. Gayles Field House. Down two sets to one, Langston was able to climb back with a 25-23 win in set four before Lianna Payton put down the match-point kill led them to a thrilling 16-14 victory in set five.  
  • Points have been tough for the Lady Lions to come by in the attack as Langston ranks last in the conference at 10.8 points per set while hitting for the second-lowest attack percentage in the conference at .064. LU's defense hasn't fared much better as Langston is allowing its opposition to hit .192 against it.
  • It has been a one-sided all-time series as the come in with a 15-3 record in favor of MACU, the Evangels also will look to extend their 14-game win streak against Langston as well.  

Central Christian 

• Record: 1-18 (1-12 SAC) 
• Last Match: Lost at Langston – 3-2 (22-25, 25-23, 25-13, 23-25, 14-16) – Sept. 28, 2024 – Langston, Okla. 
• Series vs MACU (2011-): MACU leads 15-1 
• Last Match vs MACU: MACU won 3-0 (25-9, 25-17, 25-12) – Sept. 13, 2024 – Gaulke Activity Center 
• Series Streak: MACU won 3 
• Players to Watch: 
  • Amanda Dotter – SR – OH 
    • 236 Kills (3.63 K/S), .130 ATK%, 127 Digs (1.95 D/S) 
  • Sydnie Jones – FR – OH
    • 135 Kills (2.08 K/S), .080 ATK%
  • Zoe Smith – JR – S 
    • 268 Assists (4.12 A/S), 25 Aces (0.38 SA/S) 
  • Nattelynn Burns– FS – DS/L
    • 127 Digs (0.67 D/S) 
• Team Notes: 
  • While Central Christian has a lone victory on the season, it is coming off on of their best matches where the Tigers nearly came away with a win at Langston, but ultimately fell in five sets. It was only the second time this season where the Tigers won more than one set, with the other occurrence taking place in their 3-0 victory against Southwestern Christian on Sept. 21.  
  • Senior outside hitter Amanda Dotter will be the weapon to watch out for as she leads not just the Tigers, but the entire SAC in kills (236) and kills per set (3.63).
  • Overall, MACU has dominated the series, winning 15 of the previous 16 clashes since 2011, including a three-match win streak. The Evangels sweep on Sept. 13 over the Tigers featured a one-sided performance with the Evangels dominating the attack on a percentage of .408 compared to the Tigers -.026. However, the last two meetings inside Jerry E. Alexander Arena have been nail-biting, five-set affairs as Central Christian won its first ever match against MACU in 2022 before the Evangels pulled out an extra-point grinder in set five, taking the fifth frame 18-16 for the 3-2 victory on Oct. 19, 2023.