OKLAHOMA CITY – In a pivotal Sooner Athletic Conference match that had third-place stakes on the line, the MACU Volleyball team went toe-to-toe with Wayland Baptist on Friday night inside the Gaulke Activity Center, but the Pioneers rallied back from a set down to take the final two sets, handing the Evangels a heartbreaking 3-2 defeat.
 
SCORE

• Wayland Baptist University 3, Mid-America Christian 2 (20-25, 25-19, 23-25, 25-23, 15-9)
  • Mid-America Christian (10-7, 6-4 SAC)
  • Wayland Baptist (7-6, 7-3 SAC)

TOP PERFOMERS

• Alica Obusekova – 14 Kills, .314 ATK%, 10 Digs, 6 Aces
• Lena Stockhammer – 16 Kills, .297 ATK%
• Riley Bowden – 22 Digs, 6 Assists
• Casady McKinney – 29 Assists, 11 Digs, 3 Kills
• Miriam Nardi – 12 kills, 12.5 Points

MATCH SUMMARY

• Set One
  • After the Pioneers gained an early 4-3 lead, the Evangels caught fire by going on a 7-1 run highlighted by a pair of kills by Annabeth Fehrle followed up by a kill and ace by Alica Obusekova, giving MACU the 10-5 lead to force a WBU timeout. 
  • An early 7-1 run was key for the Evangels as it kept the Pioneer junior Fade Ogunbade off the floor. Ogunbade came into today's contest second overall in the Sooner Athletic Conference with 156 points and fourth in kills per set at a 2.82 clip.
  • Wayland Baptist battled back to cut the MACU lead down to 18-15, but a side-out kill by freshman middle blocker Natalia Rodriguez followed by an Obusekova termination extended the MACU edge back down to five.
  • A small 3-0 run by the Pioneer's drove the first Evangel timeout of the contest, the timeout seemed to be essential for the Evangels as they went on to outscore Wayland 5-2 down the stretch to secure the 25-20 set victory.
• Set Two
  • Wayland Baptist was able to set the tone at the start, outscoring MACU as a pair of kills by Ogunbade and a pair of aces from Carlee Heidebrecht made it an early 6-2 Pioneers advantage.
  • The serving by the Pioneers was a difference maker in the set as the Pioneers combined for five aces overall.
  • After a slow start, the SAC's third leading scorer Miriam Nardi was able to find her stride with a pair of kills during a 4-0 run to cut the deficit to 16-11.
  • After falling behind 21-15 and taking timeout to regroup, Obusekova connected for two kills, but the Pioneers were able to maintain control down the stretch to win the set 25-19.
• Set Three
  • Both teams exchanged points through the early going, but MACU managed to seize control near the midway point following a Carlee Heidebrect service error as MACU scored seven of the next eight points to capture a 16-11 lead on a sensational setter dump kill by Casady McKinney.  
  • After MACU stretched lead its lead to 19-13 on an Obusekova ace, the Pioneers stormed back by scoring on five consecutive rallies before eventually tying it up at 22-all.
  • On the ensuing rally, Nardi slammed back-to-back terminations to put the Evangels at set point. Following a service error to bring serve back to the Pioneers, Nardi closed the door with the set point kill to give the Evangels a 2-1 advantage.
• Set Four
  • Mid-America Christian captured a 9-6 edge off back-to-back kills from Obusekova and Fehrle before another Obusekova ace, the Pioneers countered with a 7-2 surge to grab the lead at the midway point at 13-11.
  • Even though MACU managed to tie it up at 15 on consecutive kills by Rodriguez and Obusekova, the Pioneers seized control with a six-unanswered streak.
  • The Evangels were able to respond with a 7-1 streak of their own as Obusekova notched her career-best sixth service ace during the run to tie up at 22.
  •  The late comeback fell just short as the Evangels committed a trio of attack errors to allow the Pioneers to win the set, 25-23.
• Set Five
  • Wayland jumped out to an early 8-4 lead by continuing to capitalize off their blocking game with two more rejections.
  • Trailing 11-6, senior Lena Stockhammer hammered down her team leading 15^th kill of the contest to jumpstart the Evangels attack, but MACU was unable to find a rhythm as the Pioneers ran away with the 15-9 victory.

MATCH NOTES

• Mid-America Christian managed to score more in the attack with 65 kills on a .225 attack percentage to just 55 on a .222 hitting clip for Wayland Baptist.
• The difference maker for the Pioneers was their blocks as they outnumbered the Evangels 11-4 on the night while MACU finished with nine more attack errors.
• Lena Stockhammer put up a team-high 16 kills and Alica Obusekova was right on her tail with 14 of her own. Both finished around the .300 attack percentage mark with Stockhammer at a .297 clip and Obusekova at a .314 rate.
• Obusekova put together an all-around great performance in all facets of the game as she also finished with a double-double, tallying 10 digs while her six aces.
• Casady McKinney turned in a double-double of her own, dishing out a team-high 29 assists to go with 11 digs while also going a perfect 3-for-3 in setter dump kills.
• Ryley Bowden led MACU's back row defensive efforts, shoveling a match-high 22 digs along with six assists in the attack.
• By getting the win, Wayland Baptist snapped MACU's 10-match win streak in the series dating back to 2021.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will wrap-up the first half of Sooner Athletic Conference play on Saturday as the Evangels host Oklahoma Panhandle State for a 1 p.m. first serve inside the Gaulke Activity Center.