POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. – After taking the first two sets, it appeared as thought the MACU Volleyball team was well on its way to winning its second-straight NCCAA Central Region Championship and its third in the last four years, but College of the Ozarks stormed back to hand the Evangels a heartbreaking five-set defeat inside Keeter Gymnasium on Wednesday night.
 
SCORE

• College of the Ozarks, 3 Mid-America Christian 2 (16-25, 20-25, 25-22, 25-20, 15-13)
  • Mid-America Christian (20-12)
  • College of the Ozarks (18-13)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Lena Stockhammer – 12 Kills, .269 ATK%, 7 DIgs
• Alica Obusekova – 12 Kills, 17 Digs, 6 Blocks
• Casady McKinney – 23 Assists, 20 Digs
• Ryley Bowden – 22 Digs, 5 Aces, 4 Assists

MATCH SUMMARY

• Set One
  • After trading the first four rallies, Mid-America Christian rattled off seven unanswered due in-large part to three Ryley Bowden service aces and a kill apiece from Alica Obusekova and Miriam Nardi to hold a 9-2 advantage.
  • College of the Ozarks rattled off four in a row to close it to a three-point game, but following four-straight side-out points, the Evangels scored four-straight of their own to retake a 15-8 advantage on Natalia Rodriguez's ace.
  • The set was closed out on a pair of dominant runs for both teams. After COFO rattled off seven consecutive points to tie the set up, MACU swung back with vengeance, scoring nine-unanswered to finish off the 25-16 victory behind Sydney Martin's serve.
• Set Two
  • The lead changed hands five times through the first 18 rallies before the Evangels seized the advantage near the midway point, scoring five of the next six as back-to-back Obusekova terminations and a Nardi kill gave MACU the 14-10 edge.
  • After Annabeth Fehrle came up with a kill and a co-op block with Natalia Rodriguez gave MACU its largest lead of the set at 17-12, the Bobcats scored five of the next seven to trim their deficit down to 19-17.
  • However, a three-unanswered surge off of kills from Lena Stockhammer, Sarah Jones-Stafford and Obusekova allowed the Evangels to finish out the set with a 6-3 run to get the 25-20 win and give the Evangels a 2-0 set advantage.
• Set Three
  • The third set was a back-and-forth battle that incredibly saw neither team grab larger than a two-point advantage until the 41^st rally. Mid-America Christian did go on a 3-0 run to at the midway point to take a 14-13 lead on a Casady McKinney setter dump kill and a Bowden service ace to go with a Bobcats setting error.
  • Following a Jones-Stafford termination that gave MACU a brief 18-17 advantage, Ozarks seized command of the set with a 7-2 run to put the Evangels in a tough spot, trailing 24-20, needing four points to send the set into extras.
  • Mid-America Christian survived two set points with an Obusekova kill and Bowden's fifth service ace of the match, but Kamryn Link eventually got the set point kill for the Bobcats to give COFO the 25-22 win.
• Set Four
  • Following an early three-point COFO run to take a one-point lead, MACU captured the lead back, scoring nine of the next 12 points to hold the 12-7 advantage halfway through the set.
  • The Bobcat scored seven of the next 10 to briefly close it back to a one-point game before MACU scored the next three with Fehrle's finish extending the MACU edge back to 18-14.
  • However, the Evangels were unable to hold off another dominant COFO run late in the set as the Bobcats finished out the set by scoring 11 of the final 13 points, including the final six points to hand MACU the 25-20 defeat.
• Set Five
  • College of the Ozarks took advantage of a pair of MACU miscues on the first two rallies before the Evangels found their stride in a big way. A Stockhammer slam on the ensuing rally jumpstarted an 8-2 run as back-to-back terminations from Nardi and Obusekova gave MACU the 8-4 lead going into the side change.
  • While a Link kill and an Abby Chadwell ace allowed the Bobcats to close the gap to 9-7, MACU once again stretched its lead to four by scoring three of the next four as an assisted block by Stafford and Nardi gave MACU the 12-8 advantage.
  • However, like the previous set, Ozarks found a late spark to come away with a stunning result as the Bobcats scored seven of the final eight points to hand the Evangels a disappointing 15-13 defeat.

MATCH NOTES

• It was a rough night in the attack for Mid-America Christian as the Evangels committed their second-most attack errors of the season with 36 to go with 54 kills to finish with their fourth-lowest hitting percentage of the year at .098.
• Overall, the Evangels were solid on the defensive end despite the result, holding College of the Ozarks to just 49 kills on a .140 attack percentage, which were the fewest terminations the MACU defense had allowed in a five-set match this season.
• One positive to take away was the Evangels were the stronger side in the service game as MACU finished with 10 aces while allowing the Bobcats to record only five aces, which was another five-set low for the MACU receiving game.
• Lena Stockhammer was the most effective of MACU's attackers as she finished with a team-high 12 kills on a .269 hitting percentage to go with seven digs on the defensive end.
• While Alica Obusekova finished with 12 kills on just a .100 attack percentage, the junior outside was sensational on the defensive end, recording 17 digs and a career-high six assisted blocks.
• Casady McKinney led the MACU distribution efforts by recording third career 20-20 game, dishing out 23 assists and a season-high 20 digs.
• Ryley Bowden led the back-row defensive efforts with 22 digs with a career-high five service aces. As a result of her night from the service line, Bowden moved into MACU's NAIA Era career top 10 for aces with 95 and aces-per-set at 0.30.
• With the defeat, the Evangels fell to 5-2 all-time against College of the Ozarks after defeating the Bobcats twice during the regular season in COFO's inaugural season in the Sooner Athletic Conference.
• For the first time in five years, Mid-America Christian will not be the Central Region representative at the NCCAA National Championships. The Evangels had won the regional title in 2021 and 2023 while getting the automatic qualifier berth to NCCAA Nationals in 2020 and 2022. The Evangels received an at-large berth to its first ever NCCAA National Championships during the 2019 season.

UP NEXT

• With the Central Region being one of the first regional tournament to conclude, Mid-America Christian will now await to see if it will receive an at-large berth to the NCCAA National Championships from Dec. 2-7, which will also be held at Keeter Gymnasium in Point Lookout, Missouri.