OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU Volleyball team makes its way back to the Branson, Missouri area for the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Division I National Championships this week as the Evangels will be competing in the tournament hosted by College of the Ozarks from Dec. 4-8.
 
SEASON REPORT

• Record: 20-12 (15-7 SAC)
• Last Match: Lost at (3) College of the Ozarks – 3-2 (16-25, 20-25, 25-22, 25-20, 15-13) – Nov. 20, 2024 – Point Lookout, Mo. (NCCAA Central Region Championship)
• Stat Leaders:
  • Kills: Miriam Nardi (316, 2.85 K/S), Alica Obusekova (268, 2.37 K/S)
  • Attack Percentage (%, K-E-A): Miriam Nardi (.262, 316-106-802), Sarah Jones-Stafford (.247, 155-50-425)
  • Assists: Casady McKinney (657, 5.81 A/S), Madison Lee (399, 3.84 A/S)
  • Aces: Casady McKinney (50, 0.44 SA/S), Ryley Bowden (46, 0.41 SA/S), Sydney Martin (46, 0.41 SA/S)
  • Digs: Ryley Bowden (509, 4.50 D/S), Alica Obusekova (345, 3.05 D/S)
  • Receive Percentage (%, RE-R): Alica Obuskeova (.934, 44-663), Sydney Martin (.932, 32-468)
  • Blocks: Sarah Jones-Stafford (88, 0.79 B/S), Miriam Nardi (43, 0.39 B/S)
• Team Notes:
  • Mid-America Christian qualified for its sixth consecutive appearance at the NCCAA National Championship Tournament, the fifth of which hosted by COFO inside Keeter Gymnasium. The Evangels received an at-large berth after wrapping up the regular season with a 20-12 overall record while holding the third-highest rating in the NCCAA's Power Ratings.
  • The Evangels will be looking to bounce back following a tough result in the NCCAA Central Region Championship as the host, College of the Ozarks, battled back from a 2-0 set deficit to force it to a fifth set. Even though MACU was able to grab a 12-8 lead in the final set, the Bobcats once again rallied by scoring seven of the final eight points to come away with the 15-13 win and hand the Evangels a tough 3-2 defeat on Nov. 20.
  • The Evangels had two players selected to the NCCAA All-Central Region Team heading into the national meet as both Miriam Nardi and Casady McKinney were both selected to the First Team.
  • The Evangels are no strangers to Keeter Gymnasium as the venue has been a bit of a "home-away-from home" for MACU this season. Heading into the National Championships, Mid-America Christian has played seven matches in the venue, going 5-2 in those contests.
  • MACU will open the NAIA National Championships with pool play on Wednesday and Thursday as the Evangels will battle No. 5 seed Bethel (Ind.) at 9 a.m. on the opening day. Mid-America Christian will then take on No. 8 seed Carolina (N.C.) at 9 a.m. on Thursday before wrapping up against top-seeded Columbia International (S.C.) at 1:30 p.m. The Evangels will be looking to try to retain its streak of making it out of the pool play round as MACU has advanced to either the Semifinal or Championship match in each of the last three seasons.

SCOUTING REPORT
Bethel (Ind.)

• Record: 19-16 (8-10 CL)
• Last Match: Won vs. Judson (Ill.) – 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-18) – Nov. 19, 2024 – Mishawaka, Ind. (NCCAA Midwest Region Championship)
• Series vs MACU (2020-): Series Tied 1-1
• Last Match vs MACU: MACU won 3-0 (25-23, 25-18, 25-23) – Dec. 3, 2021 – Point Lookout, Mo. (NCCAA National Championships – Pool Play)
• Series Streak: MACU won 1
• Players to Watch:
  • Maddy Payne – SR – MB
    • 406 Kills (2.99 K/S), .299 ATK%, 171 Blocks (1.26 B/S)
  • Haley Biedenback – SO – S
    • 892 Assists (7.19 A/S), 38 Aces (0.31 SA/S), 294 Digs (2.37 D/S)
  • Paige Franz – SO – DS/L
    • 525 Digs (3.83 D/S), 32 Aces (0.23 SA/S), .929 RCV%
• Team Notes:
  • Bethel faced little resistance on earning the Midwest Region bid to the NCCAA National Championships as the Pilots swept Judson in straight-sets in the region title tilt on Nov. 19.
  • BU has become a volleyball powerhouse since the 2020 season. The Pilots captured their first ever NCCAA National Championship in St. Paul, Minnesota during that campaign before being eliminated in Pool Play during the 2021 Nationals in Point Lookout, Missouri. Bethel is returning to the NCCAA National Championships for the first time since that 2021 campaign as the Pilots have qualified for the NAIA Tournament in each of the last two seasons.
  • The Pilots feature a standout middle blocker in Maddy Payne, who not only leads the team in kills with 406 on a very strong .299 attack percentage, but her 171 blocks rank as the most in the entire NCCAA. Bethel also features one of the top setters in the NCCAA in sophomore Haley Biedenbeck, who ranks fifth in the nation in total assists with 892 on a 7.19 per set average.
  • Mid-America Christian and Bethel will be meeting for the third time in the NCCAA Nationals. The two teams squared off for the first time ever during the 2020 Championships where the Pilots came away with a 3-0 win over the Evangels before eventually going on to win the title. MACU got its revenge the following season as the Evangels swept the Pilots in Pool Play. Senior outside hitter Hanna Foecker put together a legendary performance in the win, tallying 27 kills to break the program's NAIA Era (2007-present) three-set match record.

Carolina (N.C.)

• Record: 18-10
• Last Match: Won vs. Clinton (S.C.) – 3-0 (25-23, 25-18, 25-17) – Nov. 23, 2024 – Virginia Beach, Va. (NCCAA South Region Championship)
• Series vs MACU (2019-): MACU leads 1-0
• Last Match vs MACU: MACU won 3-0 (25-15, 25-11, 25-23) – Dec. 6, 2019 – Point Lookout, Mo. (NCCAA National Championships – Pool Play)
• Series Streak: MACU won 1
• Players to Watch:
  • Kamra King – GR – OH/S
    • 188 Kills (1.96 K/S), .199 ATK%, 455 Assists (4.74 A/S), 51 Aces (0.53 SA/S), 278 Digs (2.96 D/S)
  • Rebecca Walker – SR – DS/L
    • 350 Digs (3.65 D/S), .909 RCV%, 46 Aces (0.48 SA/S)
  • Kammi Naude – JR – MB
    • 52 Blocks (0.58 B/S), 94 Kills (1.06 K/S), .373 ATK%
• Team Notes:
  • Carolina claimed its spot in the NCCAA National Championships after winning the NCCAA South Region Championship with a dominant three-set sweep over Clinton College on Nov. 23.
  • The Bruins are no stranger to the NCCAA Nationals as CU is competing in its fourth tournament in the last seven years. However, Carolina has struggled to find a victory at the NCCAA National Championships as CU has not been able to pick up a win and advance out of Pool Play.
  • Much like the Evangels during the 2022 season with Lena Stockhammer, the Bruins also feature a setter who is the team's best attacker and distributor as grad student Kamra King leads the team with 188 kills on a .199 attack percentage while also dishing out a squad-best 455 assists at 4.74 per set. King has also been tough from the service line, averaging 0.51 aces per set while defensively shoveling 2.96 digs per set.
  • Thursday's matchup will be just the second time that the Evangels and Bruins have squared off with the first ever meeting coming in MACU's first ever appearance at the NCCAA National Championships in 2019. In that match, the Evangels earned their first ever match win at Nationals with a dominant three-set sweep that saw Elena Hadzhieva lead the squad with 13 kills on a .480 hitting percentage while setter Alexa Bass narrowly missed a triple-double with 24 assists, 16 digs and eight kills on a .316 attack rate.

Columbia International (S.C.)

• Record: 32-3 (19-1 AAC)
• Last Match: Lost at No. 22 Marian (Ind.) – 3-1 (16-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-20) – Nov. 23, 2024 – Indianapolis (NAIA Tournament – 1^st Round)
• Series vs MACU (2021-): CIU leads 2-0
• Last Match vs MACU: CIU won 3-2 (25-18, 25-23, 23-25, 17-25, 15-12) – Dec. 2, 2022 – Point Lookout, Mo. (NCCAA National Championships – Semifinal)
• Series Streak: CIU won 2
• Players to Watch:
  • Kira Rymer Attaway – SR – RS
    • 376 Kills (3.45 K/S), .390 ATK%, 56 Blocks (0.51 B/S)
  • Melissa Campos Soto – SR – S
    • 683 Assists (6.27 A/S), 206 Digs (1.89 D/S)
  • Kelcey Mangum – SO – DS/L
    • 555 Digs (4.87 D/S), .974 RCV%, 140 Assists (1.23 A/S), 35 Aces (0.31 SA/S)
  • Lydia Gustafson – JR – MB
    • 113 Blocks (1.13 B/S), 98 Kills (0.98 K/S), .347 ATK%
• Team Notes:
  • Since making it to its first National Championship Tournament in 2020, Columbia International has been a powerhouse volleyball program at the NCCAA level. In 2021, the Rams defeated MACU in the Championship match to capture the program's first ever NCCAA National Title before falling to Trinity International (Ill.) in the 2022 NCCAA Championship match to miss its chance to become just the seventh team to capture back-to-back NCCAA titles. CIU makes its return to Nationals after competing in the NAIA Tournament Final Site last season.
  • Columbia International has made it to three-straight NAIA Tournament Opening Round appearances, but fell to No. 23 Marian in this year's Opening Round to receive the first at-large berth and top seed in this year's NCCAA National Championship Tournament.
  • The Rams are led in the attack by four-year standout Kira Rymer Attaway, who is the program's all-time kills leader with 2058 terminations. This year, Rymer is boasting a strong 3.45 kills per set on a blistering .390 hitting percentage.
  • Columbia International and Mid-America Christian have been a pair of programs that seem to find themselves in the Championship picture the last three seasons as the only two times the two teams have squared off in the programs' histories have come in the 2021 NCCAA National Championship and the 2022 NCCAA National Semifinal. In their last meeting, the Evangels battled back from two sets down to force a fifth set, but the Rams were able to hold off MACU in the late stages to seal the 15-12 win to advance to the title match in Keeter Gymnasium on Dec. 2, 2022.