OKLAHOMA CITY – Mid-America Christian University's volleyball team took the first set against Sterling College, but the Evangels dropped the next three and lost their third straight match inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Wednesday night.
 
SCORE

• Sterling 3, Mid-America Christian (23-25, 25-14, 25-23, 25-23)
  • Mid-America Christian (4-5)
  • Sterling (8-4)

TOP PERFOMERS

• Miriam Nardi – 19 Kills, .389 ATK%
• Casady McKinney – 30 Assists, 11 Digs, 2 Aces
• Ryley Bowden – 20 Digs, 5 Assists

MATCH SUMMARY

• Set One
  • MACU trailed early but battled back to take a 12-10 lead on a kill by Lauryn Walters. Sterling, however, scored six-straight points to make it a 16-12 Warriors advantage.
  • After trading the next four rallies, the Evangels fought their way back, scoring six of the next eight to tie the score at 20 on Lena Stockhammer termination.
  • The Warriors briefly grabbed a 22-20 lead late, but Mid-America Christian closed out the set with a 5-1 run with kills from Stockhammer, Annabeth Fehrle and Casady McKinney to wrap-up the 25-23 victory.
• Set Two
  • The Evangels got off a fast start by taking six of the first seven rallies with Nardi powering down a kill to make it a 6-1 game.
  • Sterling flipped the script on the set, putting together an 8-2 surge of its own to capture its first lead of the set at 9-8.
  • MACU tied it up on a pair of occasions a Fehrle finish to make it 9-9 and a Makenna Linden service error to even it at 10-10, however, Sterling went on to run away with the set, ending it with a 12-2 run to close out the 25-14 final.
• Set Three
  • Mid-America Christian once again started strong, scoring on eight of the first 11 rallies as Nardi's kill off the net violation set it to an 8-3 score.
  • The Evangels grew their lead out to seven and looked to carry the lead into set four when back-to-back Fehrle kills put the Warriors on the brink at 22-15, forcing SC head coach John Harding to call a timeout.
  • After trading the next two rallies out of the break, Sterling put together an immaculate run of nine consecutive points to pull out a miraculous 25-23 victory to take a two sets to one lead.
• Set Four
  • While the Evangels were able to get off to fast starts in the previous two sets, MACU found itself down early. After Stockhammer tooled a kill off the block to take the first point, the Warriors scored the next five to seize control.
  • SC continued to pull away heading into the midway point as back-to-back Aubrey Young service aces closed out a 6-1 run to make it a 14-6 Warriors advantage.
  • After Sterling built its lead out to as much as 18-10, Mid-America Christian found its stride following a Morgan Pellegrino attack error for the sideout. The Evangels clawed their way back slowly but surely, outscoring the Warriors 12-4 as Nardi's back-to-back terminations drew the set even at 22-all.
  • Sterling scored the next point before MACU tied it on Nardi's 19^th kill. However, the Warriors closed it out by winning the next two points on an assisted block to bring to match point before Aliya McClanahan powered a kill through the MACU block to close out the 25-23 win.

MATCH NOTES

• Mid-America Christian was defensively solid, holding Sterling to fewer kills with a 52-43 margin and limiting the Warriors to a .172 attack percentage. However, the Evangels struggled against the SC block with Sterling notching 18 blocks and forcing MACU into 40 attack errors for a .065 hitting clip.
• With 19 kills on a .389 attack percentage, Nardi finished one kill short of matching her career high of 20, set against USAO on Oct. 3, 2023 in a 3-2 home win.
• Casady McKinney led the Evangels distribution efforts with a season-high 30 assists and recorded her first double-double of the season with 11 digs.
• For the second-straight match, Ryley Bowden finished with at least 20 digs as she led the back-row effort with 20 shovels to go with five assists.
• The Evangels suffered their third-straight home defeat after capturing a opening set lead in each of the last three matches.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian returns to Sooner Athletic Conference play on Friday to continue its five-match homestand. The Evangels will host Central Christian for 7 p.m. first serve inside the Gaulke Activity Center.