SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. – Senior outside hitter Lena Stockhammer made history on Friday night as she became just the second MACU Volleyball player since the program joined the NAIA in 2007 to surpass 1000 career kills, but the Evangels were unable to slow down John Brown as MACU fell 3-1 inside Bill George Arena on Friday night.
 
SCORE

• John Brown 3, Mid-America Christian 1 (17-25, 25-19, 25-21, 25-17)
  • Mid-America Christian (6-6, 2-3 SAC)
  • John Brown (5-9, 4-2 SAC)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Lena Stockhammer – 17 Kills, .275 ATK%
• Alica Obusekova – 11 Kills, 16 Digs
• Madison Lee – 20 Assists, 15 Digs
• Casady McKinney – 19 Assists, 11 Digs
• Ryley Bowden – 21 Digs, 5 Assists

MATCH SUMMARY

• Set One
  • Mid-America Christian opened the set strong, scoring four of the first five as kills by Casady McKinney, Miriam Nardi and Alica Obusekova each notched a kill before John Brown rattled off four in a row to start a 7-2 run capped off on a Julie Milligan service ace to make in 8-6 Golden Eagles advantage.
  • The Golden Eagles managed to build a three-point advantage at 11-8 on a service ace before MACU found its stride in a big way. A Lena Stockhammer side-out termination jumpstarted a 6-1 Evangels surge with Sydney Martin dropping an ace to give MACU a 14-12 edge.
  • With MACU holding a two-point edge at 19-17, the Evangels scored six in a row to close it out as an Ella Yarborough attack error out the back sealed the 25-17 win in the opening set.
• Set Two
  • On the very first rally, Stockhammer powered a kill through the JBU block to close out a long rally while recording her 1000^th career termination.
  • The Evangels found themselves in an early deficit as the Golden Eagles scored the first five points due to three-straight MACU attack errors. John Brown eventually worked its lead out to 10-3 on a co-op block, forcing MACU head coach Holly McKamie to call a timeout.
  • Out of the timeout, Mid-America Christian found a rhythm, scoring four in a row to start a 9-3 surge to close it back to a one-point game at 13-12 on a Nardi kill.
  • However, the Golden Eagles took back the momentum in the set by scoring on three-straight rallies as part of a 7-2 run to extend the lead back to 20-14, forcing McKamie to call her final timeout.
  • The Evangels fought back by scoring four of the next five to close it back to a 21-18, but the Golden Eagles finished strong with four of the final five points to wrap-up the 25-19 win.
• Set Three
  • After MACU won an extended opening set point, both teams traded four-point runs, but a John Brown three-point swing allowed the Golden Eagles to grab an early 7-5 advantage.
  • Both teams fought back-and-forth over the next 20 rallies before JBU seized the advantage once again with six-unanswered to bring it to set point on a Lauryn Walters attack error.
  • Mid-America Christian didn't go down without a fight as the Evangels scored three unanswered on a Stockhammer termination and a pair of JBU attack errors, but a Yarborough kill finally locked up the 25-21 set victory.
• Set Four
  • It was a back-and-forth battle through the first 19 rallies as three consecutive MACU points on a kill apiece for Stockhammer and Sarah Jones-Stafford to go with a Natalia Rodriguez ace made it a 10-9 Evangels advantage.
  • John Brown seized control near the midway point as an 8-2 Golden Eagles run allowed JBU to extend the lead to 17-12 off a Milligan service ace.
  • Mid-America Christian managed to score three of the next four to close it back to 18-15 on an Obusekova kill, but the Evangels were unable to slow down JBU as the Golden Eagles scored seven of the last nine to seal the 25-17 win.

MATCH NOTES

• After opening the match with a stellar 18 kills on a .432 attack percentage, Mid-America Christian struggled over the final three sets as the Evangels finished the match with 50 kills on a .144 hitting clip. Meanwhile, John Brown was relatively effective in its attack as it also notched 50 kills but on a more efficient .191 attack percentage.
• One of the biggest differences in the match came in the blocking scheme as the Golden Eagles finished with 13 team blocks while the Evangels were only able to muster three.
• In her historic night, Lena Stockhammer led the MACU attack with a season-best 17 kills on a .275 attack percentage as she extended her four-year career termination total to 1011. The only other Evangel to surpass 1000 career kills is her former teammate Hanna Foecker (2019-21) who notched 1673.
• Overall, three Evangels finished with double-doubles on the night as Alica Obusekova shoveled 16 digs to go with 11 kills while both of MACU's setters also recorded the double-doubles with Madison Lee tallying 20 assists to go with 15 digs while Casady McKinney dished out 19 assists with 11 shovels.
• Ryley Bowden led a back-row effort of five players notching double-digit digs with 21 as Sydney Martin also pitched from the back with 13 of her own.
• With the defeat, MACU and John Brown have traded the last six matches with both teams splitting the season series the last two years.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will face another tough test on Saturday as the Evangels head out to Point Lookout, Missouri for a 1 p.m. match against their new SAC foe College of the Ozarks.