OKLAHOMA CITY – Junior setter Casady McKinney made history inside Pickens-Springer Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon as she became just the third Evangels setter in the NAIA Era (2007-present) to eclipse 2000 career assists as MACU completed the three-set road sweep at Southwestern Christian.
 
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 3, Southwestern Christian 0 (25-21, 25-11, 25-19)
  • Mid-America Christian (10-6, 6-3 SAC)
  • Southwestern Christian (3-11, 1-8 SAC)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Miriam Nardi – 10 Kills, .471 ATK%, 6 Digs
• Annabeth Fehrle – 9 Kills, .727 ATK%, 4 Digs, 2 Blocks
• Casady McKinney – 31 Assists, 5 Kills, .455 ATK%, 5 Digs, 3 Aces
• Ryley Bowden – 12 Digs, 5 Aces

MATCH SUMMARY

• Set One
  • After exchanging the lead four times through the first eight rallies, Southwestern Christian captured the early momentum as a 6-1 Eagles run allowed SCU to grab the 10-6 lead on Faith DeSouza's kill down the right sideline.
  • With the Eagles holding a three-point edge at the midway point, the Evangels found their stride following back-to-back setter dump kills by Casady McKinney as she added a pair of service aces along with Ryley Bowden's pair of aces as Sarah Jones-Stafford, Miriam Nardi and Natalia Rodriguez also added a kill apiece during a 12-5 MACU run to make it 21-17.
  • SCU made it interesting near the end as three consecutive Eagles points closed it to 22-21 on a Megan Graham termination, however, the Evangels quickly put a stop to it with a three-point swing of their own as Jones-Stafford's kill on the net violation wrapped up the 25-21 score.
• Set Two
  • Even though the Eagles captured two of the first three points, Mid-America Christian strung together a dominant streak following Nardi's floating side-out kill dropped in the middle as MACU went on a 15-3 run to hold the overwhelming 16-5 advantage.
  •  The closest SCU would able to cut into the MACU lead came off a late three-point run as a Jones-Stafford attack error set the score to 18-9.
  • Another McKinney kill allowed the Evangels to close out strong once again as MACU scored on seven of the last nine rallies to run away with the 25-11 victory.
• Set Three
  • Following the first rally, MACU once again asserted its dominance as a Lauryn Walters side-out kill and back-to-back assisted blocks by Jones-Stafford and Alica Obusekova jumpstarted an 8-1 Evangels run.
  • The Eagles slowly, but surely whittled away at the MACU advantage heading into the midway point, eventually closing it to 14-11 on a Paige McGee block.
  • However, MACU was able to gain enough breathing room off a 6-2 surge, which included three-straight off of kills from Annabeth Fehrle and Walters before Obusekova dropped in an ace to make it 20-13. The Eagles were unable to put much of a dent in MACU's edge as the Evangels eventually closed out the 25-19 final.

MATCH NOTES

• Mid-America Christian doubled-up Southwestern Christian in the attack as the Evangels finished with 42 kills on a .267 attack percentage while the Eagles notched only 21 kills on an .033 hitting clip.
• With the Evangels running a 5-1 rotation, Casady McKinney joined Calle Solie (3675, 2009-12) and Hannah Luedtke (2056, 2013-15) in MACU's 2000-assist club with her dime to Annabeth Fehrle as her kill made it 18-13 in the third set.
• Not only did McKinney reach a career milestone, but she also set a season-high mark in kills with five on a stellar .455 attack percentage to go with five digs with three aces.
• Miriam Nardi continued to have a huge week in the attack with her fourth-straight double-digit kill outing, tallying 10 kills on a .471 attack percentage to go with six digs.
• Annabeth Fehrle put together one of her best matches ever as she finished with nine kills on an incredible .727 hitting percentage while also notching four digs and two blocks. Lauryn Walters also provided a spark off the MACU bench with eight kills at .333 rate.
• Ryley Bowden led the MACU back row defensive efforts with a team-high 12 digs while Alica Obusekova turned in nine digs and a team-high four blocks.
• With the win, MACU has won 12 of the last 13 meetings against the Eagles since the 2019 season with seven of those victories being sweeps, including the last three matchups.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will close out the first half of SAC play next weekend as the Evangels host a crucial showdown against Wayland Baptist at 7 p.m. on Friday before taking on Oklahoma Panhandle State at 1 p.m. on Saturday.