OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU Volleyball team hung right with one of the top teams in the Sooner Athletic Conference in Nelson, but the Evangels dropped three-straight nail-biting sets to the Lady Lions inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Saturday.
 
SCORE

• Nelson 3, Mid-America Christian 0 (26-24, 26-24, 25-22)
  • Mid-America Christian (10-0, 6-7 SAC)
  • Nelson (14-8, 12-1 SAC)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Seyi Atolagbe – 8 Kills, .318 ATK%, 3 Blocks
• Alica Obusekova – 8 Kills, 15 Digs, 2 Aces, 2 Assists
• Casady McKinney – 16 Assists, 14 Digs
• Madison Lee – 15 Assists, 5 Digs, 2 Aces
• Ryley Bowden – 21 Digs, 4 Assists, 3 Aces

MATCH SUMMARY

• Set One
  • It was a back-and-forth battle through the first 12 rallies before Mid-America Christian went on a 5-0 run that featured a pair of Seyi Atolagbe kills, a kill apiece for Marcela Nalin and Karlee Siegfried along with a Casady McKinney service ace to make it an 11-6 game.
  • Nelson slowly worked its way back through the midway portion of the set as the Lady Lions outscored the Evangels 10-4 to take back a brief 16-15 lead on Caroline Boone's free kill on a MACU net violation.
  • A four-point swing in MACU's favor with Madi Trayler tallying a pair of terminations and two points for Atolagbe on a kill and a solo block. The Evangels maintained their advantage before Alica Obusekova's free kill on the block error brought it to set point at 24-20.
  • Unfortunately, the Evangels could not find the finishing product down the stretch as Nelson miraculously scored the final six points to steal away a heartbreaking 26-24 result from MACU.
• Set Two
  • The two sides were tooth-and-nail through the first 18 rallies before Atolagbe's side-out termination started a 5-1 run capped off on back-to-back Madison Lee service aces to set the score to 14-10.
  • After consecutive side-outs, Nelson clawed its way with four in a row of its own before eventually taking its first lead since the seventh rally on Addison Standley and Hope Jones' co-op block on Nalin's swing to make it 20-19.
  • Mid-America Christian once again had a great chance to come away with the set following back-to-back scores on an assisted block by Mia Benson and Nalin to go with an Obusekova kill to make it a 23-22 MACU lead. Unfortunately, Nelson once again finished out the set by scoring four of the final five points with the lone MACU point coming on a service error to seal a second consecutive 26-24 result in-favor of the Lady Lions.
• Set Three
  • The final set was one of many small runs through the first half as a 4-0 MACU run was countered by a 5-1 Nelson surge to give the Lady Lions a brief 6-5 lead. The Evangels once again answered back with a string of four-straight as Obusekova's ace made it a 9-6 MACU edge.
  • The Evangels eventually stretched their lead out to four at 12-8 following a Nelson attack error, but the Lady Lions climbed back into it with a 6-2 surge to draw it even at 14-all on Olivia Todd and Mackenzie Smith's co-op block, prompting head coach Holly McKamie to call a timeout.
  • Even though MACU managed to take a brief 16-14 lead on a service error and an Obusekova kill, Nelson went on a pivotal five-unanswered run following four-straight side-out points as Ava Milkovisch's finish made it a 21-18 Lady Lions advantage.
  • Mid-America Christian tried to claw its way back, eventually closing it to 23-22 on an Atolagbe kill and an assisted block by Benson and Nalin. Unfortunately, it was the closest MACU could cut into it as Nelson scored the final two to seal the 25-22 win.

MATCH NOTES

• Mid-America Christian managed to hold Nelson to slightly below its hitting percentage in SAC play as the Lady Lions scored 45 kills on a .208 hitting percentage, however the Evangels were unable to get its attack going against a tough Lady Lions back row as they were held to only 39 kills on a .146 attack rate.
• One bright spot for MACU in the match is it managed to out-score Nelson from the service line, posting eight aces and eight errors while the Lady Lions notched five aces to eight missed serves.
• Seyi Atolagbe was MACU's most effective hitter, finishing with eight kills on a .318 percentage to go with three blocks. Unfortunately, no MACU hitter was able to hit higher than .210 in the contest.
• Casady McKinney and Madison Lee were relatively even in the distribution efforts as McKinney posted a double-double with 16 assists and 14 digs while Lee dished out 15 assists and shoveled five digs to go with a pair of aces.
• Ryley Bowden was extremely active in MACU's back row, shoveling 21 digs for a 7.0 per set average while Alica Obusekova narrowly missed a double-double with 15 digs to go with eight kills and two aces.
• Marcela Nalin finished even with Atolagbe with three blocks in the front row.
• With the result, the Evangels dropped the season series to Nelson after the Lady Lions also won in straight-sets in Waxahachie, Texas on Sept. 12.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will close out a three-match home stand on Tuesday night as the Evangels host Science & Arts for a 6 p.m. first serve inside the Gaulke Activity Center.