OKLAHOMA CITY – The conclusion of the first half of Sooner Athletic Conference play will come on the road for the MACU Volleyball team as the Evangels will play a pair of crucial matches at Oklahoma Panhandle State and Wayland Baptist this weekend. The Evangels to take on the Aggies inside Anchor D Arena in Goodwell, Okla. at 6 p.m. on Friday night before heading down to Plainview, Texas for a 1 p.m. match against the Pioneers inside the Hutcherson Center on Saturday.
 
SEASON REPORT

• Record: 10-6 (6-3 SAC)
• Last Match: Won at John Brown (Ark.) – 3-1 (25-20, 25-27, 25-18, 25-12) – Sept. 27, 2025 – Siloam Springs, Ark.
• Stat Leaders:
  • Kills: Alica Obusekova (154, 2.91 K/S), Seyi Atolagbe (121, 2.16 K/S)
  • Attack Percentage (%, K-E-A; Min 3 ATK/S): Seyi Atolagbe (.372, 121-21-269), Alica Obusekova (.231, 154-54-433)
  • Assists: Casady McKinney (442, 7.89 A/S), Madison Lee (87, 1.55 A/S)
  • Aces: Ryley Bowden (28, 0.50 SA/S), Casady McKinney (25, 0.45 SA/S)
  • Digs: Ryley Bowden (249, 4.45 D/S), Kaetlen Schier (158, 2.82 D/S)
  • Receive Percentage (%, RE-R; Min 3 REC/S): Kaetlen Schier (.946, 13-242), Sydney Martin (.938, 12-192)
  • Blocks: Mia Benson (37, 0.70 B/S), Seyi Atolagbe (35, 0.63 B/S)
• Team Notes:
  • While Mid-America Christian did not play its best volleyball on the road last weekend, the Evangels still managed to play a College of the Ozarks team that boasted one of the best home records in the SAC to five sets before coming away with a relatively dominant 3-1 win at John Brown on Saturday.
  • One of the big reasons for MACU's success this past weekend was due to the hitting prowess of a pair of MACU's pin hitters in Alica Obusekova and Marcela Nalin. Garnering the SAC Attacker of the Week, Obusekova notched 34 kills, averaging 3.48 kills per set on a blistering .408 attack percentage while Nalin knocked down 23 terminations on a 2.56 per set average and a .364 hitting clip.
  • With a balanced front-row attack, the Evangels are currently in the midst of putting together one of their best seasons in program history in the attack, as their .208 team hitting percentage is currently sitting as the second-most efficient seasons ever. The only year the Evangels hit for a higher percentage came during the 2021 campaign led by the NAIA's leading attacker Hanna Foecker, as MACU wrapped up the year with a .217 hitting clip during that season.
  • On top of being the SAC's leader in the attack, the service game has also been great for the Evangels. They rank second to only Science & Arts in service aces per set (2.25) as well as solid in serve receive, posting the third-fewest reception errors (84) while the two teams ahead of them in College of the Ozarks (76) and Oklahoma City (80) have played three fewer sets than MACU.
  • The weekend is setting up as a crucial one for the SAC. With Mid-America Christian and Science & Arts going to the west side of the conference this weekend, all four teams are jostling for position in the league as MACU currently sits in third with a 6-3 league mark while the Drovers, Oklahoma Panhandle State and Wayland Baptist all sit in a tie for fourth with a 5-4 SAC record. Positing and results will matter at the end of the conference slate, as only the top four teams in the SAC will host a league tournament home match.

SCOUTING REPORT
Oklahoma Panhandle State

• Record: 7-9 (5-4 SAC)
• Last Match: Lost vs. Nelson (Texas) – 3-0 (26-24, 25-16, 25-22) – Sept. 27, 2025 – Goodwell, Okla.
• Series vs MACU (2008-): MACU leads 12-8
• Last Match vs MACU: MACU won 3-0 (25-21, 25-16, 25-18) – Nov. 8, 2024 – Goodwell, Okla.
• Series Streak: MACU won 6
• Players to Watch:
  • Elena Kagiali – SR – OH
    • 177 Kills (3.05 K/S), .207 ATK%, 16 Aces (0.28 SA/S), 181 Digs (3.12 D/S), .945 RCV%
  • Mia Sanchez – SR – S
    • 550 Assists (9.03 A/S), 53 Kills (0.87 K/S), .173 ATK%, 146 Digs (2.39 D/S)
  • Winiffer Rodriguez – SR – L/DS
    • 195 Digs (4.33 D/S), .924 RCV%
  • Skyla Stark – JR – MB
    • 30 Blocks (0.59 B/S), 99 Kills (1.94 K/S), .351 ATK%
• Team Notes:
  • In the midst of a seven-match home stand, Oklahoma Panhandle State's stretch of matches inside Anchor D Arena got off to a tough start last weekend as the Aggies dropped a 3-1 (26-24, 24-26, 25-17, 25-16) decision to SAC leader Texas Wesleyan before suffering a 3-0 defeat (26-24, 25-16, 25-22) to Nelson on Saturday.
  • After winning only eight matches in 2023 and nine matches in 2024, OPSU is a much improved team in this year's campaign under second-year head coach Ilani Dalto as the Aggies own a 7-9 record after playing a grueling non-conference schedule while also currently sitting in a four-way tie for fourth in the SAC standings at 5-4.
  • One of the strengths for the Aggies this season is their veteran senior leadership at the front row, at the setting position and in the back row. Two-time SAC Setter of the Week, Mia Sanchez leads the passing game by dishing out the third-most assists in the league at 9.03 per set. Meanwhile senior pin hitters Elena Kagiali and Ava Newby lead the attack at 3.05 and 2.14 kills per set with each hitting a solid .207 and .225 hitting percentages respectively.
  • OPSU's balance in the back row has been led by senior libero Winiffer Rodriguez, whose 4.33 digs per set ranks as the third-most in the conference and while OPSU has struggled in the blocking game, junior middle Skyla Stark has led the efforts with 30 blocks on a 0.59 per set average.
  • Mid-America Christian will be looking to try to keep its win streak over the Aggies intact as six of MACU's 12 wins in the all-time series against OPSU has come in the last three years. Impressively, the Evangels have only conceded one set during that great run. The last time the two sides squared off in Goodwell, the Evangels came away with a 25-21, 25-16, 25-18 three-set sweep on Nov. 8. In that victory, MACU hit for a very effective .257 attack percentage, the team's third-highest rate in a road match in 2024 while limiting OPSU to only an .096 attack rate, the Aggies second-lowest hitting clip inside Anchor D Arena.

Wayland Baptist

• Record: 6-7 (5-4 SAC)
• Last Match: Lost vs. Texas Wesleyan – 3-1 (25-23, 25-20, 20-25, 25-19) – Sept. 27, 2025 – Plainview, Texas
• Series vs MACU (2004-): WBU leads 30-13
• Last Match vs MACU: MACU won 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 27-25) – Nov. 9, 2024 – Plainview, Texas
• Series Streak: MACU won 1
• Players to Watch:
  • Fade Ogunbade – SR – MH
    • 123 Kills (2.67 K/S), .255 ATK%, 37 Blocks (0.80 B/S), 44 Digs (0.96 D/S)
  • Martyna Lewinska – JR – S
    • 384 Assists (9.60 A/S), 88 Digs (2.20 D/S)
  • Deniz Yileri – JR – OH
    • 147 Digs (3.77 D/S), .955 RCV%, 110 Kills (2.82 K/S), .153 ATK%, 19 Aces (0.49 SA/S)
• Team Notes:
  • Wayland Baptist dropped a pair of hard-fought home matches last week, dropping a 3-2 (25-12, 27-25, 22-25, 20-25, 15-11) decision to Nelson on Friday night before falling 3-1 (25-23, 25-20, 20-25, 25-19) to SAC leader Texas Wesleyan on Saturday.
  • The Pioneers are a team that score a bunch in the attack as they rank third in the conference in kills per set (12.16) on the league's fifth-best attack percentage (.178). WBU has relied heavily on its attack for scoring as WBU ranks second-to-last in the SAC in service aces per set (1.34), but are defensively solid with the fifth-best blocks per set average (1.66).
  • The Pioneers are led in the attack and on the defensive front in senior middle hitter Fade Ogunbade. The four-year starter has been ever so reliable for the Pioneers, averaging 2.67 kills per set on a solid .255 hitting percentage while also being a stout blocker, as her 0.80 blocks per set ranks fifth in the league. Junior setter Martyna Lewinska spearheads the 5-1 rotation with 9.60 assists per set, the second-best in the SAC while junior outside hitter Deniz Yileri leads a balanced back row with 147 digs (3.77 per set) with a strong .955 receive percentage in service defense.
  • Even though Wayland Baptist leads the all-time series, Mid-America Christian has been the more successful team in recent seasons with MACU winning 11 of the last 12 meetings since 2021 with the Pioneers lone win coming in a five-set thriller inside the Gaulke Activity Center last season. However, when the two teams rematched inside the Hutcherson Center on Nov. 9, 2024, the Evangels were able to grind out three close sets to complete the sweep. In that win, MACU was slightly more efficient in the attack as both Lena Stockhammer and Alica Obusekova notched double-digit kills while each hitting better than .240 in the result.