GOODWELL, Okla. – The MACU Volleyball team had three players record a career-high in kills, but it was a tough night in serve receive at Oklahoma Panhandle State as the Aggies scored 16 aces against the Evangels, handing MACU a tough 3-1 defeat inside Anchor D Arena on Friday night.
 
SCORE

• Oklahoma Panhandle State 3, Mid-America Christian 1 (25-23, 22-25, 25-21, 25-21)
  • Mid-America Christian (10-7, 6-4 SAC)
  • Oklahoma Panhandle State (8-9, 6-4 SAC)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Alica Obusekova – 21 Kills, .340 ATK%, 5 Digs
• Karlee Siegfried – 17 Kills, .283 ATK%
• Madi Trayler – 10 Kills, .318 ATK%
• Casady McKinney – 43 Assists, 14 Digs, 3 Kills
• Ryley Bowden – 24 Digs, 7 Assists

MATCH SUMMARY

• Set One
  • Mid-America Christian opened up well by scoring the first three points on an OPSU attack error and back-to-back kills by Mia Benson and Alica Obusekova, but Oklahoma Panhandle State immediately countered by scoring nine of the next 12 points to take a 9-6 lead.
  • The Evangels went on a four-point run to briefly take back the lead on a Karlee Siegfried termination and three-straight OPSU miscues, but the Aggies countered with three-straight to grab back a 12-10 edge at the midway point.
  • MACU found itself down by as much as three at 17-14, but the Evangels got back in it with three rallies in a row won as an OPSU service and another Siegfried kill set up Madi Trayler's termination to finish off a long rally, tying it at 17-all and forcing OPSU to take a timeout.
  • Two more kills by Siegfried and Trayler out of the timeout gave MACU a brief two-point advantage, but OPSU went on late 4-1 to take back the lead 22-21 and even though MACU scored the next two to swing it back to 23-22, the Aggies scored the final three to capture the 25-23 win.
• Set Two
  • It was back-and-forth in the early going, but Mid-America Christian found its footing by scoring three consecutive points on a Siegfried kill, an OPSU attack error, and an Ava Johnson service ace to make it an 8-4 score.
  • The Evangels eventually worked their lead out to 11-6 before OPSU rattled off three-straight on back-to-back blocks and a Brenna Moore kill to close it to 11-9, forcing MACU head coach Holly McKamie to call a timeout.
  • MACU responded well out of the break by rattling off four in a row with a kill apiece by Casady McKinney and Seyi Atolagbe before back-to-back Obusekova terminations swelled the lead out 15-9, forcing OPSU to take a timeout of its own.
  • The Evangels captured their largest lead of the set on another Obusekova termination to make it a seven-point MACU lead before OPSU rattled off five in a row to close it back to 16-14 on a Moore finish.
  • The Evangels led by no less than two the rest of the way as Siegfried tapped over a set point kill over the OPSU block to eventually secure the 25-22 win for MACU to even up the match.
• Set Three
  • While Oklahoma Panhandle State opened the third by jumping out to an 9-5 lead, MACU surged its way back to tie it at 9-9 on a Siegfried and Atolagbe assisted block.
  • Following an OPSU timeout, the Evangels scored four of the next five to seize a 14-11 advantage on an Obusekova termination.
  • The Evangels maintained their edge until the Aggies strung together a 4-1 surge of their own Emma Coburn's service ace drew it even at 17-all, forcing a MACU timeout.
  • Oklahoma Panhandle State grabbed the lead out of the break on another Coburn ace that trickled over the net before putting the Evangels on the brink later in the set by taking a 23-20 edge on Coburn's put down, forcing the Evangels to call their final timeout.
  • The Evangels were unable to string together a run at the end as OPSU scored two of the final three with Mia Sanchez's setter dump kill wrapping up the 25-21 final.
• Set Four
  • Mid-America Christian scored six of the first nine, but the Evangels ran into a slump in serve receive as back-to-back Taylor Silva aces during a 4-0 OPSU run allowed the Aggies to take a 7-6 lead to bring out an early MACU timeout.
  • The Evangels managed to tie it up at 10-10 before the Aggies went on a run early in the second half of the set to take a 17-13 lead following a MACU hitting miscue, forcing Coach McKamie to call her final timeout.
  • The Aggies put MACU to the brink as Skyla Stark's kill brought it to match point at 24-17, but the Evangels scored four in a row as back-to-back kills by Obusekova and Trayler to close it to 24-20.
  • Unfortunately, the run ended there as McKinney served it into the net following the OPSU timeout to wrap-up the 25-20 final.

MATCH NOTES

• Despite the result, Mid-America Christian put together a solid night in the attack, outhitting Oklahoma Panhandle State by finishing with 57 kills on a .218 hitting percentage compared to OPSU's 50 kills on a .170 attack rate.
• The service line played a massive difference in the result as the Aggies scored 16 service aces and committed just eight errors while the Evangels notched only one ace and posted 10 errors, resulting in a massive 26-9 difference in service scoring. It was the most aces a team had scored against MACU in a four-set match in the NAIA Era (2007-present).
• Three MACU attackers finished with career-highs in kills during the evening with the reigning SAC Attacker of the Week Alica Obusekova leading the charge 21 kills on a .340 hitting percentage.
• Karlee Siegfried and Madi Trayler were a pair of freshmen that put down career-bests as Siegfried totaled 17 terminations on a .283 attack percentage while Trayler notched her first double-digit outing with 10 kills on a .318 hitting rate.
• Casady McKinney recorded her seventh double-double in the last 12 matches with a match-high 43 assists and 14 digs to go with three setter dump kills.
• Ryley Bowden continued her tear in the back row with 24 digs, averaging a stellar 6.0 digs per set while Madison Lee shoveled a season-high 18 digs in the back row. The Evangels as a team recorded 84 digs, the most in a four-set match this season for MACU.
• The much-improved Aggies side snapped MACU's six-match win streak in the series after posting a similar 3-1 result at Anchor D Arena on Sept. 3, 2022.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will face another stiff test to wrap-up the first half of SAC play tomorrow afternoon as the Evangels travel down to Plainview, Texas for a 1 p.m. match against Wayland Baptist inside the Hutcherson Center.