OKLAHOMA CITY – MACU Volleyball put together an incredible team performance on Saturday afternoon inside the Gaulke Activity Center to defeat Oklahoma Panhandle State 3-1 in a highly competitive match as the Evangels extend to seven straight wins headed into the final weekend of the regular season.
 
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 3, Oklahoma Panhandle State 1 (30-28, 25-21, 21-25, 31-29)
  • Mid-America Christian (17-10, 13-7 SAC)
  • Oklahoma Panhandle State (15-12, 13-7 SAC)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Alica Obusekova – 15 Kills, .262 ATK%, 7 Digs, 2 Blocks
• Seyi Atolagbe – 12 Kills, .333 ATK%, 4 Blocks
• Marcela Nalin – 12 Kills, .070 ATK%, 2 Digs, 1 Block
• Mia Benson – 9 Kills, .250 ATK%, 2 Blocks, 1 Ace
• Casady McKinney – 24 Assists, 27 Digs, 5 Kills, 3 Blocks
• Madison Lee – 23 Assists, 20 Digs, 5 Aces
• Ryley Bowden – 23 Digs, 8 Assists, 1 Ace

MATCH SUMMARY

• Set One
  • MACU jumped to an early advantage in the opening set to lead 7-4 as Madison Lee tallied her first ace and senior Alica Obusekova continued her stellar season with consecutive kills to open the match on senior day.   
  • The Aggies rallied back into the set with a service ace from Taylore Alsaid to tie the set up at 12-12. Both teams exchanged kills before a service error gave OPSU its first lead of the set at 18-17.  
  • Mid-America Christian responded with three consecutive points to force a timeout from Panhandle State as Seyi Atolagbe punished a ball to restore a two-point Evangel lead at 21-19. Atolagbe and Elena Kagiali exchanged terminations to bring the opening set to 25-25.
  • The Evangels and Aggies both fended off set points in the latter stages of the set, but consecutive kills from Madi Trayler followed by Mia Benson put MACU over the line to take the opening set by a competitive score of 30-28.
• Set Two
  • The Aggies responded well to a competitive opening set loss to vault an early 3-0 lead with yet another kill from Kagiali, followed by an ace from Alsaid. However, MACU rallied right back into the set winning eight of the next nine points, finished off with a Ryley Bowden ace to snatch the lead at 9-7. Atolagbe led the offense with a pair of hammers during this run.
  • Consecutive kills from Marcela Nalin gave the Evangels a 13-8 advantage, but the Aggies rallied right back with three consecutive points. Obusekova sparked a second run for the Evangels firing off three kills in five rallies to give MACU its largest lead in the second set at 19-13.
  • OPSU fought back down only two at 21-19 with another kill from Kagiali. But it was Benson's kill to bring MACU to set point, followed by senior Obusekova's thunderous strike to give the Evangels a two-set lead winning the set 25-21.
• Set Three
  • The set tied at 3 apiece, saw its longest streak of the match as the Evangels rallied off six consecutive points to take a 9-3 lead. Madison Lee had consecutive aces, followed by a McKinney kill during the run.
  • However, the Aggies weren't done yet, they fired off six straight points of their own, and nine of 10, to take the lead right back at 14-12. MACU stopped the initial run and found the answer with Atolagbe's kill to tie the set at 18.
  • Four straight attack errors from the Evangels aided five straight points for OPSU as the Aggies led 23-18. McKinney showed fight in efforts to get MACU back into the set with a kill and an ace, but the lead was too great and a block from Mia Sanchez gave Panhandle the third set 25-21.
• Set Four
  • Offenses started strong as Obusekova and Atolagbe were firing for the Evangels, and Kagiali continued to be the focal point of the Aggies attack with four kills in their first six points to tie the set at 6-6.
  • Panhandle jumped to a 13-9 lead with four straight points, but the Evangels stormed back as Obusekova's kill tied it up. Followed up by consecutive kills from Benson and Nalin up front to give MACU a 17-15 lead and ignite the Evangel faithful inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
  • Fireworks continued to fly as both offenses were putting on a show. Benson ripped off a pair of kills directly followed by Nalin. Clutch serving from senior Sydney Martin gave MACU a fourth consecutive point, and a 23-18 lead.
  • OPSU wouldn't go down without a fight, the Aggies punched back with a rally of their own and a season-high 31^st kill of the match for Elena Kagiali, fended off an Evangel set point and knotted it up at 24.
  • Obusekova fought off a set point for MACU, but Kagiali defended the Aggies as both offenses went back and forth in extras. Atolagbe came up with the biggest block of the night off Kagiali's attack to fight off yet another set point. It was Benson and Nalin who closed out the match with consecutive kills to take the final set 31-29 and win a thrilling and competitive contest.

MATCH NOTES

• MACU finished with a season-high in kills for a four-set match with 60 on a .128 hitting percentage. OPSU had 48 kills on .134%; Elena Kagiali led the Aggies in attack with a season-high 33 kills.  
• Alica Obusekova led the Evangels' attack once again with 15 kills, followed by 12 from Marcela Nalin and Seyi Atolagbe.
• Casady McKinney and Madison Lee split distribution efforts with 24 and 23 assists apiece. Lee's 23 assists is her second-highest total this season.
• On the defensive side, McKinney led with 27 digs, Ryley Bowden and Lee added 23 and 20. Atolagbe recorded four blocks to lead the team, as McKinney tallied three of her own.
• MACU won their seventh consecutive game to lead the Sooner Athletic Conference for longest current winning streak. The Evangels also vault to third in conference standings with one more weekend to play in the regular season.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will play a pair of crosstown rivals in its regular season finale weekend as the Evangels face Southwestern Christian next Friday night on Nov. 7 starting at 6 pm, followed by Oklahoma City Saturday afternoon on Nov. 8 for a first serve at 1 pm.