POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. – The MACU Volleyball team opened NCCAA Championship pool play with a victory in thrilling fashion as the Evangels beat No. 5 seed Bethel (Ind.) 3-2 in a five-set victory inside Keeter Gymnasium on Wednesday morning.
 
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 3, Bethel 2 (25-17, 15-25, 25-15, 15-25, 15-8)
  • Mid-America Christian (20-12)
  • Bethel (16-17)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Alica Obuskeova – 15 Kills, .205 ATK%, 5 Digs, 3 Blocks
• Seyi Atolagbe – 10 Kills, .333 ATK%, 2 Blocks
• Casady McKinney – 22 Assists, 9 Kills, 8 Digs
• Madison Lee – 19 Assists, 12 Digs
• Sydney Martin – 15 Digs

MATCH SUMMARY

• Set One
  • Mid-America Christian opened the match strong, scoring the first six points behind the serve of Sydney Martin, getting a pair of kills from Alica Obusekova and a Mia Benson termination in the process.
  • Bethel strung together a 7-2 run to close the gap to 8-7 on a co-op block by Ainsley Tacke and Taylor Delp on Casady McKinney's attack attempt, but the Evangels surged back with a 7-1 streak with McKinney registering four kills during the streak. With MACU holding a commanding 15-8 lead, Bethel was forced to call its second timeout.
  • MACU eventually stretched its lead out to 18-9 following a Ary Searle attack error before the Pilots started stringing together a 5-1 streak to close it to 19-14 and force head coach Holly McKamie to call her first timeout.
  • After trading the next two points, back-to-back Seyi Atolagbe terminations allowed the Evangels to close out the set by scoring five of the last seven before Atolagbe finished it off by powering a shot down the left sideline to seal the 25-17 result.
• Set Two
  • The Evangels struggled in the early going, as the Pilots scored nine of the first 13 points while taking advantage of three service aces, prompting McKamie to call an early timeout.
  • While Marcela Nalin scored a kill out of the break, the Pilots scored five-unanswered points to hold a commanding 13-5 advantage midway through the set.
  • After trading the next two, Mid-America Christian made its charge by scoring the next five as an Obusekova kill and four-straight BU attack errors, two of which coming off assisted blocks by Obusekova and Atolagbe closed the gap to 14-11, prompting a Pilots timeout.
  • The Pilots were able to grab back the momentum, stretching their lead out to 21-14 to bring out MACU's final timeout. However, MACU was unable to thwart BU's attack as Tacke smacked down the set point kill to seal the 25-15 win for the Pilots.
• Set Three
  • It was a back-and-forth battle for the first 14 rallies as MACU scored the first two before Bethel before both teams traded four-point runs. While the Pilots scored three of the next four to tie it at seven, the Evangels got a run going behind Kaetlen Schier's serve as the Evangels scored six points in a row to take a 13-7 lead midway through the set.
  • While the Pilots managed to cut it to a five-point game following five consecutive side-out points, the Evangels gained back some big-time breathing room with three kills in a row from Mia Benson and Madi Trayler to bring it to 18-10, forcing BU to take a timeout.
  • BU eventually worked it down to a six-point deficit at 21-15, but the Evangels finished the set strong, scoring kills from McKinney and Marcela Nalin before back-to-back Pilots miscues closed out the 25-15 win, this time in favor of MACU.
• Set Four
  • Much like the second set, it was Bethel getting off to a dominant start, opening the set with a 12-5 run to bring out a MACU timeout midway through the set following Tacke's service ace.
  • Bethel continued to pull away over the course of the set as the Pilots managed to grab as large as a 20-9 lead off an Atolagbe attack error.
  • The Evangels were unable to gain much ground on Bethel over the final rallies as the Pilots forced the fifth set with the 25-15 win.
• Set Five
  • The fifth and final set was a back-and-forth tug-of-war with the lead changing hands three times through the first seven rallies, but following a Tacke attack error, the Evangels went on a 6-2 surge to capture a solid 9-6 advantage heading into the second half.
  • Following a McKinney service error, the Evangels finished strong, as Trayler's side-out kill ignited a 6-1 streak finished off by Trayler by getting a termination that went out off the touch at the net to seal the 15-8 victory.

MATCH NOTES

• In a tightly contested defensive battle, Mid-America Christian was the better side in the attack, registering 53 kills to 27 attack errors for a .171 hitting percentage, but the defense allowed Bethel to notch only 42 kills with 24 miscues for a .128 attack rate.
• Bethel's blocking and service game allowed the Pilots to stay in the match as the Pilots finished with 13 blocks to MACU's five. In-service, BU posted nine aces and 11 service errors while the Evangels tallied only three aces with nine errors to result in a 18-14 differential in service scoring.
• While BU had the better blocking scheme, MACU had the better back row as the Evangels shoveled 68 digs to the Pilots' 55 shovels.
• Alica Obusekova led all attackers in the match with 15 kills while hitting for a .205 percentage while also finishing with five digs and three blocks in the defense.
• Seyi Atolagbe also provided a spark for MACU in the attack, finishing with 10 kills on a .333 hitting clip.
• Casady McKinney just barely missed finishing with a triple-double, tallying 22 assists with nine kills and eight digs. MACU's other setter Madison Lee finished with a double-double by dishing out 19 assists to go with 12 digs.
• Sydney Martin led a balanced back row effort with 15 digs while Ryley Bowden chipped in 13 shovels.
• While it was a tough day for MACU in-service, Kaetlen Schier provided a spark off the bench with three aces and just one service miscue.
• By getting the win, Mid-America Christian avenged its three-set loss to Bethel in the NCCAA National Championships last year on Dec. 4, 2024. The Evangels and Pilots have now split the all-time series between the two at 2-2 with all four meetings coming at the NCCAA National Championships.
• The victory also allowed MACU to reach 20 wins for the fifth consecutive season under head coach Holly McKamie, improving to 20-12 on the season.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will have another early morning match on Thursday as the Evangels will be rematched against No. 8 seed Sterling (Kan.) at 9 a.m. before they close out pool play against top-seeded Columbia International (S.C.) at 1:30 p.m.