FULTON, Mo. – Ryley Bowden notched her 100^th career ace and Sydney Martin marked her 1000^th career dig at the William Woods Invitational as MACU Volleyball split its first road matches of the year, rallying to beat Friends 3-2 before falling in straight-sets to the host Owls on Thursday night.
 
MATCH ONE / Mid-America Christian vs. Friends
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 3, Friends 2
  • Mid-America Christian (2-0)
  • Friends (1-1)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Seyi Atolagbe – 11 Kills, .308 ATK%, 4 Blocks, 2 Digs
• Karlee Siegfried – 11 Kills, .241 ATK%, 5 Digs
• Casady McKinney – 28 Assists, 7 Digs, 3 Kills, 1.000 ATK%
• Kaetlen Schier – 21 Digs, 4 Assists
• Ryley Bowden – 20 Digs, 5 Assists, 4 Aces

MATCH SUMMARY

• Set One
  • Friends held a slim advantage through the first 12 rallies after scoring three of the first four points, but MACU quickly grabbed the lead off two Falcons attack errors and back-to-back terminations by Karlee Siegfried and Marcela Nalin to make it a 9-7 Evangels edge.
  • The Falcons countered with a 6-1 run of its own to grab a 13-10 advantage midway through, prompting MACU head coach Holly McKamie to call a timeout.
  • Mid-America Christian put together a massive response out of the break, rattling off four consecutive points on a pair of Seyi Atolagbe kills, an Alica Obusekova termination, and a Sydney Martin service ace to take the 14-13 lead and force the Falcons to call their first timeout.
  • It was a back-and-forth battle over the next 11 rallies as FRND tied it up at 19-19 on a Maddy Hildebrand kill. However, the Evangels closed out the opening set strong by scoring six of the final eight points. Atolagbe's powerful termination brought it to set point before Ryley Bowden lasered an ace to secure the 25-21 win.
• Set Two
  • Both teams swapped 4-0 runs to start the second set, but the Falcons captured a three-point cushion at 9-6 on three consecutive Evangels attack errors, forcing another MACU timeout.
  • At the midway point, Mid-America Christian found its stride, rattling off four consecutive points on back-to-back Siegfried and Madi Trayler terminations and a Falcons attack error before Sydney Martin tallied an ace to make it 13-12 MACU.
  • It was a back-and-forth battle throughout the entire second half of the set as neither team was able to get larger than a two-point lead. Even though MACU had its back against the wall when Grace McClintock's kill made it set point at 24-23, the Evangels scored back-to-back kills by Atolagbe and Trayler to seize their own set point at 25-24.
  • Unfortunately, the Evangels weren't able to finish as the Falcons scored the final three points to draw that match even with the 27-25 win.
• Set Three
  • Even though Friends jumped out to a quick 7-5 lead, MACU briefly surged in-front by scoring four-straight following a Marcela Nalin kill and three consecutive Friends attack errors.
  • With the set going back and forth going into the second half, the Falcons utilized a crucial 3-0 run by taking advantage of a trio of MACU miscues to make it a 17-14 game.
  • The Evangels were unable to close their deficit to less than two over the remainder of the set as Friends finished by scoring the final three points to wrap-up the 25-20 win.
• Set Four
  • Mid-America Christian got off to an electric start, scoring five of the first six points as Atolagbe and Obusekova teamed up for a block to make it a 5-1 game.
  • The Falcons eventually closed it back to a one-point game on a Hildebrand kill, but the Evangels countered by scoring the next two, featuring an Ava Johnson kill to make it 12-9 and forcing Friends to call its first timeout.
  • The Evangels briefly stretched their lead out to six at 19-13 on a pair of kills by Benson and Nalin along with a Ryley Bowden ace before the Falcons scored three of the next four to close the gap to 20-16.
  • MACU captured its largest lead by scoring four of the next five as Siegfried's termination brought it to set point at 24-17. A trio of Evangels attack errors briefly kept Friends alive, but Obusekova finished it off by tooling a kill off the block to seal the 25-20 win.
• Set Five
  • Even though Friends managed to jump out to a quick 3-1 lead, Obsekova's sideout kill allowed MACU to fire off four in a row as a Friends attack error made it a 4-3 MACU advantage.
  • The Falcons scored three of the next four to briefly grab back a 6-5 edge, but the Evangels hitting started firing on all cylinders, scoring four kills in a five-point rally with Nalin nailing back-to-back kills to set the score to 10-6.
  • Friends was only able to close it to a three-point game at 11-8, but the Evangels closed out by scoring four of the final six as Atolagbe and Trayler teamed up for the match-sealing block to wrap-up the 15-10 win.

MATCH SUMMARY

• It was a tough night for Mid-America Christian in the attack despite getting the win, turning in 59 kills with 35 errors for a .141 attack percentage while Friends tallied 55 kills and 28 miscues for a .165 hitting clip.
• The service line played a massive factor in the result as the Evangels tallied seven aces with eight service errors, but the Falcons only notched four aces and committed 12 errors in service.
• MACU featured a balance attack with four players finishing with double-figure kills. Alica Obusekova led the way with 12 kills while Seyi Atolagbe (11), Karlee Siegfried (11), and Marcela Nalin (10) followed closely behind.
• Atolagbe was the most effective in MACU's attack, hitting for a blistering .308 attack percentage while also notching four blocks on the defensive end. Siegfried and Nalin also put up sound hitting numbers at .241 and .233 respectively.
• Casady McKinney led the distribution efforts with 28 assists and went a perfect 3-for-3 in setter dump kills while shoveling seven digs. Madison Lee also dished out 20 assists in the win.
• The back-row efforts were led by libero Kaetlen Schier, who posted a MACU career-best 21 digs while Ryley Bowden also added 20 in the back row.
• Bowden and Sydney Martin both recorded historic milestones in the win as Bowden's four-ace night from the line allowed her to eclipse 100 career service aces while Martin's nine digs allowed her to become just the fifth Evangel since the program moved up to the NAIA level in 2007 to surpass 1000 career digs. Martin's first ace of the night also allowed her to overtake Kaylie Walker for the second-most career aces in NAIA Era while Bowden passed over Taryn Walker for eighth in MACU's career aces record book.
• The win marked the program's second ever against the Falcons with the Evangels last capturing a win in straight-sets back on Sept. 22, 2020.

MATCH TWO / Mid-America Christian vs. William Woods
SCORE

• William Woods 3, Mid-America Christian 0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-20)
  • Mid-America Christian (2-1)
  • William Woods (1-1)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Karlee Siegfried – 9 Kills, .409 ATK%, 5 Digs
• Seyi Atolagbe – 6 Kills, .455 ATK%
• Casady McKinney – 15 Assists, 3 Digs, 2 Aces
• Madison Lee – 14 Assists, 6 Digs
• Kaetlen Schier – 16 Digs

MATCH SUMMARY

• Set One
  • It was an even battle through the first eight rallies before William Woods found the momentum in a big way, scoring seven of the next nine as Ivi Marcolino's rejection on Marcela Nalin's attack gave William Woods an 11-6 advantage.
  • The Evangels battled back to close to a two-point game at 13-11 on a successful Seyi Atolagbe attack and a setting error, but the Owls owned the next run, scoring eight of the next 12 to push their lead out to their largest at 20-14.
  • MACU made one more massive push, utilizing a string of four-straight during a 7-2 run to make it a one-score game at 22-21 on Madi Trayler's termination.
  • However, the Evangels couldn't quite close it out as William Woods scored the final three points to seal the 25-21 win.
• Set Two
  • The second set saw a similar start to the first as the two teams were even through the first six rallies before a string of seven-straight points by the Owls during a 10-2 run allowed WWU to seize a 13-5 advantage midway through.
  • Mid-America Christian did its best to battle back, rattling off four in a row during a 6-1 surge of its own to bring it to 14-11 on back-to-back kills from Karlee Siegfried and Nalin.
  • William Woods willed its lead back out to six at 20-14 before the Evangels cut their deficit down to two with a 5-1 surge featuring back-to-back Nalin terminations before consecutive Owls miscues made it a 21-19 contest.
  • Unfortunately, the Evangels once again couldn't climb any closer as WWU scored four of the final six points to secure its second-straight 25-21 victory.
• Set Three
  • The first half of the third set was a back-and-forth tug-of-war as neither side could grab larger than a two-point cushion, but William Woods utilized a 3-0 run to hold the 12-10 edge at the midway point.
  • Two rallies later, the Evangels started firing on all cylinders to get back in the match, tallying a 6-1 surge to grab the 17-14 lead on Atolagbe and Nalin's co-op block.
  • MACU maintained its three-point cushion momentarily, but William Woods once again stormed back by scoring four of the next five to draw it even at 19-all on a Marcolino ace.
  • Marcolino put the next serve into the net to give MACU the lead back at 20-19, but the Evangels ran out of gas at the end as the Owls scored the next six to wrap-up the 25-20 sweep.

MATCH NOTES

• Mid-America Christian couldn't find an answer to slow down the William Woods attack as the Owls scored 43 kills and committed only 11 errors for a .286 hitting percentage while the Evangels turned in 34 kills and 16 miscues for a .162 attack rate.
• It was tough sledding for both teams from the service line as MACU tallied four aces and nine errors while the Owls finished with five aces and 11 errant serves.
• William Woods' blocking scheme frustrated MACU with seven rejections on the night to just three for the Evangels while the Owls back row also shoveled 56 digs to just 51 for the MACU defense.
• Despite its offensive struggles, MACU got an encouraging performance from freshman Karlee Siegfried in the attack, tallying nine kills on a .409 attack percentage while Seyi Atolagbe continued her efficient hitting with six kills on a .455 hitting clip.
• Casady McKinney led the passing game with 15 assists while Madison Lee chipped in with 14.
• Kaetlen Schier completed a strong week in the back row with 16 digs, averaging a shade over five digs per set for the match.
• MACU could not quite come up with its first ever win over William Woods as the Evangels suffered their first loss of the season in their first true road match of the year.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will now look refocus for its final non-conference matches of the season as the Evangels will play four matches in two days at the College of the Ozarks Lady Cat Classic next weekend in Point Lookout, Mo. The Evangels open the slate on Aug. 29 with a 2 p.m. first serve against Avila (Mo.) inside Keeter Gymnasium.