POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. – After suffering a heartbreaking five-set loss to Saint Mary to open the day, the MACU Volleyball team closed out the tourney on a high note with a dominant three-set sweep over Williams Baptist inside Keeter Gymnasium at the College of the Ozarks Fall Volleyball Classic on Saturday afternoon.
 
MATCH ONE / Mid-America Christian vs. Saint Mary
SCORE

• Saint Mary 3, Mid-America Christian 2 (21-25, 20-25, 25-21, 25-21, 15-10)
  • Mid-America Christian (4-2)
  • Saint Mary (4-2)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Alica Obusekova – 16 Kills, .222 ATK%, 3 Blocks, 3 Digs
• Seyi Atolagbe – 12 Kills, .429 ATK%, 2 Blocks
• Casady McKinney – 34 Assists, 6 Kills, .375 ATK%, 20 Digs, 3 Blocks
• Ryley Bowden – 20 Digs, 10 Assists

MATCH SUMMARY

• Set One
  • With the two teams deadlocked through the first three rallies, Saint Mary was the first team to seize a strong advantage, going on a 7-1 run, including scoring five in a row to grab the 10-4 edge.
  • At the midway point, Mid-America Christian started fighting back, utilizing a 4-1 surge by taking advantage of three Spires miscues to close it to 13-10, forcing USM to call a timeout.
  • The Evangels stormed their way back by going on a five-uanswered streak as Natalia Gonzalez's block briefly gave MACU a 16-15 advantage, but the Spire swung back with four-straight to claim a 19-16 edge.
  • Two rallies later, the Evangels took charge by closing out the set on an 8-1 run as Casady McKinney's incredible setter dump slam toward the back left corner set up Mia Benson for a set point service ace to seal the 25-21 win.
• Set Two
  • MACU stormed out to a massive lead right out of the gate, jumping out to an early 7-1 lead capped off on Seyi Atolagbe and McKinney's co-op block.
  • The Spires tried to chip their way back, scoring three in a row to cut the lead in-half, but the Evangels utilized a three-unanswered run of their own to seize a 13-6 advantage at the midway point, forcing the Spires to call a timeout.
  • MACU extended its lead out to as much as eight on a Karlee Siegfried termination to make it 15-7 before Saint Mary stormed back with a 5-1 surge to close the gap to 16-12, forcing head coach Holly McKamie to call a timeout.
  • The Spires scored twice out of the break to cut MACU's lead down to two, but after four-straight side-out points, an Alica Obusekova kill and back-to-back USM attack errors stretch the lead back out to 21-16, forcing Saint Mary to exhaust its final timeout.
  • MACU kept the Spires from climbing any closer as the Evangels closed out with the 25-20 win.
• Set Three
  • Even though MACU managed to grab an early 5-3 lead on Atolagbe's termination, Saint Mary swung back with a 6-1 streak to seize the 9-6 advantage.
  • While the Evangels scored the next four to briefly take back the edge, a three-point USM point swing ignited an 11-3 surge, including scoring a string of six straight points as Emma Scalise and Makenza Holly teamed up on Mia Benson's attack to make it a 20-13 contest.
  • The Evangels refused to go down without a fight, scoring on seven of the next 10 rallies as a Sydney Martin serve ace closed it to 23-20. However, the Spires closed it out by scoring two of the final three to wrap-up the 25-21 result.
• Set Four
  • The fourth set was a game of runs in the first half as there were six ties and five lead changes with MACU capturing the last lead in the first half behind a string of three-unanswered to set the score to 13-11.
  • Following a USM timeout, the Spires went on a 5-1 run to take the lead before a pair of Saint Mary miscues allowed the Evangels to tie it at 16-apiece.
  • The Evangels were unable to take the advantage back the rest of the way as USM outscored MACU 9-5 down the stretch to seal the 25-21 win and force the decisive fifth set.
• Set Five
  • Saint Mary seized the early advantage, scoring the first four points as part of a 6-1 run to open off Scalise's kill.
  • Following four-straight side-out scores, the Evangels pushed back by taking the next four as Martin's ace made it a one-point game at 8-7.
  • Unfortunately, MACU couldn't climb any closer as four-unanswered USM points allowed the Spires to score seven of the final 10 to wrap-up the 15-10 final.

MATCH NOTES

• Both teams were relatively even in the attack as Saint Mary scored 63 kills and 26 errors for a .197 hitting percentage while Mid-America Christian was only slightly more efficient in the attack with 59 kills and 24 errors for a .200 attack rate.
• The Spires blocking manage to frustrate MACU into giving away some points as the Spires notched 12 blocks to only eight for the Evangels.
• Alica Obusekova finished with a team-high 16 kills on a solid .222 hitting percentage to go with three blocks and three digs.
• Seyi Atolagbe continued her incredible hitting run as the freshman notched 12 kills on a .429 attack rate to go with three blocks in defense while Natalia Gonzalez broke into double-digit kills for the first time in her MACU career, notching 11 on a .214 clip with a pair of rejections.
• Senior setter Casady McKinney was busy both in the attack and in the passing game as she led the distribution efforts with 34 assists while tallying a season-high six kills on a .375 rate to go with three blocks.
• McKinney also turned in a double-double by being the co-leader in the back row as she tallied 20 digs alongside Ryley Bowden, who also chipped in 10 assists in the passing efforts.
• In just the second meeting between the two programs, the match produced similar results as it is the second time MACU lost a five-setter to the Spires after the Evangels captured the first two sets. The last match came back at the KCAC Fall Fling in Hutchison, Kan. back on Aug. 20, 2021.

MATCH TWO / Mid-America Christian vs. Williams Baptist
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 3, Williams Baptist 0 (25-13, 25-11, 25-16)
  • Mid-America Christian (5-2)
  • Williams Baptist (0-5)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Marcela Nalin – 7 Kills, .556 ATK%
• Mia Benson – 6 Kills, .500 ATK%
• Casady McKinney – 28 Assists, 3 Kills, .300 ATK%, 2 Aces, 10 Digs
• Kaetlen Schier – 10 Digs

MATCH SUMMARY

• Set One
  • Williams Baptist started off hot by scoring three of the first four points before the Evangels caught fire behind a string of four-straight to start off a 9-2 run as back-to-back Eagles miscues made it a 10-5 MACU advantage.
  • WBU brought the set to within three points on a pair of occasions in the second half, but a Casady McKinney kill and a pair of aces from the star setter set up a string of six-straight to stretch the edge to 21-12.
  • The Eagles only scored one more point the rest of the way as back-to-back Sydney Martin service aces wrapped up the 25-13 final.
• Set Two
  • After trading three of the first five, Mid-America Christian asserted its dominance starting in the sixth rally as the Evangels went on a dominant 10-2 run to seize a 13-4 edge midway through on Mia Benson's kill.
  • An Alicea Eppherson termination on the ensuing point could do little to slow down MACU, as the Evangels scored six of the next eight to expand their edge 19-7 off an Eagles attack miscue.
  • The Evangels grabbed their largest lead after scoring five in a row as a Seyi Atolagbe ace and a WBU attack error brought it to set point at 24-9. The Eagles scored the next two points, but a back row kill by Kaetlen Schier by pinning a roll shot just inside the back line sealed the 25-11 win.
• Set Three
  • Mid-America Christian went wire-to-wire in the third set, quickly snatching a commanding lead as four in a row finished off by Marcela Nalin made it a 9-3 advantage.
  • Midway through, MACU started to run away as Nalin's side-out termination jumpstarted a string of six unanswered to make it a 17-6 Evangels edge.
  • The Eagles were unable to trim the MACU lead to less than eight the rest of the way as the Evangels fended off Williams Baptist for the 25-16 victory.

MATCH NOTES

• Mid-America Christian's defense was downright dominant, holding Williams Baptist to only 17 kills with 22 kills for a -.065 attack percentage while the Evangels doubled up in the kills count with 34 terminations and 13 miscues for a .269 hitting rate.
• The Evangels were downright dominant in-service, scoring 11 aces with only seven errors while Williams Baptist notched just one ace with six mistakes, leading to a 17-8 different in service scoring.
• MACU was completely balanced in its attack with six different players notching nine or more swings while four players tallied six or more kills.
• Marcela Nalin led MACU's hitting efforts with seven kills on a .556 rate while Mia Benson, Seyi Atolagbe, and Alica Obusekova all tallied six apiece. Benson's six kills came on an effective .500 rate while Obusevoka hit or a .462 and Atolagbe smacked a .333 clip.
• Casady McKinney turned in back-to-back double-doubles after leading the passing game with 28 assists and back row with 10 shovels. McKinney also came through in the scoring column as well with three kills on a .300 hitting percentage and a pair of service aces.
• Kaetlen Schier was the only other Evangel to break double-figures in digs with 10 against WBU's 38 attacks that didn't get down or were mis-hit.
• The result marked the first time the Evangels and Eagles have met in the two program's respective histories.
• The Evangels finished the COFO Fall Volleyball Classic with a 3-1 record for the second-straight year while dropping only three sets in the entire tournament, all of which coming in the Saint Mary's match.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will open Sooner Athletic Conference play on the road next week as the Evangels will make the short trip down to Chickasha, Okla. for the 6 p.m. first serve in the USAO Fieldhouse on Wednesday, Sept. 3.