WAXAHACHIE, Texas – Four-year seniors Ryley Bowden and Casady McKinney continue to etch their names in Mid-America Christian's volleyball record books as both players eclipsed the 1000-dig milestone on Friday night inside the Sheaffer Center, but the Evangels were unable to come away with the upset as MACU dropped a hard-fought three-set match at Nelson.
 
SCORE

• Nelson 3, Mid-America Christian 0 (27-25, 25-15, 25-22)
  • Mid-America Christian (8-3, 3-1 SAC)
  • Nelson (5-6, 3-0 SAC)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Mia Benson – 10 Kills, .615 ATK%, 5 Digs, 2 Blocks
• Seyi Atolagbe – 9 Kills, .421 ATK%
• Casady McKinney – 33 Assists, 15 Digs
• Ryley Bowden – 20 Digs

MATCH SUMMARY

• Set One
  • It was relatively even through the first half as Nelson tied it at 9-9 on a Samantha Moore kill before Mid-America Christian stormed in-front during the midway portion as Seyi Atolagbe's side-out termination started a 9-3 Evangels run with Karlee Siegfried getting the kill over the block to make it an 18-12 MACU lead.
  • After back-to-back side-out points, the Lady Lions went on a big run to get back in it, scoring seven in a row to take a 20-19 lead on Taylor Cavazos' ace, their first lead of the match.
  • Mid-America Christian stormed back by scoring five in a row to bring to set point at 24-20 on Madison Lee's ace, but Nelson swung back with four in a row of its own to tie it at 24-all on Olivia Todd's termination.
  • MACU brought it back to set point on another powerful Atolagbe kill, but the Lady Lions scored the final three points to steal the 27-25 win.
• Set Two
  • Nelson scored seven of the first nine to seize an early 7-2 advantage on an errant pass by Ryley Bowden toward the left side of the net, but after a pair of side-out points, the Evangels rattled off three in a row following a Mia Benson kill and back-to-back Siegfried slams to make it an 8-6 contest.
  • The Lady Lions eventually worked their lead back out to following the midway point at 16-10, but after Benson got a side-out kill and Casady McKinney tallied an ace to cut it back to a four-point game.
  • Nelson continued to stay on-fire in the second set, closing out with a 9-3 surge as Mackenzie Smith took a little off on her right side kill to wrap-up the 25-15 final.
• Set Three
  • The Evangels managed to grab an early 3-2 edge on Atolagbe's kill, but Nelson stormed in-front by scoring seven in a row with Cavazos notching another ace to make it 9-3.
  • MACU made one more small push near the midway point as three-straight Evangels points closed it to 10-7, but Nelson once again went on a huge five-unanswered surge to take its largest lead of the set at 15-7.
  • The Evangels didn't go down without a fight, rattling off an 8-1 run as back-to-back Marcela Nalin kills closed it to a 16-15 game.
  • Following five-straight side-out scores, Mid-America Christian captured its first and only lead of the set behind a 4-1 surge as back-to-back Nelson attack errors made it a 21-20 game.
  • Unfortunately, MACU couldn't hold Nelson down for long as the Lady Lions scored five of the final six points to pull out the 25-22 win and complete the three-set sweep.

MATCH NOTES

• Even though Mid-America Christian managed to out-hit Nelson with 42 kills to 37 for the Lady Lions, attack errors proved costly as the Evangels committed 21 miscues to only 12 for Nelson to finish with a .195 hitting percentage to a .148 for MACU.
• The service line also played a crucial role in the result as seven Nelson aces to only four errors while the Evangels turned in just four aces to seven missed swings resulted in a 14-8 difference in service scoring in-favor of the Lady Lions.
• Despite the tough hitting night, Mid-America Christian got some excellent production from its two freshmen middles Mia Benson and Seyi Atolagbe. Benson posted a career-high 10 kills on a career-best .615 hitting percentage while Atolagbe notched nine terminations on a .421 attack rate.
• Casady McKinney played well in the passing game and on the defensive front, tallying 33 assists to go with 15 digs on the defensive end. It was a milestone night for the Evangels setter as she recorded her 1000^th career dig.
• McKinney wasn't the only one to break the 1000-dig milestone as senior libero Ryley Bowden led MACU's back row efforts with 20 digs. McKinney and Bowden are just the sixth and seventh players since the program joined the NAIA in 2007 to record 1000 career shovels.
• MACU struggled in the blocking game, only coming away with four rejections at the net as Benson led the charge with a pair of assisted blocks.
• With the defeat, MACU suffered its eighth-straight loss to the NAIA powerhouse Lady Lions program while also dropping its first SAC match of the season.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will face another tough test on Saturday afternoon inside the Sid Richardson Center as the Evangels take on Texas Wesleyan for a 1 p.m. first serve.