OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU Volleyball will open a challenging four-match road stand this weekend as the Evangels will travel to Missouri and Arkansas to take on College of the Ozarks and John Brown. MACU will start the slate on Friday night at 6 p.m. inside Keeter Gymnasium against the Bobcats before battling the Golden Eagles inside Bill George Arena at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
 
SEASON REPORT

• Record: 9-5 (5-2 SAC)
• Last Match: Won vs. Southwestern Christian (Okla.) – 3-0 (25-11, 25-12, 25-16) – Sept. 20, 2025 – Gaulke Activity Center
• Stat Leaders:
  • Kills: Alica Obusekova (120, 2.73 K/S), Seyi Atolagbe (110, 2.34 K/S)
  • Attack Percentage (%, K-E-A; Min. 3 ATK/S): Seyi Atolagbe (.411, 110-15-231), Karlee Siegfried (.204, 94-38-274)
  • Assists: Casady McKinney (358, 7.62 A/S), Madison Lee (86, 1.83 A/S)
  • Aces: Ryley Bowden (28, 0.60 SA/S), Casady McKinney (20, 0.43 SA/S)
  • Digs: Ryley Bowden (209, 4.45 D/S), Kaetlen Schier (148, 3.15 D/S)
  • Receive Percentage (%, RE-R, Min. 3 REC/S): Ryley Bowden (.946, 10-186), Kaetlen Schier (.940, 12-200)
  • Blocks: Seyi Atolagbe (33, 0.70 B/S), Mia Benson (32, 0.73 B/S)
• Team Notes:
  • Mid-America Christian got back on the winning track in its return home last weekend as the Evangels put together a pair of strong performances in a 3-1 win over Oklahoma City on Friday before slamming Southwestern Christian on Saturday.
  • Once again, MACU's defense proved to be mighty over the weekend, holding the Stars to their second-lowest hitting percentage of the season at .068 while following it up by limiting the Eagles to a .020 hitting clip. Overall, MACU's defense has been stellar all season, holding eight of its 14 opponents to under a .150 hitting percentage and seven of those foes to an under .100 hitting clip. Only one team (William Woods) managed to hit for higher than .200 back on Aug. 21.
  • A big reason for MACU's defensive success has been the play of senior libero Ryley Bowden. A week removed from being the SAC Defender of the Week, the Oklahoma City product notched a four-set career-high 28 digs in the win over OCU before shoveling out 12 more in the win over the Eagles to finish the week with a 5.71 digs per set average and a .969 serve receive percentage. Through seven SAC matches, Bowden leads the entire league in digs per set at 5.64.
  • At the conclusion of the weekend, Mid-America Christian once again moved to the top of the SAC in hitting percentage, currently being the only team in the conference that is hitting above the .200 mark at .201. The Evangels have also been able to exceedingly score in-service as well as they rank second only to Science & Arts in aces per set at 2.28.

SCOUTING REPORT
College of the Ozarks (Mo.)

• Record: 9-3 (4-3 SAC)
• Last Match: Won at John Brown (Ark.) – 3-2 (23-25, 25-27, 25-20, 25-14, 15-9) – Sept. 24, 2025 – Siloam Springs, Ark.
• Series vs MACU (2021-): MACU leads 5-2
• Last Match vs MACU: COFO won 3-2 (16-25, 20-25, 25-22, 25-20, 15-13) – Nov. 20, 2025 – Point Lookout, Mo. (NCCAA Central Region Championship)
• Series Streak: COFO won 1
• Players to Watch:
  • Cora Roweton – JR – OH
    • 134 Kills (3.05 K/S), .203 ATK%, 40 Digs (0.91 D/S), 23 Blocks (0.52 B/S)
  • Audrey Riley – FR – S
    • 207 Assists (4.70 A/S), 9 Aces (0.20 SA/S), 70 Digs (1.59 D/S)
  • Emma Godwin – JR – DS
    • 96 Digs (2.23 D/S), 0 RE
  • Anna Brunner – FR – MH
    • 55 Blocks (1.25 B/S), 83 Kills (1.89 K/S), .368 ATK%
• Team Notes:
  • After opening the season with a 7-0 record with all of the victories coming at home, College of the Ozarks went on a challenging five-match road stretch where the Bobcats lost three out of four matches before ending the stretch with a thrilling come-from-behind 3-2 win at John Brown on Wednesday night.
  • Friday night's match will feature the two most efficient attacking teams in the SAC as COFO is rated as the No. 2 hitting team in the league at .198 while also being a strong team in service, averaging the fourth-most aces at 2.09 per set.
  • While the Bobcats defense ranks fourth-to-last in digs per set (14.39), where COFO excels is in the blocking scheme as it ranks second in the conference at 2.01 rejections per set.
  • Since transferring from John Brown two seasons ago, junior outside hitter Cora Roweton has paced the Ozarks attack with the third-most kills per set in the SAC at 3.05 on an effective .203 hitting percentage while also pitching into the blocking efforts at 0.52 per set. Freshman middle hitter Anna Brunner has been a big reason for COFO's blocking success, as she by far and away leads the conference at 1.25 blocks per set while also being the team's most effective hitter at a .368 clip.
  • Freshman and junior setters Audrey Riley and Kamryn Link lead the distribution efforts for the Bobcats while Emma Godwin and Gabby Bozzay lead a balanced back row with 96 digs apiece.
  • While MACU has had some success against College of the Ozarks, including sweeping the regular season series last year in COFO's first year as a full-time member of the SAC, the Evangels will be looking to avenge a heartbreaking loss to the Bobcats their last time out in the NCCAA Central Region Championship. In that match, MACU won the first two sets, but COFO caught fire in the final three to sneak away with the 3-2 win and capture the NCCAA Central Region title. In that defeat, Alica Obusekova posted a double-double with 17 digs and 12 kills to go with six assisted blocks.

John Brown (Ark.)

• Record: 6-9 (2-5 SAC)
• Last Match: Lost vs. College of the Ozarks (Mo.) – 3-2 (23-25, 25-27, 25-20, 25-14, 15-9) – Sept. 24, 2025 – Siloam Springs, Ark.
• Series vs MACU (2007-): JBU leads 27-7
• Last Match vs MACU: JBU won 3-2 (20-25, 27-25, 15-25, 25-20, 15-12) – Oct. 26, 2024 – Gaulke Activity Center
• Series Streak: JBU won 2
• Players to Watch:
  • Kate Carlson – FR – OH/MB
    • 123 Kills (2.08 K/S), .150 ATK%, 10 Aces (0.17 SA/S)
  • Taylor Kosmicki – FR – S
    • 279 Assists (4.73 A/S), 19 Aces (0.32 SA/S), 66 Digs (1.12 D/S)
  • Paige Addington – FR – DS
    • 219 Digs (3.71 D/S), 18-350 RE-R, .949 RCV%, 35 Aces (0.59 SA/S)
  • Akayla Kador – JR – MB/OPP
    • 43 Blocks (0.75 B/S), 82 Kills (1.44 K/S), .176 ATK%
• Team Notes:
  • One of the youngest teams in the conference, John Brown has gone through some growing pains through the first half of the season as the Golden Eagles go into their Friday night match against Science & Arts with a 6-9 overall record and a 2-5 mark thus far in Sooner Athletic Conference play. JBU looked as though it was going to get a positive result at home against College of the Ozarks on Wednesday night after winning the first two sets, but the Golden Eagles were unable to hold off the Bobcats as COFO went on to win the next three sets to steal a road win inside Bill George Arena.
  • The Golden Eagles have struggled to get a consistent attack going throughout the season as JBU ranks ninth in the SAC in attack percentage (.131) while the defense is allowing opponents to hit for a .179 percentage against the Golden Eagles. However, despite the JBU attack struggling, the Golden Eagles have been able to take advantage of the service line as they rank third in the SAC in aces per set, just behind MACU at 2.22.
  • Freshman outside hitter Kate Carlson has led a young offensive attack with 123 kills, averaging 2.08 kills per set on a .150 hitting percentage. Setters Taylor Kosmicki and Tessa Burton have split the setting duties in the 6-2 rotation while freshman defensive specialist Paige Addington is leading the back row efforts with a 3.71 digs per set average and a solid .949 receive percentage in serve receive. On the line, Akayla Kador has been the team's blocks leader, averaging 0.75 blocks per set.
  • Mid-America Christian will be looking to turn its luck around against John Brown as the Golden Eagles have won four of the last six meetings. The last time the two squads squared off inside Bill George Arena on Sept. 20, 2024, the Evangels got off to a strong start by winning the opening set 25-17, but the Golden Eagles stormed back to take the next three sets by scores of 25-19, 25-21, 25-17.